Lynx

MERGED

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Spriggan

Uh, why?

Lynx

Same topic...almost...as both were about books.

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Cris

agreed

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Cris

i also enjoyed Air Frame by Michael Crichton

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DaBullz

I've read all her works. As I said, Atlas Shrugged is considered the #2 most inspirational book _ever_.

As long as we're going book reviews...

The character of Howard Roarke may well be the greatest character in any book.

The concept behind Atlas Shrugged is "what would happen if management (the entrepreneurs) went on strike?" It's the story of robin hood gone amuck - to the point the spirit of those who create and invent is broken.

It's a massive book. Some of the tiniest print I've ever seen. The paperback edition is 1075 pages, but I counted the words per line and number of lines per page, and it's the equivalent of about 4000 pages of the several books I compared it to.

To me, it's actually two books.

The first half was tough to get through. The characters were robotic and the bulk of the story is about the ills of government intervention into the free markets. But it rings true, nonetheless - though the story is about railroads and steel mills, the evils of big government and it being influenced by big business could be our current government and oil companies, drug companies, and the like.

The second half reads like a fantasy/sci-fi novel. It's about a utopian land with gadgets that Jules Verne might have written about (invisibility fields). It took me a couple weeks to read the first half and a couple of days to read the second.

Her other novels, if read in chronologic order, make it clear that she was refining both her skill as a writer and her ideas and philosophy. They build towards what Atlas Shrugged details. Howard Roark was pooh poohed by his peers. John Galt was demoralized by the partnership of government and big business.

I think that calling the personal relationships between men and women in Atlas Shrugged as "rape fantasies" is over the top. It's clear she was influenced by events in her own life, particularly her escape as a young woman from Russia as the revolution was taking place there. In fact, I'd suggest the relationships she creates for her characters are in direct opposition to the real and literal rape of women during the Revolution. I'd also suggest that she wrote the part of Dagny Taggert to be the most powerful woman in the country, if not the world; CEO of one of the largest corporations, and extremely good at it.

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Gonzo

I just thought it was too boring. The trial was way too long (that's my big problem with the book). I can say that the whole thing about Boo Radley was alright, and Scout was pretty interesting.

Part of the reason I didn't like it was the time frame we had to read it in; my teacher made us read like 90 pages a night, so I had to rush through a book that's slow (for me) to read. I'm sure if I read it a couple years from now I'll appreciate/ like it more.

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The Truth

I love how you try to pass it off like its a fact.



Um...no. No NO

God no.

I think you need to read some more fiction.

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Cris

the book is 96 pages long

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Gonzo

I thought To Kill A Mocking Bird was 300 some pages. It has 30 chapters...

EDIT: It's 288, so don't give me any of that 96 pages ****.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

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Cris

the one i read was a hard cover, 96 pages
for some reason i forgot about the other versions... meh too long ago

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...30660805302498

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Gonzo

I don't think that's the whole book. It's "Understanding to Kill a Mockingbird"

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Cris

the book looked something like that and it was small print, hard cover wasnt that long. i dont really care at this point

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Brian.

DaBullz

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...56908?v=glance


Atlas Shrugged is the "second most influential book for Americans today" after the Bible, according to a joint survey conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Uh huh

I think I've read almost every book people have mentioned here as being the great ones.

Jughead and Archie aren't my idea of great characters...

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