What Book Today Is What Atlas Shrugged Was? - Comments Page 2

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• 26 - Nick Jones

  Jan 06, 2005 at 6:54 pm

  Possible candidates? Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, (if it's not already) and maybe something by Neal Stephenson.

• 27 - DrPat

  Jan 06, 2005 at 7:07 pm

  Hmmm... I think you may be right, Nick. Cryptonomicon is pretty convolute, presents some interesting parallels with reality and has the gravitas to be a candidate.
  
  I still haven't read Gracity's Rainbow, so I am clueless on that one.
  
  Harry Potter may be more influential in 20 years than you give it credit for, Tim. Not so much in itself, perhaps, as in kick-starting a generation of video- and TV-watchers to appreciate the joys of reading.
  
  So the saddle-kids who came after the media revolution, but grew up before Rowling may be the second "Lost Generation".

• 28 - NancyGail

  Jan 11, 2005 at 9:25 pm

  Offhand, I'd say the book talked about down the road is DaVinci Code.

• 29 - Dave Nalle

  Jan 12, 2005 at 1:23 am

  Neuromancer is a novel of our time, but it doesn't have the philosophical content of a taco.
  
  Scary though the thought is, the equivalent for our times might be the wretched novels of Tim LaHaye with their WalMart version of the apocalypse.
  
  Hey wait. How about the Turner Diaries. I'm sure that will ring some bells with the camo-clad portion of the audience. I know I keep a copy in my bunker.
  
  But on a more serious note, the closest novelist I can think of who is writing today and fits in the general category of Ayn Rand or Robert Heinlein would be F. Paul Wilson and he's soft-pedaled and commercialized his message a lot in recent years, with corresponding enhancement of sales.
  
  Dave

• 30 - iJames

  Jan 12, 2005 at 2:11 pm

  Nope, nope. The question, as I understand it, was what books will influence readers decades from now. Harry Potter will be remembered for its commercial success but is hardly spawning any deep social or critical movements, and Cryptonomicon doesn't present a clear message and is too rooted in its time. And if we're talking about current books, some of the examples cited here -- Gravity's Rainbow and Lord of the Rings -- are disqualified for being decades old already.
  
  I strongly suspect The Da Vinci Code's a blip, but if I'm wrong about that then it may be the best candidate mentioned yet, along with the Left Behind books. (Hey, you did make clear that they didn't have to be good books.)
  
  I realize all this naysaying puts me on the spot for a positive example. Unfortunately I've got no ideal ones. Matt Ruff's Sewer, Gas & Electric certainly influenced me personally -- it's in many ways a direct deconstruction of Atlas Shrugged, but funnier -- but as most people haven't heard of it today, I don't have high hopes that it'll be known thirty years from now. And Stephenson might do something in the next few years that's truly socially influential, even if Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle aren't it. (You might say he already succeeded with Snow Crash, which continues to shape many CS people's perspectives on virtual reality and online society.)
  
  If I was cocky, of course, I'd say "The stuff I'm writing right now." >8-> But I must admit the odds really aren't that great.

• 31 - DrPat

  Jan 12, 2005 at 9:08 pm

  I hadn't thought of the "Left Behind" genre. There were some earlier examples of the Biblical Apocalyptic novel that had a brief flirt with the ages, but then disappeared. (Also some science fiction has explored the consequences of a Biblical Rapture disappearance.)
  
  I suspect that Atlas Shrugged has the legs it exhibits because its conceptual core is new, not adopting older writings whole (as Left Behind does) so much as extending and explaining or refuting them.
  
  IMHO, Neuromancer and The DaVinci Code have the best claim so far to stick around. Other decades-older books continue to appeal, but do not spark the same discussions and zeal that AS continues to provide.
  
  Maybe we're all too close to the topic to see what might last. The proof of a pudding is in the eating, and lasting power requires time to prove.

• 32 - akfox

  Mar 01, 2005 at 9:36 pm

  How about Calvin & Hobbes? It was probably the only non-political cartoon that strived for more than cheap laughs and yet still touched upon some deeper philosophical issues. And they are collected in books...perhaps they'll eventually ignite some kind of comic rennaissance. Aside from that I can't think of much recent (philosophical) fiction that is worth the paper it's printed on.
  --Fox

• 33 - akfox

  Mar 01, 2005 at 9:37 pm

  And Davinci Code is just anti-Catholic propoganda.

• 34 - DrPat

  Mar 02, 2005 at 3:34 pm

  The DaVinci Code is recycled ancient heresy - it's not anti-Catholic so much as fiction in the manner of The Name of the Rose. Although I recall some of the same arguments being spouted when Umberto Eco's book first came out...

• 35 - Aaman

  May 17, 2005 at 2:45 pm

  A fine blend of Atlas Shrugged and Narnia can be found at Hitherby Dragons - Aslan Shrugged
  

  Peter, Edmund, Lucy, and Susan travel to a hidden valley. They stay at the home of Professor Galt.
  
  "Professor Galt is perfect in every respect," sighs Lucy.
  
  "I guess he'd make a fine engine," says Edmund. "But men like him should stick to their engines and leave the politics to higher minds."
  
  "Edmund!" snaps Peter. "That's a rotter of a thing to say."
  
  "I just don't see why we have to leave the world to fend for itself," says Edmund. "I want to build railroads."
  
  "My cosmetics are too good for them," says Susan. She's only 12, but already her cosmetics empire rivals Avon. "They want me to live as a slave so that they can be beautiful. Edmund, John Galt is right."