A new look at old books: "Atlas Shrugged"

"Atlas Shrugged is a hateful book, deserving of hatred, which contains nothing between its covers but adequate writing and deplorable ideas."
- Sarah Szabo, Variety Editor for the student newspaper of the University of Tulsa

In her review of Atlas Shrugged, Szabo savages Ayn Rand as a sad, bitter, second-class writer still shell-shocked from starving in Russia. Szabo asserts that Atlas Shrugged is full of material that makes Stalin look tame, claiming Rand had "ideas that were just as bad, just as cruel, and somehow even more painful to read than the ideologies of her enemies."

Somehow failing to notice any characters beside Dagny and John Galt, and overlooking the necessity to objectively critique any idea, principle, or passage contained in its pages, Szabo opens herself up to the suspicion that she either never read the book, or she's the progeny of Betram Scudder.

In her own words, "None of this would be all that offensive if it were not just idiotic in every conceivable way."

(Note: I started reading Atlas Shrugged a few weeks ago, and just reached the 600 page mark. As soon as I finish, I will publish my own review (warning: expect analysis of actual content)).

(Note 2: The University of Tulsa recently received $750,000 in federal funding for a yet unproductive experiment trying to refine algae into gasoline. Government funding accounts for 59% of the school's research budget.)

Pardon me as I transition from laughing to weeping.