Rating: 
Summary: Great Book Somewhat Scary
Review: I thought this was an excellent novel. I do so little reading with a storyline. I usually read motivational material. What really hit me about this book though was how many things she wrote aboout the fall of capitalism that have happened already. That was the scary part. I dare any liberal or democrat to read this book and not end up taking a serious look at your positions.
Rating: 
Summary: It can change your life but...
Review: This book can be best described as thought provoking with more stress on the provoking. It will question beliefs you have held unquestionably throghout your life. Somehow, you face up to the fact that you possess at least some of the qualities of the less flattering characters. And it can really change your way of thinking.Having said all that however, the book is monotonous and repetitive in places not to say HUGE! The portions where she attempts to describe love making had me in splits- she seemed to have a thing for BDSM but it was awkward at best. And the world she describes is truly utopian and for that reason best left unattainable- it is just her vision of perfectness just as each person will have his or her own. Anyway, give it a shot- for rainy Sunday afternoons ( just hope that you live in a rainy area though !).
Rating: 
Summary: Good Ideas, Tedious Reading
Review: I was excited to read Atlas Shrugged. It was on top of some "Favorite Book of All Time" poll so I was sure I'd find it worthwhile. I was wrong. On reading through prior reviews, the arguments seem to center around the merits of Ayn Rand's philosophy. In many ways I agree with Rand's ideas, in others I disagree. Personally, I don't think you need a brilliant philosophy to write a great book, but you do need great writing. In the first few chapters, I was intrigued to learn the answers to the mysteries of "Who is John Galt" and the like, but I soon began feeling like it was simply taking the writer too long to make her point, and when she did, she just wouldn't stop. For me a good book should be believable, and this one wasn't. The good people were far too good and far too perfect, and those who weren't perfect were bad. I was far too aware that I was being preached to. And I think even Ayn Rand would agree that few things are more boring and annoying than an endless sermon. Rarely do I fail to finish a book once I've started it. After laboring through this book for a few chapters, I started looking ahead and couldn't bear to slog through 1,000 more pages. Unfortunately I think this book would have had a much broader appeal if it had had some ruthless editing.
Rating:
Summary: Rand should let the story win.
Review: "Atlas Shrugged" is an absorbing read. The beginning premise is simple. What would happen if the great economic drivers of society simply dropped out from frustration with those who continually seek to handicap them and help themselves to their wealth through redistribution and regulation? The great industrialists of America begin vanishing without a trace. All have been visited by a shadowy figure prior to their disappearance. Meanwhile, the female railroad tycoon Dagny Taggert is battling to save her own company and keep as many of her high-achieving peers in the game as she can. The plot is fascinating. The characters gain your interest. There is only reason why I give this book four stars rather than five. After clipping along for 900 pages, a major climax of the story is reached as a key character reaches for a microphone to broadcast to the nation. Exciting, yes? It is, at least until you realize the same character is going to give a speech that goes on for about 100 pages and delivers Rand's philosophy in excruciating detail. There's no need. She has made these same points very well through the story. Regardless of Rand's occasional heavy-handedness and failure to trust the reader to learn the lessons she is trying to teach, "Atlas Shrugged" is a major book and should be read.
Rating:
Summary: A philosophy for life
Review: I read Atlas Shrugged when I was 22. An old man spied the book with me and asked me "Who is John Galt". What makes this amazing that it happened in a sleepy and dusty Indian town. I was surprised at the reach of this book across age and location. The book gave me a philosophy for life. The idea that money represents human effort and hence is the only potent force is an absolutely revelation. Even though the idea repeats itself and some times the narration becomes incoherent, it is absolutely necessary for youngsters to read the book. It will definitely give a new perspective in life as it has given me.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: Simply superb. Ignore all the reviews and read it for yourself. 'Nuff said.
