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Summary: Atlas Shrugged Isn't Just a Philosophical Work . . .
Review: . . . let's not forget it's also a mystery and a romance. Who is John Galt? And what is he doing (if he's doing anything at all?). Why does it seem as if the entire world's economy is grinding slowly to a halt? Ms. Rand's view of a bleak dystopian future where government intervention in the economy causes further economic misery causes further government intervention, ad infinitum, seems chillingly real. Lord knows it's all too often the case in this world, even in the good ol' USA on occasion (remember the 1970s and "whip inflation now" as though inflation were the individual citizen's fault?).Pick up the book and you'll either get hooked on the strong characters and plotting or you'll be bored. If you're bored, don't sweat it: after all, ATLAS SHRUGGED is nearly four times as long as the average bestseller. But if you like the book and the ideas it contains, you're in good company--Alan Greenspan is an admirer (not a slavish follower, but an admirer) of Ms. Rand's ideas. I ought to mention that in Dagny Taggart, Ms. Rand created an explary feminist heroine, a railroad executive with brains and beauty and metaphorically speaking more *stones* than the guys who serve under her. And this was in 1957! There are many, many reasons ATLAS SHRUGGED is a great book.
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Summary: A TRIBUTE TO THE HEROIC WITHIN MAN!
Review: A truly outstanding novel that will inspire all those who oppose dictatorship, slavery,(service to others as the sole justification of one's existence) and all forms of collectivist ideology. Ayn Rand's unique philosophy, "Objectivism", provides excellent ammunition against contemporary intellectual "mystics" who preach that an individual's life, work, and identity are the property and product of the group,( whether a "race", "class", "state" or "religion" etc.)and that self-sacrifice, (the surrender of that which one values in favour of that which one does not value), should be upheld as the "moral ideal". Objectivism provides a powerful, valid alternative to modern philosophy's attempts to enslave or destroy man's conceptual faculty, this novel will offer you the chance to believe in man as an independent, benevolent being; with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, (neither sacrificing himself to others nor others to himself), with productive achievement as his noblest activity and reason his only absolute.
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Summary: MY OPINION
Review: I've owned this book for over 10 years, but had never read it. It is now my favorite book. I understand the concepts, but some of the actions confused me. For instance, when our heroes rescue John in the hotel, Dagny point blank shoots a guard and kills him. I felt this was out of character, even though Dagny had her "reckoning" as it were. Also, I feel that John is more of an ideal (which may or may not be attainable) and that Hank is the real hero. He is who he is (except for Dagny - he should have acknowledged her from the beginning) and he lives in the world as he is. I feel that the world they escape to is sort of a cop out (even though at the end they intend to return to the outside). They should have lived their lives according to their own standards.
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Summary: A secular Bible?
Review: It is in ATLAS SHRUGGED, her major novel, that Ayn Rand presents most clearly her vision of a human society based on her secular philosophy 'Objectivism.' In its way this novel functions as a sort of 'new Torah' in Rand's secular cult, telling the tale of how 'John Galt' liberated his people from bondage to the 'second-handers' and 'looters' and led them to a new land, flowing with milk and honey, in which they could observe the Law declaimed in Galt's radio broadcast. It must be acknowledged that Rand has a fairly healthy sense of some genuine virtues, for example the role of human beings and the human mind in the creation of wealth. Nevertheless her opposition to 'religion' - which she dismisses as 'mysticism' and the 'primacy-of-consciousness premise' - causes her to leave her virtues hanging in midair, as it were, ungrounded in any real obligation on the part of human beings to live in any particular way or in accordance with any particular Plan. (The holes in her antitheological armour appear quickly enough once one examines her 'benevolent universe premise' closely.) In consequence, many of her followers fail to recognise that she is in fact trying to defend certain traditional *religious* views on the basis of an *irreligious* foundation that cannot support them - and thus make the error of accepting her *premises* along with her (highly unoriginal and often highly flawed) conclusions. Her premises do not in fact support those conclusions, and so the philosophy of 'Objectivism' is an unstable compromise between religion and irreligion which, if accepted, tends over time to degenerate into the very Marxism/fascism/totalitarianism Rand (thought she) was opposing. (Any former member of Rand's cult will tell you about its totalitarian atmosphere, though not all of them will agree with my analysis; some, quite wrongly, regard the cultism of Rand's movement as a *departure* from Rand's basic principles and think her 'philosophy' can be rescued from her personal errors.) ATLAS SHRUGGED is in some ways a readable novel, if awkward in spots and tainted throughout by Rand's vicious contempt for 'ordinary' people. But John Galt is not a new Moses, and neither is Rand. And this book is not the foundation for a 'new' secular religion, but merely a recent expression of a very old irreligion which rebels against 'unchosen obligations' (are the demands of justice 'unchosen'?). It is notable primarily for its attempt to do that which Rand herself opposed in nearly all other contexts: to eat one's cake and have it too.
