Atlas Shrugged had several well described names and places. When she moved to California by train, her train stopped in Taggart, UT hence: Taggart Transcontinental). I've been there. It is a red rock canyon with a few sparse homes and one little store. It is the visual concept for Galt's Gulch. Also in Taggart, the train track goes through a tunnel. Man, on a trip to California, note-takers can get all the inspiration in the world.
Once in California, her train stopped in Galt, CA. I lived near there. Grape country.
She started taking locational notes while writing The Fountainhead. Ellsworth Touhy, the villain, is named after Touhy Avenue, Chicago and the town of Ellsworth, IL. Her perceptive abilities served her well.
Getting into Galt's Gulch was more about integrity than ability. Francisco d'Anconia, Galt's closest pal, pretended to be a playboy while he destroyed his family's mining business. As we learn from Atlas Shrugged, tearing down the rotting civilization can be the best way to replace it with a better one.
But John Galt only approached people whom he deemed worthy to Galt's Gulch. I doubt anyone in the real world would do what he did, but if there's someone like that, people like me would not be invited. Just like Eddie (Dagny's assistant) was not invited even though he's not a looter, but he just doesn't have any special skills.
Oh yeah, Eddie. You sure know your Ayn Rand. I like that. Eddie did not perish in the story, he just remained 'out there'. Keep in mind, the idea was not that everybody would perish, just the structure of the evil society. Eddie was a survivor just as I expect you would be.
Questions: 1. Did you see the so-so movies of Atlas Shrugged? 2. Di you ever see The Fountainhead? 3. Did you ever read We The Living? 4. Did you know about the We The Living movie?
We the living was pretty good, and the sweetest part is that it wa made by Mussolini in 1942! Hahaha! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SDYYGb5p1Q
Eddie may or may not have died. At the end of the story (IIRC) he's stuck on a broken down train, everyone else got on to the horse drawn wagons and left the train. He might just die of starvation out there.
- I watched the first movie to completion, it's not too bad. The second movie they seem to have changed some casts, I didn't like that at all. Didn't watch the third movie.
- I tried to listen to the audiobook, it just didn't interest me enough for me to finish. I feel like Roark is too stubborn to the point of unlikeable.
- I haven't read We The Living, I might check it out.
- Haven't seen that either. Damn, that's an old movie.
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