pippi Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 (edited) If anyone here is interested I am trying to start a reading group of either The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged, probably Atlas Shrugged.I think it would be interesting to read chapters as a group and discuss them, maybe a few chapters or sections a week or every few days, not sure. If anyone wants to read more they can follow the link in my signature.I hope to have the book discussion running by 4/1Thank you Edited March 19, 2011 by pippi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippi Posted March 23, 2011 Author Share Posted March 23, 2011 Update: our small group has decided on reading Atlas Shrugged starting 4/1/2011. It will probably be a few chapters every couple of days, format/time table has not yet been ironed out.Anyone else willing to join is welcome-I think it will be interesting and yes, fun. We already have a few OLers on board, anyone is welcome to participate.If interested, the link is in my signature.(thanks Michael for letting me put that up.)Pippi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroljane Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Pippi, I know you and your group will have a wonderful journey reading "Atlas Shrugged". In it Rand says explicitly and implicitly everything she gave to the world with her philosophy. It is a unique and exciting novel.For myself, I did not have the "Eureka moment" when reading it, not having a Eureka receptor in my particular sociogenetic makeup. But I know how transformative it has been for many people whom I value.Happy reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike11 Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 I am up for this.1) Where online is this happening?2) I am not, by any stretch, an objectivist, can I still join? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippi Posted March 23, 2011 Author Share Posted March 23, 2011 (edited) I am up for this.1) Where online is this happening?2) I am not, by any stretch, an objectivist, can I still join?Joel just click the link in my signature that should work to get you to the group page, Daunce if you want to participate that's up to you of course. Edited March 23, 2011 by pippi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reidy Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Think I'll see the movie instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroljane Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 (edited) I am up for this.1) Where online is this happening?2) I am not, by any stretch, an objectivist, can I still join?Joel just click the link in my signature that should work to get you to the group page, Daunce if you want to participate that's up to you of course.Thank you, but as I said in my previous post I am not right for such a group. I am not one for Randian either-ors, but I think it's true that there are 2 kinds of AS readers; those who have read it and want and need to read it again, and those who don't, and I am of the second kind.You are better with new readers and one or two re-readers who already know the book. But let me say as a teaser that I think evil old Lillian was one of its most interesting characters, for many literary reasons. Edited March 23, 2011 by daunce lynam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Coates Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 In one of her writing courses or in TRM, I remember Rand discussing the fact that villains often tended to be the most interesting characters and even among some of her favorite books. I don't recall if she explained why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroljane Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 In one of her writing courses or in TRM, I remember Rand discussing the fact that villains often tended to be the most interesting characters and even among some of her favorite books. I don't recall if she explained why.That's interesting. As she created such good villians, I wonder if she could have explained her own unconscious artistic processes. If she tried to do that using her own rigorous aesthetic analytics, I think she would have got further than she wanted to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippi Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 Think I'll see the movie instead.I don't trust anyone whose posts are shorter than their list of interests Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbeaulieu Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I'd like to try and participate. I don't know if my schedule will accomodate chapters in days, but I'm willing to crack at it.~ Shane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippi Posted April 2, 2011 Author Share Posted April 2, 2011 (edited) The book group started today-one chapter a week is the format, so right now it is - Chapter I The Theme. See my signature for the forum info.TY again Michael for letting me post here. Edited April 2, 2011 by pippi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Pippi,I'm not only happy you promote this here, I hope it grows.And let me add my voice to help.If anyone reading this would like to read AS in a paced manner, I highly recommend this initiative. The benefits of being able to talk to others as you go along are wonderful for increasing the experience.Good luck with this, Pippi.Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippi Posted April 2, 2011 Author Share Posted April 2, 2011 Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Biggers Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 (edited) I assume that the group will be concentrating primarily on the book (A.S.), per se, rather than to published commentaries on the book (e.g, The Literary Method of Ayn Rand - Thomas, ed., Atlas Shrugged: Manifesto of the Mind - Gladstein, Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged - Mayhew,ed., Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged: A Literary and Philosophical Companion- Younkins, ed.). Or to both the original source and the commentaries?Anyway, a refresher on what Rand actually wrote (rather than on what I remember) would be very useful (to me, at least), since it has been a while since I read the book all the way through and it's quite likely I will "see" things that I did not notice originally, or had forgotten, etc.To say that Rand's prose is stimulating to the mind is a gross understatement. Returning to the source may be a good antidote to the depressingly mind-numbing media mush.I will join your group as soon as I can get it to accept my registration. It refused several attempts. See, that is what media mush does to the mind!UPDATE: O.K., never mind, I got in. Temporary learning disability. :blush: Edited April 2, 2011 by Jerry Biggers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiaer.ts Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Villains are more interesting because the generate conflict, which is the essence of drama. They have wider freedom of action, and they are less likely to be hampered by conventional restraints. If the villain is motivated by some better motive than sheer malice, beastliness, or petty greed, the conflicts generated can be fascinating. One of the best dramatic characters of all time is Scorpius in the series Farscape, for just those reasons. Scorpius is the monstrous offspring of a woman who was raped by a Scarran, a predatory alien race intent on conquering the galaxy. He is the enemy of John Crichton, the series' protagonist, who has some knowledge of how to create and control a spatial wormhole, which could be used for travel or as a weapon. Scorpius first appears to be a typical power hungry sadist, but we learn the reasons for his vampirical appearance and his ruthlessness in looking for a weapon against the Scarrans as the series progresses. Here is a dramatic clip of the destruction of Scorpius' "deathstar" research vessel and an encounter between Scorpius and Crichton as the ship implodes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikee Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I assume that the group will be concentrating primarily on the book (A.S.), per se, rather than to published commentaries on the book (e.g, The Literary Method of Ayn Rand - Thomas, ed., Atlas Shrugged: Manifesto of the Mind - Gladstein, Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged - Mayhew,ed., Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged: A Literary and Philosophical Companion- Younkins, ed.). Or to both the original source and the commentaries?Anyway, a refresher on what Rand actually wrote (rather than on what I remember) would be very useful (to me, at least), since it has been a while since I read the book all the way through and it's quite likely I will "see" things that I did not notice originally, or had forgotten, etc.To say that Rand's prose is stimulating to the mind is a gross understatement. Returning to the source may be a good antidote to the depressingly mind-numbing media mush.I will join your group as soon as I can get it to accept my registration. It refused several attempts. See, that is what media mush does to the mind!Jerry,I had trouble signing on until I stopped trying to change the time zone setting and I forget what else. Just enter your name & PW and it accepts. Change the settings and it makes you start over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroljane Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 (edited) The book group started today-one chapter a week is the format, so right now it is - Chapter I The Theme. See my signature for the forum info.TY again Michael for letting me post here.There is no fun like reading a good book together and discussing it. You learn not only about the book but about yourself and the world, enjoy this wonderful experience. Edited April 2, 2011 by daunce lynam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syrakusos Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) There is no fun like reading a good book together and discussing it. You learn not only about the book but about yourself and the world, enjoy this wonderful experience. Agreed. You ought to join us. The discussion is lagging so far, almost two weeks in and not much is being written. I believe that it needs a critical mass, not just of numbers - though there is that - but of people who write well about their ideas; and daunce, that would be you. Your perceptions are not cutted and pasted from the works of others. Edited April 12, 2011 by Michael E. Marotta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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