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Summary: The Greatest Novel I've Read
Review: "Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved but have never been able to reach. ...The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours." - Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged If you have not yet read Atlas Shrugged, I'm a bit jealous, because I would love to be able to experience again the exhillaration of reading this novel for the first time. This is a timeless book which adresses the fundamental questions of mankind, which will be read as long as there are people who care to ask such questions. At the same time, it is a fast-paced mystery-adventure, with quite a lot of humor (which is hidden between the lines until one reads the book a second time). The protagonists are not people one would meet everyday, which is one of Atlas' virtues, rather, the characters are the sort of people one would wish to meet at least once in one's life. Rand's heroes were unabashedly heroic. Atlas, despite being an exciting read on the level of an adventure, is more fundamentally a book about ideas. These ideas are introduced not as floating, imaginary abstractions, but in terms of real concrete dillemas similar to those all people must eventually confront if they are to live a productive, fulfilling life. I feel a profound sense of reverence for this novel. Perhaps you will too, or already do.
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Summary: Read it and Decide for Yourself!
Review: This book was published in 1958. It sells consistently year after year. I have read it many, many times and always find something new. If you are curious about the slavish devotion or hysterical anger that this book seems to inspire, the only answer is to READ IT FOR YOURSELF. Many inventions of our current world did not exist in the 1940's, when Rand began to write this book. That makes some people think of the novel as stilted (they can't imagine life without TVs and cell phones for everyone). We so seldom see heros in our lives, that many people are offended by the concept of a person striving to be his or her best and succeeding. It seems to be a cultural imperative that heros must have feet of clay. Well, some of Ayn Rand's heros make mistakes. And, they pay for them! The marvelous thing about Atlas Shrugged is these heros know how to acknowledge mistakes and move forward with their lives. Owr culture is steeped in Original Sin. It is the concept of Original Sin that Ayn Rand is rejecting. If you cannot consider that a human being is born in complete innocence, then don't bother to read Atlas Shrugged. However, if you have ever wondered why sin or its absence sometimes seems to be a consequence of your own actions, under your own control, and sometime not, this book is the answer you've been seeking. Many people seem to be afraid of this book. For me, this book has been a life-long friend, always challenging me to think for myself and draw my own conclusions.
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Summary: An incredible read
Review: Amazing... Ive read this book 4 times, and I NEVER re-read books
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Summary: A Novel For the Culturally Illiterate
Review: Having read virtually all of Rand's works as a youth during the 1970's--and dismissed her fiction as wooden and philosophy as sociopathic--it is alarming that a substantial number of impressionable youngsters, not having the advantage of being exposed to the classics, have found in the dogmatic Atlas Shrugged a new Bible, and a prophet (albiet with feet of clay) in the philosophy of the novel, "Objectivism." (A knowledgeable reader may want to gag at the title of this cult-philosophy, since Objectivism is anything but objective.) I will not go into the aridity of Rand's prose, the artificial characters, the veiled sadomasochism of her "heroes", the insane nature of the philosophy that drives these characters. I advise only this: explore the great vault of literature through the ages just a bit, then read the many excerpts of Rand's fiction available on numerous websites. Decide then if this is really the kind of fiction you want to waste your precious time on. (This review is listed with one star only because there was no option for a "0.")
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Summary: As a role modle for women this is the book!
Review: As a role modle for women this is the book! The central character of this book, this woman is a pure individual, instead of one of today's sterotypes of the bold woman (usually a radical femminist)who is in the middle of an epic struggle. Ayn Rand's characters are from Mt. Olympus, big people with big ideas. Not only does Ayn Rand tackle several philsophical themes, she also writes beautiuflly and breathtakingly... i.e. the train being ran by people who are incapbale of running a train, getting their jobs because "they are OWED" a job...no one having to "earn or learn" a profession, society is simply to "provide." The doomed trained is one of the finest moments of taking one into a seperate reality. This book will frighten many people. Are we responsible for our lives? Should people take pride in their achievements? Does the group shape the individual, or does the individual shape the group. I beleive this book was listed as one of the top five selling books of all time. For those of who want to take the challenge this is the book. I think this should be used in all woman's studies for showing a woman written by a woman as compelte and total individual.
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Summary: Simply the greatest book ever written
Review: This book helped me integrate the various apsects of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and thus helped me on the road to achieving a fully rational adult mind. Anyone old enough to handle a book of this stature should find it and read it immediately; it will either change your life or clarify what you've always thought implicitly. Truly the greatest book ever written.
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