[pc86]

I'm of two minds on this. On one hand, yes you probably don't want to go through life "testing" people in this way as I'm sure there are some unintended consequences of doing so and you probably end up with kind of a boring circle of people around you. On the other hand, I would never want to be friends with someone who thinks someone is an idiot because they liked a particular book. "You liked this thing I don't like and therefore I want nothing to do with you" is extremely childish. So it would seem to have exactly the intended effect in this case.

[cactacea]

Saying it is your favorite book is one thing. Saying it "changed your life" is another and yes, I'd think anyone who's life was changed by that particular book is indeed an idiot. I just don't see myself wanting to continue to engage with that person after a comment like that. Maybe I'm just impatient shrug

[mgkimsal]

Cactacea Shrugged

Before I made a judgement about someone making that claim, I'd need to know in what way it 'changed their life'.

[tb_technical]

And this is where I usually come clean about the exercise.

[The_Colonel]

Certainly worth asking, but in case of Atlas Shrugged like 90% predictable.

[malthaus]

a better strategy would be a follow-up question on how it changed their life

i'm with the parent commenter here as i find your response very much telling on how you evaluate things and frankly, more idiotic than someone's life being changed, even by the "intended" interpretation of the book

e.g. would you say that everyone who liked / was influenced by reading "mein kampf" is a nazi?

[cactacea]

Depending on context I could see myself asking a followup question. In this specific instance, no that's enough for me personally. As I can see from the other replies the OP made my assessment was in line with my personal values.

[aloisdg]

yes pretty much or at least a wanna be one.

Who start reading "mein kampf" beside scholar anyway?

[WalterBright]

I read books that have contrary opinions to mine so I can understand their ideological underpinnings and mistakes.

People who only read things they agree with means they're blind to the problems with it, and fold like wet cardboard when they try to argue it.

[pc86]

Or even more likely, as soon as you make a point even slightly against their beliefs they call you a socialist/communist/fascist/Nazi/whatever cliche they hate the most that particular day.

[mindcrime]

Yes, exactly.

[synecdoche]

There may be as many reasons to read it as there are people on the planet. People who want to control other people's thoughts give me the chills.

[portaouflop]

you can read it - I have read portions of it - but it’s still a pretty bad book by a lot of metrics. It’s just famous like maos red bible is famous - but both are horrible literature

Edit: so if you read and like it there is something wrong with you

[mindcrime]

Who start reading "mein kampf" beside scholar anyway?

I haven't actually started it yet, but I have a copy on my shelf waiting. Along with Das Kapital, Mao's "Little Red Book", etc.

Why? Especially given that I'm closer to a Randian than anything else (I really did like Atlas Shrugged although it's not my favorite book). Well, I feel like if you're going to reject a belief system, or feel somewhat at-odds with followers of a given system of thought or whatever, it's best to have some familiarity with that system of thought. It's just a matter of intellectual honesty.

I mean, looking back over the years here on HN and the various discussions that pop up around Atlas Shrugged and Ayn Rand. You can tell that a LOT of the people criticizing Rand and Atlas Shrugged have never read the book (or probably any of her other works) and are attacking straw-men.

I refrain from (most) attacks on Marx (and the specifics of what Hitler, Mao, etc had to say) because I don't have the deep familiarity with their material. OTOH, I have no problem saying I have enough general familiarity to mostly reject the thinking of those folks in a sort of abstract sense. The point being, one may read a work that you disagree with (or expect to disagree with) just so you can have an intellectually honest conversation about it, or a deeper conversation that goes beyond a superficial familiarity.

[portaouflop]

Mein Kampf is so retarded and boring reading you have to be a nazi / facist fanboy to like it

[jdonaldson]

One must imagine Atlas shrugging.

[EFreethought]

I am guessing you have never met someone who actually did like "Atlas Shrugged".

The fact is, some people deserve harsh judgement. Including people who lie to someone and think they are morally superior for doing so.

[kbelder]

I liked Atlas Shrugged.

[AlotOfReading]

Why? What redeeming qualities does it have that make you prefer it to less mediocre books?

[0xBDB]

Not the person you were responding to, but if you ignore the hundred-page speech (which isn't that difficult to do) it's a fairly serviceable pulp sci-fi romance novel. It's far from Shakespeare and far from my favorite thing I've ever read, but it'll do in a pinch.

I don't care for the philosophy/politics, but I've read a lot of good sci-fi that I didn't care for the philosophy behind. I like Starship Troopers, which isn't as fascist as some people think but is certainly right-wing. I like Orson Scott Card, regardless of what I think of his opinions on gay people. I like the Culture novels, which are lowkey anarcho-communist. I like China Mieville, and he's an unsubtle hardcore Marxist.

Those are all much better than Rand, but not totally out of the ballpark (I think the Fountainhead is actually much better written than Atlas Shrugged).

I agree with the original thread comment: people who can't separate literary and political merit are usually pretty tiresome in lots of other ways.

[AlotOfReading]

A serviceable pulp novel is in line with my definition of mediocre literature, personally.

[FrustratedMonky]

Thank You for the list, I'm going to look up a couple of these. I've never read the Culture wars or China Mieville.

Somehow I've missed a whole range of books from 80's through early 2000's.

[kbelder]

I don't prefer it to less mediocre books.

[mindcrime]

I liked Atlas Shrugged, but consider The Fountainhead a better work.