Now This Could Be Compelling - Tracinski Has Started A Reader's Guide To Atlas Shrugged!

[Selene]

Where Is John Galt?

A Reader's Guide to Atlas Shrugged, Part 1

by Robert Tracinski

You do not need a reader's guide to Atlas Shrugged—at least not for your first reading.

Atlas Shrugged is not like the Bible. The Bible is full of diversions that seem inexplicable or that don't seem to advance the story, because their meaning has been obscured through five thousand years of history. But Atlas Shrugged is clear, compelling, eminently readable, and perfectly comprehensible on its own terms.

Yet Atlas is also a rich and complex novel, with an intricate plot in which dozens of moving parts mesh together and many minor themes are woven in amongst the novel's big philosophical issues. There is a reason its fans tend to read it over and over again: it is so big and complex that you cannot take it all in or appreciate all of its facets at once. It rewards further study, and my goal in this series is to share what I've learned about the novel over decades of reading it and thinking about it.

The specific trigger for starting this series was yet another abortive attempt by a mainstream publication to grapple with the novel's intellectual content and literary merits. Such efforts are usually disappointing, when they are attempted at all. There's nothing particularly unusual about this one, and my goal is not to answer all of its misconceptions. But it got me thinking that Atlas Shrugged is a novel that deserves to be the frequent subject of serious analysis, with writers eager to share new insights about its plot structure, philosophical themes, and literary technique. Since mainstream writers aren't doing this, and since I think I have some interesting new observations to offer, I decided to do my part to help give Atlas Shrugged the thoughtful appreciation it deserves.

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