I was watching Book TV on CSPAN, in between books and wringing my hands over some future planning and along comes a man who used Ayn Rand's novels as a sort of apocalypse. I believe it was Tom Bowden (see http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=media_ThomasABowden ) but can't find the video to verify that. He asked the question, "Who in John Galt" and applied modern political situations and players to "Atlas Shrugged". I was intrigued enough to get a copy from the library. Really though, should I invest the time to read 1000 pages of microscopic type? Apparently these are among those books that every hip 50 something should have read but that isn't enough to pursuade me. After 120 pages my answer is yes and I am going to invite you to journey with me. Why?
First, it addresses the world of the 1950's, a world overwhelmed with post WWII change. Like the transportation business in the '50's, our time honored industries are not guaranteed to be the same as always or even exist. Second, our creativity in music, film and the arts are shown to be in full retreat. Everything from cigarettes to music are celebrating mediocrity and sneering at excellence.This cuts me to the heart as I read that "Dirty Dancing" and "Charlie's Angels" are being remade while the arts, the seeds of creative thought, are being cut from public schools. Third, the free market was challenged seriously then. In our day it is on the edge of extinction. Finally, it is well written. I read about 20 books a year and the thought of a aging "social novel", leaves me cold. I have enough hidden agendas in my life. Rand is a poet more than novelist. The wordsmithing is intoxicating. It is still a best seller after 47 years. 
Join me on this Journey. I am taking it on vacation and reading it while the others are asleep. Maybe this book has a germ of truth and maybe it is heresy. It is certainly not a Christian book. Christ is hidden in here somewhere. There is no way to know without plowing through. It is going to take a while but I want to know, "Who is John Galt?" I have no interest in video walls, the movie or Fox News's opinion and will update this regularly as we go. Share where you care.8-20-11: I am not quite to the half way point. This book has a real resonance with me. Rand draws me into the uncertainty of the times just as the 24 hour news channels draw me into the uncertainty of today. The stock market drops and rises along with fuel prices while the good guys seem to fade while the greedy and manipulative "Dagney is finding herself without losing her competitive edge by aligning herself with a small but courageous competitor, which she admires, and helping his small railroad to defeat the evil empire of the "National Alliance of Railroads". It is like an Olympian helping a fallen runner up before continuing the race. Integrity is hard to find in tense times and I am left to wonder what back-room deals are really driving my career, fuel prices and retirement investments.
The Lesson for Life? Competition is good, even in the church, but there is no need to kill. It takes us all and creativity is not the enemy. Obviously, every one would be better by being just like me, (insert laughter here) but it takes all shapes and sized. Who is John Galt? The answer in here and in the present to those who seek.
8-27-11 "Who is John Galt", is a cry for answers to the unanswerable. The more I read the longer it gets, wow. Whether medical things, economic things or state of society things, we are swimming in a see of either unanswered or unanswerable questions. Massive change and the few people of courage to make necessary change happen is the main exploration of Rand. The characters keep developing and fleshing out but the questions remain.
The lesson for life...now and then read a 1000 page book. The 500 word bits that everything seems to come in will ruin you for deeper thought. This is a pounding but is worth the investment. The trick is to keep from being one of those who are warming themselves around Merton's campfire of answers to questions we are too cowardly to ask.
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