Atlas Hugged

Atlas Hugged by David Sloan Wilson (2020) – Years after his grandfather disappeared, and his father grew rich from the legend of John Galt, John Galt III begins a movement to repair and replace his ancestors destructive philosophy. In its place, he offers a revolution of the mind and spirit.

I’ll get this out of the way first. I loath Ayn Rand’s writing, both stylistically and philosophically. As a writer she was awful, ponderous, dull and preachy. Beyond that she had an exaggerated view of the quality of that writing. When her editor suggested some changes, she compared the idea to editing the Bible. From the philosophical point of view, “Objectivism”, the name eventually given to her world view, is self-centered and socially destructive. That it has taken root among certain groups, even at the highest levels of our government is appalling. When I see folks claiming to be Christians who extols this philosophy which denies any value to altruism, and rejects collective rights for the supremacy of the individual, I want to vomit. When I read “Atlas Shrugged” as a college student I was repulsed. It’s the only book that made me feel like a needed a mental, spiritual and physical bath.

But this post is about a different book. A very different book.

“Atlas Hugged” tells the story of the grandson of the protagonist of Rand’s best known novel. The grandfather brought together a range of wealthy industrialists, convincing them to simply walk away from their businesses, and push the world to collapse. At the beginning of this follow-up novel, the original John Galt has disappeared. His wife and son (John Galt II) have turned the original concept into a movement and media empire. Galt II is one of the wealthiest men in the world. But he has a terrible secret, one that his son will use to slowly destroy the family’s legacy. A new philosophy, one that stresses community and communal responsibilities will take its place.

David Sloan Wilson is an American evolutionary biologist, and a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences and Anthropology at Binghamton University. He is a co-founder of the Evolution Institute and ProSocial World, an organization looking to make society better by fostering collaboration at all levels. His father was the novelist Sloan Wilson, whose work included “The Man In The Gray Flannel Suit”, and “Summer Place”.

Here, Wilson unfolds a reasonable extension of Rand’s original universe. JGIII is raised away from his father when his mother understands the inner darkness of the older man’s empire. His education comes in an idyllic setting where both freedom of thought and community are given equal respect. Armed with his father’s secret and an enormous financial backstop, the youngest Galt sets out to change things. His approach avoids the bombast and centralized power that are the center of much of modern life. It’s an interesting read and offers a variety of challenging concepts to our modern approach to life and society. The author has a clear storytelling approach that is ever so much easier to experience than the original.

I will take exception to two writing choices made. They are similar, and both unnecessary. When JGIII gathers a group of reporters to discuss what he’s doing, Wilson insists on making clear that he’s referring to actual people from journalism. It came off as heavy handed and distracting. The essential characters are more important than any attempted connection to “real life”. Likewise, there is the matter of the youngest Galt’s grandmother. I can not fathom why the author would make this character “Ayn Rand”. It is a jarring experience every time the name is mentioned. Rand herself left the universe with a perfectly serviceable love interest to carry forward in the character of Dagny. The reporters issue is an irritant, this strikes me as major authorial misstep. It yanked me out of the story’s world every time. Oh, and “tissue of lies” is a phrase that gets seriously overworked here.

“Atlas Hugged” is now in a second printing, and is available through major online bookstores