Rating:
Summary: Misinterpreted Masterpiece
Review: First, let's all agree that this is a great book. A bit long, but the prose is magnificent, the story is riveting, the theme is grandiose, and few can claim to have read it or even a portion of it without leaving profoundly affected. Second, let's all agree that it is fiction. It is a set of allegories and metaphors. Rand supporters like to tell everyone that Atlas Shrugged was rated as the second most influential book in a poll of Americans (One must assume well-read Americans), second only to the Bible. The two books share many things: they share a similar structure of radical followers who take each word as fact, as well as detractors who point to the inconsistencies in their philosophies. They share a physical scale ranging from the singular thoughts to the fates of nations, and moral scale ranging from the godly to the satanic. Their interpretations rely on a certain adherence to principles contain within themselves, to be accepted as matters of faith. And yet, they appear to come to virtually opposite conclusions: selfishness and altruism as the ultimate cause of right and wrong (and vice-versa, of course). Whether Rand herself believed that any of the heroic characters was possible in real life is immaterial, the fact is that there never has been a John Galt, and asking a rational human being to conform to such a standard is like asking a christian to conform to the standard of Jesus Christ. A rational person can strive through his actions to become more like Galt, but perfect rationality is unreachable by physically limited brains in a complexly intertwined world. The book is about the struggle between life and death on the scale of civilizations. Rand shows that the basic and only real dichotomy available to any life form is that of existence or non-existence. The human mind is seen in this book as a mere tool of survival -- albeit a uniquely powerful one. The modern luxury of laziness has led to some mass denial of this fact: our increasing life spans and standards of living in the western world are more and more attributed to faith and society, and we lose sight of the fact that individuals had to use their heads to make it all possible. The lesson is that we can choose to believe what we want, but eventually the consequences must be felt. The book is about social responsibility as a metaphor for personal responsibility -- and it says that if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. Most who cite a flaw in it are interpreting allegorical characters as realistic. The pure good of Dagny Taggart, Francisco d'Anconia, and Hank Rearden vs. the pure evil of James Taggart, Wesley Mouch, and Orren Boyle is a metaphor: the attitudes that value life vs. the attitudes that cause death. The story of the Men of the Mind's revenge, and the difference between Akston and Stadler, is a call to the good people of the world to stop kowtowing to the evil around them when possible, and stand up for what they believe in loud and clear; it is not a manifesto for world destruction. In reality, there is a some good and evil in every human or human system, a fact that is realistically impossible to work around without becoming some sort of rationalist hermit. Rand took a very general philosophy, instilled its values in larger-than-life characters, and told a story of a scope virtually untouched since the Bible. The book's profundity is not an effect acheived because it is great writing (it is), or because Rand is dead-on in her philosophy on life (in the nature of philosopy, we'll never know), but because there is a piece of every character in every one of us. We all have some of the genius of Galt, the loyalty of Eddie Willers, the cunning of Wesley Mouch, the guilt of Henry Rearden, the romanticism of Dagny Taggart, the depression of James Taggart, and the disillusionment of Cheryl Taggart. Rand takes all these little local impulses, and carries them through their conclusions on a global scale, showing us what they do to those around us and those we can't see. The best marker of truth I have found is consistency; and a theme that scales from the conflicts in one's self to the survival of millions is hard to ignore. The message is often interpreted as being that only those who produce, and those who covet wealth, are of human value. But Orren Boyle coveted wealth, and it left him "in the city when the lights went out." So many see the phrase "the virtue of selfishness," and forget that it is a qualified selfishness -- it is a selfishness that only covets what it has produced itself. It is a selfishness based on honesty, that recognizes that for every unconditional giver there must be an unconditional taker (a thief). The message in Atlas Shrugged, behind all the jumbled justification of selfishness, the vicious attacks on some unenlightened interpretation of faith, and the tangled contradictions of quack philosophy, is much the same as that in the Bible. It is a call to live by the golden rule, to never take by force. The Bible uses the wrath and mercy of God to extend consequences to those who chose to follow or not to follow this rule. Atlas Shrugged attempts to do it through logic. I'm ignoring some major things that cause others to revile or worship this book. This is intentional, because any theme with this much truth is easy to vilify or deify by examining the plot that surrounds it. It affected me personally so deeply, that I had to take one of three paths in inperpreting it. I could fear the overwhelming sense of truth and spend some time trying to gather every shred I could to debunk it, I could accept the feeling on faith and assume that it was gospel, or I could cut through the inconsistencies and see that the conflict of Atlas Shrugged is in me. It is one that I struggle with every moment, and it is one that everyone lives every day, inside of our minds and hearts and souls. While Rand may have claimed to have all the answers, most of us cannot ... it is the battle in this book that makes the lonely conflict within all of us between greatness and depravity seem so much more important. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone as something that will change your life.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book...non-thinkers will not get it.
