Atlas... Shrugged

Ayn Rand’s philosophy is often criticized by academics from what I’ve heard (which means I spent 10 minutes on wikipedia), but I am reading Atlas Shrugged now, and what many think is her magnum opus offers many logical answers to questions I have been asking myself (and people around me, though I can’t say they’ve been interested in answering) the past few years. Even if her Objectivism is not a sound philosophical system as many critics contend (of which I can’t offer any educated opinion), I feel that there’s many things to learn from her words, and each page I turn brings me closer to an affirmation and a general conclusion of certain issues in my life that needed resolving, even encompassing awkward areas like relationships, friendships and family.

I like reading her novels so much because most of all, they speak about the promise and the potential of Man (and of course woman lah)… Though all her fictional works are set in gloomy, depressing depictions of the US and a generally sad and depressing world I think the underlying message in her novels are always filled with positive vibes… ;) A much better self-help book than all those phony marketing pieces of crap filling up bookshelves in bookstores with big fancy glittery lettering but which are full of NONSENSE!

And I heard there’s a 2009 Atlas Shrugged movie in the works, with Angelina Jolie as Dagny Taggart… With movies as it is nowadays, I sure hope it beats the 1949 Fountainhead movie (which was rather crap to me)

Finally, I always wondered what’s with the weird nonsensical title “Atlas Shrugged”. Halfway into the book I finally understood. Not Atlas as in a book of maps, but Atlas as in the giant of Greek mythology.. sheesh. Clears things up quite a bit.