Atlas Shrugged Movie

[Crossless2.0]

I'll be damned if I watch any of these films. When I read Atlas Shrugged, I kept thinking that there could be few things worse than being stuck in an elevator with any of its characters. Well, maybe one thing: enduring Rand's wooden prose for a bazillion fucking pages. I consider the experience time served.

[Elskidor]

I've never heard of it...

[The Grand Nudger]

I had to cliff note it, ultimately. I've tried to read it through legitimately - it's on my kindle right now and I take it in, in little chunks...I can't get into the style, and the characters are meh - particularly the villains. They just don't seem very villainous, or, rather, if there were villains like Shrugged's villains I wouldn't worry too much about them (let me just say though...that I'm a dick when it comes to villains.....very very discriminating..lol, i think that we often spend so much time on our heroes that we fail to present an adequate antagonist for them - you just know that the bad guy is going to lose right from the start because nothing about him inspires confidence in you, particularly set against the fair haired hero, you know?). IDK, whether or not the book is any good is a matter of personal preference, obviously - but it is a contender, to my mind, for the title of "Most Overrated" - right up there with Joyce's Ulysses.

From those on the other end of the camp, who enjoy the book, anything in particular, help me see it in a new light?

[CapnAwesome]

I had to cliff note it, ultimately. I've tried to read it through legitimately - it's on my kindle right now and I take it in, in little chunks...I can't get into the style, and the characters are meh - particularly the villains. They just don't seem very villainous, or, rather, if there were villains like Shrugged's villains I wouldn't worry too much about them (let me just say though...that I'm a dick when it comes to villains.....very very discriminating..lol, i think that we often spend so much time on our heroes that we fail to present an adequate antagonist for them - you just know that the bad guy is going to lose right from the start because nothing about him inspires confidence in you, particularly set against the fair haired hero, you know?). IDK, whether or not the book is any good is a matter of personal preference, obviously - but it is a contender, to my mind, for the title of "Most Overrated" - right up there with Joyce's Ulysses.

From those on the other end of the camp, who enjoy the book, anything in particular, help me see it in a new light?

I agree with basically all of that. I have to add that the heroes are not inspiring and unrealistic. They basically lack any flaws and never make any real mistakes, which makes for a less than compelling story. Also there is one part of the book that particularly stuck out for me that easily could be interpreted as a criticism of literature that didn't sell very well or 'cult books' Ironic now that Atlas Shrugged is doing so poorly. Mind you this isn't criticism of the Philosophy (although I find some problems with that too) more of the incredibly repetitious and boring writing style.

[Neo-Scholastic]

Has anyone else noticed that people become real assholes for the first two weeks after they have read Atlas Shrugged?

[The Grand Nudger]

LOL, No, I haven't - but I've noticed people being assholes...maybe I should start asking people if they've read Atlas Shrugged rather than saying "you're an asshole" as my own little private joke?

But, since you've noticed that, I guess, why do you think that is?

[Minimalist]

It reminded me of the koran and the bible. All three were boring as shit.

Most religious books are.

For some reason, religious leaders are bad storytellers.

They are like used car salesmen who are trying to sell really shitty cars.

[Crossless2.0]

I agree with basically all of that. I have to add that the heroes are not inspiring and unrealistic. They basically lack any flaws and never make any real mistakes, which makes for a less than compelling story. Also there is one part of the book that particularly stuck out for me that easily could be interpreted as a criticism of literature that didn't sell very well or 'cult books' Ironic now that Atlas Shrugged is doing so poorly. Mind you this isn't criticism of the Philosophy (although I find some problems with that too) more of the incredibly repetitious and boring writing style.

For me, the cherry on top is the fact that Rand -- that steely-eyed champion of rationality and individualism -- brow beat and bullied her immediate circle into what can only be described as a cult of personality, complete with a secular version of excommunication for anyone who dared challenge the Great Lady on any points of fact or theory. Whatever face she presented to the public at large, in her personal life she was highly authoritarian and brooked no dissent.

[Neo-Scholastic]

LOL, No, I haven't - but I've noticed people being assholes...maybe I should start asking people if they've read Atlas Shrugged rather than saying "you're an asshole" as my own little private joke?

But, since you've noticed that, I guess, why do you think that is?

I think its because all the protagonists lack any real empathy and view all human relationships as an economic transaction. And that attitude rubs off onto people.

[The Grand Nudger]

Perhaps. Then again, perhaps -if that's the case- those people already had that sort of feeling about human interaction and the novel provided a way for them to see it expressed more clearly (even if that's not actually the case). People (and this is just my experience) do tend to express their innermost innermosts more fully and visibly when they're operating under the assumption that at least -someone- agrees with them. Maybe Atlas Shrugged tapped into an existing current, IE, they were always, albeit quietly - assholes? As a gentler aside; empathy, by it's very nature, can be exceedingly uncomfortable. An excuse to take a break from it is probably going to be welcome to most of us, even if only very briefly (if for no other reason than to quiet our minds), eh?