Review: Ayn Rand changed the world with the development of Objectivism. Those who criticize objectivism usually critisize either her or the people who identify with it, instead of the philosophy itself. That shows that such folks probably haven't even become acquainted with Objectivism or simply cannot understand it. If one wants to disagree with it, fine, but at least give coherent reasons! One reviewer here states (with astonishment) that Ayn Rand kicked Christians out of her organization. Of course, I doubt that this individual has thought long enough about his assertion to realize that virtually all groups do the exact same thing. A Christian church would kick out an atheist. Any religion, in fact, would kick out those who do not agree with its beliefs. Objectivism regards religion for precisely what it is...a mind-numbing, assinine, anti-intellectual philosophy that, quite frankly, dulls the mind and makes absolutely no sense and is generally adhered to by those of lesser intelligence. (No offense, but it's TRUE.) Objectivism is the exact OPPOSITE of religion and recognizes the complete foolishness of taking anything on "faith." Rand was absolutely right by kicking Christians out of her circle. Again, objectivism completely rejects religion out of hand and sees it as complete and utter nonsense. Objectivism, however, is based upon the exact opposite; reality and NOT dogma! What business would a Christian have in such an organization? Frankly, I cannot even think of a single reason as to why such a person would even want to be involved with objectivism. Their way of thought is diametrically opposed to it. Think before you "speak."
Rating:
Summary: A reason to wake up tomorrow....
Review: A is A. If your like me, your at this point going, well that's nice, i think i could have figure that out for myself, well could you?
We live in a world where feelings over power logic, we live in a world of glorified medocrity, and we live in a world where our "greatest minds" question whether or not they exist. Everyday, someone somwhere is jumping of a building thinking, what's the point of all this? Why did i bother to get up this morning....
I've been that person. I didn't try jumping off a building, but from personal experience there's many other ways of trying to end your life. Reading this book was like a slap in the face. It was someone screaming at me: "What are you thinking?! of course there's a reason to live, are you perfect?"
There's so many messages conveyed in this book, almost all of which i agree with. One of the main ideas is that there is always going to be something left to do in this world, you just have to do it. There is always a manner in which you can make things better, more efficient, more profitable, happier. You are never going to run out of things to do, unless you let someone else do them for you, which by the way, leads me to another of "messages".
You don't rely on other people. We can all sit around on our asses, lamenting our world, or we can go out and be sucessful. We can beg from the people around us, be looters, or we can try and make the money, honestly, for ourselves. We are taught from a very early age to "feel sorry" for those less, fortunate and to "give" to them. Our society endorses pity towards those who've made mistakes: Achoholics Anonymous, Drug Rehab, Anger managment. To quote directly, we have no pity for the pain of the innocent. We give millions each year to people through welfare, what are we doing? We're making them dependent on doing nothing, we're encouraging a world in which people settle for relying totally on others and never making progress of their own.
Yet another message adressed at great length in the book is the fundamental merit of capitalism. In the dog eat dog world of business, there is no "but that's not fair, he has more then i do!" Ayn Rand asks you to think, for a second, what the world would be like if every man aimed to have a monopoly, and did it honestly. People would constantly be forced to improve their product, and hence there would be constant progress. Even should one person gain completel control of ann industry, it would not render the rest of that world jobless, because no man can operate a whole enterprise by himself. He needs the men turning the bellows, sitting at the desk, or choosing a spot to drill. There is always a place for others expertise, and they will continue to profit from his need of their help.
A last thing that Ayn Rand point out is our societies disturbing tendency to worship the medicore. No body wants to see someone better then they are, but Atlas Shrugged asks: why? Can we not appreciate that someone has more talent or innovation than we do. Something to think about...
So, there we go with a few paragraph explanation of an over 1000 page book. Saying that i suggest you read it is an understatment. At risk of sounding corny, this book changed my life. While it showed me many of the harsh realities and the worship the underserving in this world, it showed me that until this world is perfect, there is no reason not to be in it....
Rating:
Summary: Life-Changing
Review: This book changed my life more than anything else I have ever experienced. I read the 1000 pages in two weeks, and when it was over I only wished it had been longer- and then i proceeded to read it again. Ayn Rand is truly amazing, and although her critics do have good points on some issues, it doesn't undermine the fact that she is well-written, and in my opinion could convince anyone of anything. (Well, anyone who is open enough, and has the ability to comprehend what she is saying.) This is a serious novel that I think all intellectuals will enjoy. It may be out-dated, but her characters can still be role models even in today's world. I laughed, I cried (out of happiness), and I recommend this book highly- it is my favorite.
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