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Love to hate.
Aug. 18th, 2012 12:26 amBFF Robyn and I were hating on things we love to hate together (Catcher In The Rye, Waterland, Bruno Mars lyrics*) and we talked about Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged which we both read as teenagers. She enjoyed it (though didn't embrace the philosophy) and I liked bits of it and hated other bits. Also, I didn't read that massive "radio address" lecture in the middle, god, NOTHING HAPPENED. FOR FIFTY PAGES.
What we agreed on, however, was that despite the fact it is kind of rapey, we were both attracted to the romance flavoring of the book. Also despite the fact it MESSES UP the romance:
ME: Oh man I was SO PISSED that she ended up with Galt.
BFF ROBYN: RIGHT? Shoulda been...Rearden?
ME: HANK
BFF ROBYN: Was that the other guy?
ME: Hank Rearden, yep.
BFF ROBYN: When teenagers tell me they really like Ayn Rand I am like "oh cool, do you read sci-fi?"**
BFF ROBYN: When grownups tell me that I am like, "oh cool, I gotta go talk to someone else now".
I know at least one person who reads Atlas Shrugged as a sci-fi AU Earth, which makes it much more palatable. Alas! It was recommended to me as an interesting but flawed philosophical novel, and that's how I read AND JUDGED it.
* LOOK DUDE. It doesn't matter if you would catch a grenade for her, she is not obliged to love you, and she is definitely not obliged to do the same!
What we agreed on, however, was that despite the fact it is kind of rapey, we were both attracted to the romance flavoring of the book. Also despite the fact it MESSES UP the romance:
ME: Oh man I was SO PISSED that she ended up with Galt.
BFF ROBYN: RIGHT? Shoulda been...Rearden?
ME: HANK
BFF ROBYN: Was that the other guy?
ME: Hank Rearden, yep.
BFF ROBYN: When teenagers tell me they really like Ayn Rand I am like "oh cool, do you read sci-fi?"**
BFF ROBYN: When grownups tell me that I am like, "oh cool, I gotta go talk to someone else now".
I know at least one person who reads Atlas Shrugged as a sci-fi AU Earth, which makes it much more palatable. Alas! It was recommended to me as an interesting but flawed philosophical novel, and that's how I read AND JUDGED it.
* LOOK DUDE. It doesn't matter if you would catch a grenade for her, she is not obliged to love you, and she is definitely not obliged to do the same!
