Atlas Shrugged

I finished Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand at about 6 last night. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself right now. It's over 1000 pages, and the font is tiny. I basically sat in bed and read all day, but I finished it. I'm pretty sure it's a record for me. The leg cramps and pins and needles both sucked, but it was worth it, because Atlas Shrugged was amazing. I should read really long books more often- there's just so much more room for a plot and characters to develop. I felt like I really got a pretty full idea of the different characters (except for the ones that were intentionally left mysterious). Most of the books I read are 200-350 pages. I think by keeping track of the number of books I read, I'm tempted to pick shorter books so that my count keeps rising. I remember my Creative Writing teacher warning me about that in 9th grade. He told me that I shouldn't keep track of books because it put pressure on me to read too quickly or read only a narrow group of books. I guess he was right, to an extent. That being said, I don't think that I'll stop keeping track. I didn't give myself a goal to hit this year for that reason. I don't want to be pressured. I am actually planning on not beating 155 from last year. I feel like if I keep beating the previous year's count, I'll feel obligated to read more, and more, and more, until it's not fun anymore.

So anyway, Atlas Shrugged.
It was soooo good. Definitely one of my favorite books of all time. I liked and cared about all of the main characters (except, or course, the antagonists, who Rand easily made me dislike).
I don't know that I necessarily agree with all of the philosophies in the book. The basic summary is that the "thinkers" of the world (the smart men/women who make the world what it is) remove themselves from society in protest of the corruption of the "looters". It is then shown that the world falls apart without them. The message is largely against socialism. The novel demonstrates that all people cannot be equal, and socialism (and the destruction of competition and capitalism) leads to destruction and chaos.
I have never been a huge fan of socialism. I think that if one works harder, one deserves to be more successful than one who does not work as hard. I believe in competition. I believe that someone has to lose, so that everyone can learn. I don't usually pity the poor, because I think that if they choose to work, they can succeed (although yes, it may be harder).
That being said, the main axiom of the thinkers of the world is that they choose to look after their own interests and live for themselves, not for any other man. I think that while they say this, and follow it to an extent, it is not entirely true,. I think that one can help others and support others and live for other while also pursuing one's own interests and values. No extreme is correct. There has to be a meshing of working for oneself and working for others. I think Eddie Willers represents the happy medium. He is obviously the most moral man in the book, although also one of the least developed central characters. He looks after his own interest, to an extent, while also educating others (specifically John Galt) about the goings-on of the world. I found it interesting that Rand chose to leave Willers, the character most people can probably relate to, in an unresolved situation.
I know that I've read another book in which the great men of the world are in a detached utopia setting. I just don't know what book it was. It's really going to bother me.
I also loved that I could relate what I've learned in history to the book. There were a few quotes by Gilded Age millionaires ("The public be damned!") that I recognized and obvious Cold War references and references to political socialist groups. I love feeling educated.
Also, I had expected the style of the book to be more... unnecessarily complex? Verbose? Difficult? I don't know. I guess I just expected it to be a lot harder to get through. It wasn't It was really an easy read, once I got used to the small print and stopped thinking about how long it was. I couldn't have finished a dull book that quickly. 9.5/10

Books this Year: 11
Nonfiction: 4 (36%)