Context: (520.46) She answered by the silent
affirmation of closing her eyes and inclining her
head. She saw his lantern circling through the
air as she turned away.
Discussion: It's difficult to see a lantern with one's eyes
closed.
Alternative: She answered by the silent affirmation of
closing her eyes and inclining her head. Upon
opening them, she saw his lantern circling
through the air as she turned away.
Context: (709.12) [Wyatt speaking to Dagny] "I'll see
you tonight."
(714.3) [Later, Galt speaking to Mulligan by
phone] "Tonight? Yes, I think so. We will."
(714.26) [Shortly after, Galt speaking to
Dagny] "If you're not too tired by evening", he
said, "Mulligan has invited us for dinner."
Discussion: At the time that Wyatt informed Dagny that he
would see her that night, plans for the evening
had not yet been made. Indeed, Wyatt was not
yet aware that Dagny was in the valley until
that moment, so he would have had no chance
to have heard the plans, nor reason to
anticipate them, no reason to speak of the
evening.
Alternative: I'm sure I'll see you around.
Context: (1135.11) "Don't worry," said Ferris.
(1135.15) "It seems to me . . . that we have no
other choice . . .", said Mouch; it was almost a
whisper.
(1135.19) Dr. Ferris turned to Lawson.
"Gene," he said tensely, still whispering, "run to
the radio-control office. Order all stations to
stand by."
Discussion: Dr. Ferris was not whispering, and therefore
could not still whisper. Only Mouch could do
that.
Alternative: "Gene," he said tensely, whispering in turn.
Context: (681.28) "The wire's okay,", [Kellogg] said.
"The current's on. It's this particular instrument
that's out of order. There's a chance the next
one might be working." He added, "The next
one is five miles away." "Let's go," [Dagny]
said.
(683.7) It was Kellogg who glanced back, after
a while, and she followed his glance: there was
no headlight behind them.
Discussion: Dagny chose the least efficient direction in which to
walk. Given that it would be a five mile walk to
the next track phone, it did not matter in which
direction they walked to reach it; it would still
be five miles. However, heading for the track
phone behind the Comet would have taken just
as long to reach, but would have reduced by
five to ten miles the total distance they would
have to walk in order to ultimately return to the
Comet.
Alternative: Rather than saying, "Let's go", Dagny should
have said, "Our walk back will be miles shorter
if we try for the track phone behind the Comet."
She turned back in the direction of the feeble
headlight. "Let's go." Omit 683.7-8.
Context: (991.7) [Wet Nurse speaking] ". . . that's when
they shot me . . . in the parking lot . . . from
behind . . ."
(989.26) [Rearden] felt the boy's hand
clutching his with abnormal strength of agony,
while he was noticing the tortured lines on the
face, the drained lips, the glazing eyes and the
thin, dark trickle from a small, black hole in too
wrong, too close a spot on the left side of the
boy's chest.
Discussion: A small, black hole is the mark of an entrance
wound, not an exit wound, so the Wet Nurse
could not have been shot from behind. Most
bullets are designed to hit their target without
exiting at all, thereby imparting all of their
kinetic energy to the target. In most situations,
being shot from behind will not create an exit
wound in front, especially with a thick target
like a torso, and the odds are great that the
bullet would be deflected or halted by impact
with bone. Further, exit wounds are generally
larger and more irregular than entrance
wounds and would not leave a small, black
hole, but rather some beveling oriented away
from the entrance wound or ricochet. A low-power
weapon would not have the punch to
reach all the way through, and a high-power
weapon would do much more damage on exit.
Alternative: ...the thin, dark trickle from a ragged black hole
in too wrong, too close a spot...
Context: (1156.37) The wheels [of Francisco's airplane]
were running faster, as if gaining speed and
purpose and lightness, ignoring the impotent
obstacles of small jolts from the ruts of the
ground.
Discussion: John Galt's rescue occurs on the night of
February 27th in New Hampshire. The odds of
there being no snow on the ground at that
latitude and time of year are virtually zero.
Alternative: ...ignoring the impotent obstacles of small jolts
from the inadequately-plowed, potholed backroad
Context: (290.42) "Hank, that motor was the most valuable thing inside this factory," [Dagny] said, her voice low. "It was more valuable than the whole factory and everything it ever contained. Yet it was passed up and left in the refuse. It was the only thing nobody found worth the trouble of taking."
(356.36) [Dr. Stadler speaking] "How could they abandon, just abandon, a thing of this kind [...] And besides, from a purely practical aspect, why was that motor left in a junk pile?"
Discussion: Perhaps a plausible reason the motor was left behind was because it was a prototype that never did work?
Alternative: None. Given the importance of the motor to the plot development, any alternative wording would need to be far reaching, and beyond the scope of this pamphlet.
Introduction
Part 1: Errors of Grammar
Part 2: Errors of Calculation
> Part 3: Errors of Logic
Part 4: Errors of Philosophy
Appendix: Finding quotes in other editions
Atlas Flubbed in PDF pamphlet format
ATLAS SNUBBED
An Unsanctioned
Pastiche Parody
Where no one is asking,
"Who is John Galt?"
Because now...
They know.