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Comment by Vegenoid | Hacker News Reader

I know almost nothing about Atlas Shrugged, besides that it is very political, but this seems a strange and deceptive way to interact with people. I can't imagine it is very good for establishing trust with someone even if they "pass the test". I would think that many level-headed people you seek to select for would not appreciate being tested in this way, but I suppose you are selecting for a very specific kind of person who would find these kinds of social games and tests interesting.

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It is political, but it is also not a good book. Like, it has a gigantic monologue in the middle where one of the main characters just stands there and expounds on the theme of the book, for many pages. It is not well written.

If somebody said they liked… some books by Heinlein or whatever, there’s a guy with some Political Opinions. But he can write. It is believable, picking a Heinlein book isn’t an obvious political test.

> for many pages

For those who do not know, this is an understatement. The monologue is some 60 pages long.

my feeling is that it's a "badge" book and by that i mean, you wear it as a badge in order to signal your fluency in pro/anti objectivism conversations. conversations about it remind me of my post-high school experiences with peers while discussing movies. people always chose apocalypse now, the crying game, or the usual suspects as the "best movie in recent memory" and the reasoning was generally because they wanted to appear thoughtful/cerebral, but edgy, but also down with a little popcorn movie violence or other human vice. it was a signal, not a preference.

as such, i found atlas shrugged to be a dull, self-indulgent thought piece that was aesthetically and technically unappealing. however, it is an important work that has influence on philosophies of human politics.

but that's just, like, my opinion, man

IMO a piece of fiction works better as a “badge” in this sense if it can be defended as a really good work of art in-and-of itself, without the message behind it. Part of the game is that being the one to obviously introduce ideology into the discussion is a bad opening move.

Like what if the other party doesn’t take the political bait and starts talking about train sex or whatever?

If someone starts talking about train sex, the ensuing conversation is going to be an absolute riot

wholeheartedly agree. i guess the message i was trying to convey is that i see people wearing familiarity with the work of art as a badge, not that i've badged them with it.

anyway, yes, political conversations would be far more productive if they discussed train sex over against rand-based political/economic theory

When I was younger "2001" was my favorite movie. As I grew older, "The Wizard of Oz" moved into the front. There's never been another movie remotely like it, before or since. It stands alone.

This is a great example.

Learning someone enjoys Rand's writing/philosophy diminishes them in my eyes, but Heinlein is just good taste in scifi.

Consider Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle". A looong, socialist monologue takes up a big chunk of the book. It's the socialist version of "Atlas Shrugged".

The West Wing is this for American liberals.

Though not as dull. Rand's writing can send you off to sleep in no time - and then if you're reading in bed you risk having the book fall on your head.

Honestly I would probably ask OP whether they re-read it as an adult and whether it held up on second reading. I know I've gone back to things I liked in 8th grade that seem very cringe to me today.

> a gigantic monologue in the middle

So just because you can't think of another book that has this, it's not well written?

idk I'm no follower of objectivism but Atlas Shrugged is a book you definitely dont forget... and in my classification that makes it good

I mean… can’t really account for taste. But it is extremely rare that I’ll see anybody try to defend Atlas Shrugged as a good book in and of itself. Even you, trying to find some good in it, could only classify it as “memorable.” Lots of things are memorable and bad!

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