By Cindy Orr
If you’ve never read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, it’s time my friends. Why?
1. It’s going to be a movie…starring Charlize Theron. It should be out in 2011…although it’s been in development one way or another for 35 years, so who knows? But that gives you plenty of time to get that old worn out shabby copy off the shelves and replace it with some new ones. Don’t believe me? I dare you to go get the thing and check its circulation. In most libraries it will have been checked out as much as a typical DVD.
2. Look for any survey of all time favorite books and you’ll find this title high on the list. A Library of Congress/Book of the Month Club survey found it ranked second (after the Bible) for “books that made a difference in people’s lives.” Critics make fun of it…the characters are caricatures. It’s preachy. It’s got some very weird scenes…and then there’s that 70-page speech. But thousands of people love it.
3. It may be the first anti-bailout movie (even though the book was published in 1957). Heroic entrepreneurs fight against the awful government bureaucrats who tie them down with regulations and red tape. But they don’t want a bailout. They want to be left alone to do whatever they want. It’s all about profit, baby…and selfishness…and pure capitalism…the weak are on their own.
4. It’s the unofficial libertarian manifesto. New hires at the Cato Institute were labelled “virgins” if they hadn’t read the book. And libertarianism is definitely in right now.
5. Influential politicians and public figures love this book…including Alan Greenspan, although he told a congressional committee this: “Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity — myself, especially — are in a state of shocked disbelief.” He seems to have distanced himself from his early days when Rand was his guru. Rush Limbaugh is a fan, as are Glenn Beck, Mark Sanford, Rick Santelli, Clarence Thomas and many others.
6. It’s still a huge bestseller, though it doesn’t show up on the lists. And sales of the title seem to be picking up. The book sold more copies in the first quarter of 2009 than all of 2008, and it sold 200,000 copies in 2008. I just checked and the mass market edition is number 4 on Amazon for classics and the hardcover is number 5.
So get some replacement copies and read one yourself. This is a book you should know about. And you know what? It’s not such a bad read.
Marcus,
But that’s exactly why we should read it–as readers’ advisors we don’t always have the luxury of reading stuff we love and/or agree with. Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh remain popular with a lot of our patrons, so it’s never a bad idea to be familiar with similar or ideologically alike works.
Citing Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck as fans is enough reason to not want to read it.
I’ll admit to both reading and enjoying Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. (Although I was at a very different stage in my life then, which I think really comes into play with Ayn Rand books.) But I agree that they (or at least one of them) is worth reading: if nothing else, you’ll suddenly be privy to all sorts of “in jokes” in the pop culture–I’m pretty sure both The Simpsons and Family Guy have poked fun at Rand before.
I also remember them, frankly, as books that “moved”–sufficient story and characterization to keep me reading. And I am a reader who firmly believes very few books should be longer than 250-300 pages. Regardless of how you feel about the philosophy, I think they’re instructive to read to learn what makes them so popular–just as we RAs read lots of things that may not be our personal cup of tea.
Hmm. You’re both right…but don’t the other reasons convince you that librarians should read it and know about it? After all, you have, right?
I’m afraid I must second Owen. The book isn’t just dreadful–it’s really long and dreadful.
Ummm – want 20 reasons NOT to read it? Although only one is sufficient – it is one of the biggest piles of sophomoric claptrap ever written – oh – and you are right it isn’t such a bad read – it is such a totally dire read as to make you despair for humanity.