Should have read classics discussion

This is the discussion for the final part of Atlas Shrugged. Please remember spoiler alerts.

I am reading the first chapter in part 3. Has anyone else reached this section? discussion Pls?

Not there yet, trying to catch up though!

no prob. take ur time with ur reading .. will wait till u catch up

I noticed that children have not been mentioned much throughout the novel. I am not sure if this is intentional, but could the ideals and self interest promoted in this book work with children?

@ Miranda, the direct philosophy may be too complex for children. but if u are referring to chrildrens learning and growth within society, I think that on the most basic level, there is a lesson for young people to learn: especially since our youth are so creative, full of life, and full of love. in my opinion the number one lesson would be not to lose grasp of the above mentioned in order to partake in the greed and selfishness of mankind. and number two, the mind is your intelligence, your wealth and your power that will lead to your happiness so never let anyone take advantage of ur virtue.....its not for another to claim. .....I hope my answer is along the lines of what u were asking.. pls tell us what u think. 8-)

@Mpress-That does help, thanks. I also was wondering how rational self interest can work raising children. For example, would Dagny have reached the same conclusions had she been been a mother and performing such a selfless job?

Finally, I am almost done! I go back to the two boys that were in Magnus's village and how Rand described them as curious and self-starting, running around the village. She then talked about mother's that protected their children from every germ and disaster, but let them be fed with "poison" from school and society. Not sure where I'm going with this, but the two pictures of children was interesting. I don't think that she was saying that children should wander free and crazy, but that their minds and ideas should be appreciated.

interesting comment lisa.. protecting kids from physical danger and then not protecting their minds from poisonous filth ... hmmm. that's deep

my favorite part of the book so far is part 3. "this is John Galt speaking "...very profound

I enjoyed this part also, it seemed to go over my head for his speech though. I mentioned in another thread that at times I understood what Rand was trying to say, then I would get confused at what she was saying. I hate to admit that I read/skimmed parts of John Galt's speech, it seemed to actually go on for three hours at times.:)

It is discussed in the book that the mind and thinking is not something to give up, but celebrate and embrace. I wonder if this can be said about today when certain people bemoan the fact that common sense has diminished in society? Or the fact that test scores have fallen and people are more interested in Hollywood than learning and celebrating education?

I must say that the hardest part for me to take in was what happened to Eddie. I always enjoyed his character so I was disappointed with how his storyline ended.

@ lisa ....wow.. i want to know what happened tk eddie... ur far ahead of me now... must catch up :)

anyone else think that chapter " John Galt speaking" has deep religious connotations? I recognize references of Christianity.. wonder if Ayn rand was against religion? ?? interesting ... will read on to see where this is going

Mpress wrote: "anyone else think that chapter " John Galt speaking" has deep religious connotations? I recognize references of Christianity.. wonder if Ayn rand was against religion? ?? interesting ... will read ..."
I think that Rand was an atheist, if I remember from another thread. I have wondered if growing up in the Soviet Union, had some influence in her thoughts about religion?

@Lisa..hmm.. atheist
... it all makes sense

hmm..finally finished the book. the ending was not at all what I expected. not yet sure how I feel about the story. I guess I was looking forward to a diffrrenent end to atlas shrugged..does anyone else feel this way?. after 6 months of reading...ironically I need more time to gather my thoughts... will certainly come back with discussion..

Yes, the ending was not what I expected either. I think that I'm still processing it also, but the discussion in the other thread has clarified and opened up new avenues for me to think about.

Having just finished tonight, my mind's still reeling as I attempt to fully process the novel as a whole. I finally made it, Lisa!! Yay!:)
For me, I didn't know what quite to expect regarding the ending, because I think it could have gone in virtually any direction. While Eddie's fate saddens me (he was a favorite of mine, as well,) I found the final section to be breathtaking, I love it very much! It's beautiful... especially the first paragraph!

Mpress- that's very interesting that your favorite chapter is "This is John Galt speaking."


I will comment more later. Thank you, everyone! I feel honored to have been a part of this awesome discussion. And Lisa, of course, for encouraging me to post.:)

Congratulations Dustin! It is one of those books that requires some thought process. I will say that after reading this one it inspired me to start reading some of the books which are brought up time and again in political conversations. The comments in other threads made me realize that perhaps some history lessons are in order for me. You might be seeing some radically different books in my updates from now one. Going for a balanced approach!

Aw, thank you so very much, Lisa!! I know what you mean, I'm still trying to process the novel as a whole. After tackling this one, I really want to conquer other Classics, like War & Peace, Les Miserables, etc...

Dustin wrote: "Aw, thank you so very much, Lisa!! I know what you mean, I'm still trying to process the novel as a whole. After tackling this one, I really want to conquer other Classics, like War & Peace, Les Mi..."

Hey, do Les Mis! You can join in with those of us that are doing the buddy read. I know that it will take me awhile to finish that one.

I am determined to read it, someday! I just have no idea when I'll get to it.. Did you see the musical?

I look forward to your comments on Atlas Shrugged.

Thank you, Gilles. It's been two days since I finished it, and I'm still very much in Rand's world. I should be writing my review soon. I'll share the link, once it's posted.

Hi, everyone!

I'm proud to announce the completion of my review. It can be found here:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Nice review Dustin, the reviews are one of the reasons that I enjoy this site so much. The talent that so many people have for writing reviews amazes me. I have trouble stringing together complete sentences for the threads.

Aw, thank you so very much, Lisa!! I appreciate it immensely.:) And just so you know, your consistent encouragement and support truly helped me persevere through Atlas!!

So, does this mean that we can continue our discussion about this book? I'm not sure that there is anyone still reading it. I know that there was some interest in relating current events to this book. Any takers?

I am certainly interested!

So, what does everyone think of what is happening in Cyprus?

In Cyprus?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/0...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/de...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/0...

These are just a few news articles about it.

Thank you, Lisa.:)

Are you suggesting that Cyprus is collapsing as America does in AS?

No, I just thought that we were going to have some discussion of the book relating to current events. Although it would be interesting to note the comparisons and differences in the two countries. I just found it interesting that the EU decided to take money from "rich" people's bank accounts without much warning. I also understand that many of the larger accounts in Cyprus banks are reportedly held by Russian mafia.

Lisa wrote: "No, I just thought that we were going to have some discussion of the book relating to current events. Although it would be interesting to note the comparisons and differences in the two countries...."

Hmm, very interesting, indeed!