Being too lazy to actually attack this by *reading* it, I picked up the audio version. I have listened to Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” at least a half dozen times over the past couple of decades. If you know me you’ll know that I don’t give up the time to do this lightly. “The Fountainhead” I found to be somewhat more preachy (yeah, yeah I know. Is that even possible?). Ayn’s never really been known for multifaceted and realistic characters, instead they all rather assume aspects of her ideology and remain focused in that manner throughout the book.
About halfway through “The Fountainhead” I had considered not bothering to finish it (it *is* just under 31 hours long after all) because the characters really are not at all accessible to me. The motivations the characters espouse for their apparently sociopathic behavior toward each other (protagonists and antagonists alike – although which are which is sometimes not really obvious) are absurd to a rational human. They make sense only in Ms. Rand’s relatively black and white conception of the world and the values that one needs to hold to be true to themselves within it.
But I persevered and was gratified by the way the story wound up finally.
I would say that it’s worth experiencing this book at least once just to get a sense of Ayn Rand’s philosophies. But I am unlikely to listen to the book again.
For someone interested in a more entertaining and mildly grayer (IMHO) view of the world I would suggest “Atlas Shrugged”.
@Carl – I’m not sure there’s an effective way to address that. There are myriad causes. Gang violence, drug addict issues, Mafia and then plain accidental. I’m not sure how that statistic would be broken down.
Simply saying “get rid of the guns” isn’t really an answer as the guns are already here and the only ones you can get rid of effectively are the legally registered ones owned, presumably, by honest folks. Certainly the statistics bear out the lack of crime associated with concealed weapons permit owners contrasted with the general population.