Communism is just a red herring.

Current book: Atlas Shrugged
Pages read: 43-71

Nothing really happened in this set of thirty pages, aside from getting a lot more backstory on Dagny Taggert. She's quite the character, actually: a strong, independent business woman who knows precisely what she wants and has worked toward it her entire life. She and James have had more words about Rearden metal (I misspelled that yesterday, to my chagrin. Sorry.) and the Rio Norte rail line, which is the line Dagny wants to revamp. There's also a rail line to Mexico called the San Sebastian line, that's currently under threat of nationalization from the Mexican government. Aside from that, we've learned that Rearden's company men in Washington are crooked as hell and working with James Taggert to undermine Rearden's new product.

I have to say I'm impressed by Rand's ability to create depth in a small number of pages. Regardless of the fact that I said nothing happened in these pages, she's developing the characters swiftly and thoroughly, and creating a picture of the society in the novel that is evocative and haunting. There are obviously huge, sweeping social events coming, and we just have to wait and see how they unfold.

Still not an asshole.