I hope you'll forgive me for dropping off the face of the earth for a while. My family has moved to India. Unfortunately, we don't have the library facilities that I'm used to in the US, so my books have been rather few and far between. I have yet to read a book great enough to write about on my kindle, but as I mentioned, that's what you get when you only get free books. :-)
In desperation, I turned to my own bookshelf (and what is left, after my husband ruthlessly weeded out anything and everything not worth keeping) and found Atlas Shrugged. I got this book free from an organization dedicated to spreading Ms. Rand's ideas but never got around to reading it, mostly because it's a ginormous book.
Well. I rather wish I could have found this book earlier. I'm half way done with it and while I don't agree with all of Ayn Rand's premises, this is one of the most amazing books I've read in my entire life.
A bit of warning: This is not a light read. This is not even a medium read. It takes some serious contemplative power and quite a bit of open-mindedness, as well as time. As I mentioned, this is not a small book.
What has impressed me the most so far is the craftsmanship of the story. I really, really enjoy Ayn Rand's brand of storytelling and her ability to weave many, many ideas and social commentaries into something that seems like a simple story. If you dig under the surface a little bit, (and really, it would be criminal to bother to read this story and not dig more than a little) it is in no way simple. I'll post an update when I'm finished with it.
Verdict so far: If you are in anyway interested in social vs. individual welfare and have an open mind, this book is for you. actually, this book is for anyone who has an iota of intelligence. You may not agree with Ayn Rand's ideas, but the important thing is that she is raising some very tough issues, ones that every one has the responsibility to contemplate.
In desperation, I turned to my own bookshelf (and what is left, after my husband ruthlessly weeded out anything and everything not worth keeping) and found Atlas Shrugged. I got this book free from an organization dedicated to spreading Ms. Rand's ideas but never got around to reading it, mostly because it's a ginormous book.
Well. I rather wish I could have found this book earlier. I'm half way done with it and while I don't agree with all of Ayn Rand's premises, this is one of the most amazing books I've read in my entire life.
A bit of warning: This is not a light read. This is not even a medium read. It takes some serious contemplative power and quite a bit of open-mindedness, as well as time. As I mentioned, this is not a small book.
What has impressed me the most so far is the craftsmanship of the story. I really, really enjoy Ayn Rand's brand of storytelling and her ability to weave many, many ideas and social commentaries into something that seems like a simple story. If you dig under the surface a little bit, (and really, it would be criminal to bother to read this story and not dig more than a little) it is in no way simple. I'll post an update when I'm finished with it.
Verdict so far: If you are in anyway interested in social vs. individual welfare and have an open mind, this book is for you. actually, this book is for anyone who has an iota of intelligence. You may not agree with Ayn Rand's ideas, but the important thing is that she is raising some very tough issues, ones that every one has the responsibility to contemplate.
