As a good capitalist, I’ve had many people recommend Atlas Shrugged as a must read book – a Libertarian magnum opus.
The fictional story is set in a dystopian future America where crippling government interference and over-regulation are grinding the country to a halt. The moral of the story: overreaching, big government bad, laissez faire economics good. The perfect storyline for the Unrepentant Capitalist.
One little problem. The book isn’t very good.
The Unrepentant Capitalist’s Critique
1. The book is way too long. My paperback copy checks in at 1000+ pages. The story could have easily been told at a quarter of that page count. Not a good formula for those of us with ADD. The writing includes too much unnecessary detail. The author devotes 3 paragraphs to describe the cocktail dress worn by the wife of the Colombian ambassador at a state dinner. Ayn Rand meet Herman Melville. The famous John Galt speech runs 56 pages! 56 pages! Although a fictional character, John Galt doesn’t strike me as the windbag type.
2. It’s a fictional story, but the book is full of business events that are unbelievable to the point of being almost silly. The wind-down of the Mulligan bank is a good example, but there are many others. Mulligan sells off all the bank’s loans, and none of his employees are going to wonder what’s going on?
3. Not necessarily a deal breaker, but some of the characters are fantastically unbelievable both good and bad. Exhibit A is Francisco d'Anconia who’s a combination of James Bond, Elon Musk, and the most interesting man in the world.
The Unrepentant Capitalist is on-board with the book's basic theme, but the overdone, ornate wrapping and far-fetched story are just too much.
No comments:
Post a Comment