Deja Book

I used to read Tom Clancy books all the time. I haven't read one in a while, although Armored Cav happens to be on my to-read list. Back in the very late 80s or early 90s, I was reading a Tom Clancy novel (the name of which I don't recall) at the same time a significant world event was occurring, either the fall of the Berlin Wall or the collapse of the Soviet Union (which one I don't recall). It happened that the plot of the novel included that very same event, and what I do remember is how I felt watching the evening news, listening to them report on what I had read in the novel earlier that day. Fascinating effect, disorienting, and almost scary.

Deja Book.

I've been reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. If you're not going to read it yourself, you can find a synopsis not too far away from a query into your favorite search engine. I'm about halfway through the book so far, and I'm very much enjoying it. A fine novel. Fascinating dialog. Like this one, which takes place at a party hosted by the Rearden's wife:

Scudder: "...Property rights are a superstition. One holds property only by the courtesy of those who do not seize it. The people can seize it at any moment. If they can, why shouldn't they?"

Slagenhop: "They should. They need it. Need is the only consideration. If people are in need, we've got to seize things first and talk about it afterwards."

And then there's this:

d'Anconia: "Did you want to see it [Rearden's invention] used by whining rotters who never rouse themselves to any effort, who do not possess the ability of a filing clerk, but demand the income of a company president, who drift from failure to failure and expect you to pay their bills, who hold their wishing as an equivalent of your work and their need as a higher claim to reward than your effort, who demand that you serve them..."

It's hard watching the evening news.

Deja book.