[thomashton]

Hi everyone. I don't want to infuse politics into the discussion here, but lately I have been thinking that I should pick up that big tome Atlas Shrugged and finally read it. I can't find it on Amazon in Kindle format and don't want a dead tree version and I doubt I could get through all 1000+ pages in the time the library would let me have it. Anyone know where I can get an eBook copy of it that is Kindle-appropriate?

Thanks.

 

[Jeff]

I've looked for it many times with no luck. The only Ayn Rand book I've found is Anthem.

Jeff

 

[TheJohnNewton]

Assuming you mean a legal copy I don't think it is available.

 

[Leslie]

Write to the Ayn Rand Institute and tell them you want the book in a Kindle edition.

http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index

L

 

[thomashton]

Thanks. Request sent. Also on Amazon.

 

[thomashton]

That was fast:

Dear Mr. Ashton, Thank you for your inquiry about Kindle editions of Ayn Rand's books. We expect and hope that these books will be available in Kindle and other electronic formats. There are just some business issues to be worked out with the publishers.

Richard E. Ralston
Publishing Manager
Ayn Rand Institute

 

[Leslie]

I am glad I suggested it! Thanks for reporting back.

L

 

[chynared21]

You can find it on my bookshelf but I haven't read it yet

 

[Leslie]

You can find it on my bookshelf but I haven't read it yet

It is not on my bookshelf and I never read it either, but I still knew about the Ayn Rand Institute! LOL

L

 

[chynared21]

It is not on my bookshelf and I never read it either, but I still knew about the Ayn Rand Institute! LOL

L

A cookie for Leslie too

 

[Jeff]

Everything Ayn Rand ever wrote is on my bookshelf. In fact, I was tempted to say that Ayn Rand's books are among my favorites but that wouldn't be completely honest. They changed the way I looked at the world when I was seventeen, but as an adult, I re-read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged only to discover that the wonder of them was gone.

It was the same with J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. From the viewpoint of an adult, Holden Caulfield was just a dumb kid.

I think to really connect with Holden Caulfield you must be young and feeling the pain of growing up. And to really connect with Howard Roark or John Galt I think you must be young enough to believe that anything's possible.

At my age, the magic of Ayn Rand's words are gone, but they're still well worth reading.

Jeff

 

[Leslie]

Interesting, Jeff. I feel the same way about Holden.

I discovered Catcher in the Rye when I was in ninth grade. My mother tried to take it away from me but the cat was out of the bag. The book was in our house, after all. I just found it on the shelf.

I probably read it twice a year for the next four years. I read a bunch of the other Salinger books and stories, too, but didn't like any of them nearly as much.

I went back and started re-reading Catcher a few years ago and couldn't even get past the first 10 pages. I decided to stop and just remember the impact it had on me way back when and leave it at that.

L

 

[Jeff]

Most people agree with you about Salinger's later books, Leslie.

My family hails from New York so New Yorker magazine was always part of my parents' household. Salinger's short stories about the Glass family in New Yorker were wonderful. When he tried to put them together in Frannie and Zooey and in Raise High the Rooftop Carpenters, they didn't work.

J

 

[Gertie Kindle]

Everything Ayn Rand ever wrote is on my bookshelf. In fact, I was tempted to say that Ayn Rand's books are among my favorites but that wouldn't be completely honest. They changed the way I looked at the world when I was seventeen, but as an adult, I re-read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged only to discover that the wonder of them was gone.

I read them in college and still have every one. I got so into Ayn Rand, that I even subscribed to Nathaniel Brandon's Objectivist Newsletter, and I have an audio cassette of Rand's last lecture/seminar.

But you're right, Jeff, as we grow older, the wonder goes away. It's no longer a new discovery and there are many other paths still to explore.

I remember reading Wuthering Heights when I was 17 and I was struck with the power and passion of the story. I reread it in my 30's and thought that Heathcliff and Kathy could have used a good dose of B vitamins.

Still, these are classics are available for young people to discover and explore. There are forums around for discussing Atlas Shrugged.

Did you read John Galt's speech the first time? What was it? About 50 pages? Most people I know didn't read it straight through. It was probably my fourth read that I went through it.

 

[Jeff]

I read them in college and still have every one. I got so into Ayn Rand, that I even subscribed to Nathaniel Brandon's Objectivist Newsletter, and I have an audio cassette of Rand's last lecture/seminar.

...Did you read John Galt's speech the first time? What was it? About 50 pages? Most people I know didn't read it straight through. It was probably my fourth read that I went through it.

I subscribed to their newsletter while I was still in the Army but they got a little too far to the right, even for a flag waver like me. I'm sure I must have read John Galt's speech the first time I read the book but I vaguely remember thinking it was a little wordy.

JH

 

[Jen]

I'm SO glad to see this thread!!  I've wanted to read that forever too, and I've wanted to read the Fountainhead again for years.  I'm so happy to see the publishers are going to do it.  I hate to hear that Jeff, but you're probably right.  I'd still really like to re-read it, it's been at least 10 years. 

 

[Jeff]

Jen,

What I meant to say was that they don’t hold the same importance to me now. Ayn Rand’s books are and always will be worth reading and re-reading. When they’re released in digital format I’m sure I’ll read them again.

Jeff

 

[Jessrof]

I was wondering if anyone has seen The Fountainhead in ebook format.  I am currently reading the paperback... but my kindle should be here today... And I dont think I can bear to read a real book when I have that waiting for me   Thanks so much!

 

[marianneg]

I don't think it's available, at least not legally.  A lot of people are disappointed that only one of her books is available for the Kindle.

 

[Leslie]

People have written to the Ayn Rand Institute and have been told that they are working to make all of Ayn Rand's books available in ebook format.

L