Atlas Shrugged: Letter no.1

Dear _____,

This book is HUGE. Wow. I'm jealous of your fast reading, Tim. But then again you're probably not absorbing the book as much as I am >:l

So far, the book is great. It's a bit mind boggling since we haven't been indulged to the main idea of the book yet. On top of that, it's hard to make out the current state the world is in......? I don't know. Like that calendar. What the hell is that calendar for? I don't know if it was symbolic or if it seriously does exist on top of a building.

I admire Rand's thoroughly detailed descriptions of each character that has been featured so far. It's rare to find much individualism in a character when it comes to novels. As for annotating- I didn't do much. I wrote a few notes analyzing Henry Rearden and his behavior. I believe he's one of the first characters to display Rand's philosophy, "objectivism".

Rearden seems to really care about those who are close to him even though he doesn't openly display it. The way he thinks kind of reminds me of myself like in page 34: "Fighting anger, Rearden told himself that this was Philip's form of solicitude...it would be unjust to feel resentment"
Rearden was getting pissed off that Philip was picking at him for working so much and that it's taking a toll on him, but Rearden is proud of what he's doing and just wishes his family could acknowledge his work. Even though he was getting angry, he knew that his brother was just concerned about his health and well-being.
His situation just reminds me of how my sister bitches at me all the time, but in the end I know it's just because she cares.

Sorry to jump around events, but I also noticed in the beginning that Eddie Willers reacted differently to the infamous question, "Who is John Galt?", than the others later in the book. Further into the chapters, "Who is John Galt?" is usually used after posing questions that "cannot be answered" (as said in page 16 by the fireman), but Willers reacted with slight.. disgust. I don't know if Willers had any relations with Galt, but the way John Galt is brought up makes it seem like he was an old story.