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Summary: Atlas Shrugged & The Fountainhead : GREATEST GREAT BOOKS.
Review: ATLAS SHRUGGED : I would like to communicate with ALL WOMEN having calibre & Character like DAGNY - (Atlas Shrugged) on my Email.THE FOUNTAINHEAD : I read it. It took 3 Months to complete 'cause I felt giving a new birth of myself as a Howard Roark which probably was growing inside me from my childhood.
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Summary: No words are enough.
Review: Ayn Rand grew up in Soviet Russia, she knew well the circumstances of which she wrote. And she wrote an anti-utopian novel of a world in which thought, responsibility, intelligence, strength, values, were all denounced as evil for the sake of glorifying altruism and destruction. This book is a warning to the world, to think, before espousing a "noble" ideal, and to realize what that ideal really means.
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Summary: Not engaging or useful
Review: I slogged through this book several years ago and didn't find it particularly engaging or useful. By the way, I think my copy is a 50th Anniversary edition and I have NEVER seen so many typos in a book in my entire life. Even the trashy sci/fi-fantasy novels I used to read were better edited than this.
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Summary: I salute you Ayn Rand
Review: Though this book starts slow, and introduces a rather large amount of characters it is a wonderfully crafted piece of work. I am convinced that anyone who (A) doesn't like (B) doesn't understand, is obviously part of the problem. We are unfortunely heading in the same direction as this book portray's. this world has a serious lack of competence and we are celebrating incompetence. Atlas is an excellent representation of our "new world" lack of ambition. With hard work dedication and an acceptence of self we will take the world back.
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Summary: Ayn Rand clearly does not believe in one line summaries
Review: Atlas Shrugged is a wonderful classic, and Ayn Rand definitely didn't shy from announcing her political, social, and economic opinions. Most of the opinions expressed are my own, which could be why I enjoyed the book as much as I did. I can see how someone who disagrees with her viewpoints would stop reading before the first part ends. For me, it's 36 hours until my physics final, and I couldn't put the book down! This isn't a quick read, though, and some of the details seem to be unnecessary. I quickly grasped the points she was driving at, but her opinions are restated many different ways and can become... well, redundant. Atlas Shrugged explains most of the finer points to an unperceptive audience (even the title, which is easy enough for someone with a general knowledge of mythology to understand), although some readers might like the relative straightforwardness. The book's length is often mentioned, and while I don't see the relevance (read The Little Prince if you like short political commentaries), I'll comment. Some details are drawn out, but I don't think a reader should be intimidated by its heft! If you are, then you probably aren't one who would enjoy what Atlas Shrugged offers, so don't bother. This book is for the people who read for their own pleasure.
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Summary: Important and well worth reading
Review: Ayn Rand is neither God nor Satan. Atlas Shrugged is neither the best book ever written nor the worst. Now that I've alienated 99% of you, let me give you my opinion of the book. Ayn Rand is without a doubt the century's most effective popularizer of the political philosophy now known as libertarianism. In Atlas Shrugged, she eloquently makes the case for the individual as the fundamental unit of society, for reality and reason as the individual's guide, and for capitalism as both effective and moral, based as it is on freedom rather than coercion. The morality of capitalism is too often lost on utilitarian libertarians. Rand also deftly skewers such collectivist twaddle as the notion that a need gives rise to a claim and that Truth with a big T is whatever fluffy-bunny emotionalism says it is. I had to laugh when she had characters like Jim Taggart talk about "destructive competition" that was destructive only of incompetent ninnies like him. Also, if Atlas Shrugged is so unrealistic, why do collectivist politicians so often act it out? If her villains are so unrealistic, why do I live in a metropolitan area of 4.6 million Lillian Reardens? The book is not perfect by a long shot. A good chunk of what Rand took 1,100 pages to say, Kurt Vonnegut said in three pages in "Harrison Bergeron." Her heroes, unlike her villains, are totally unrealistic; she would have done well to relate her ideas more to everyday people and less to some council of superheroes. For someone who talked so much about fulfilling one's commitments, Rand treats adultery cavalierly in her books (as she did in her life). Still, the virtues of Atlas Shrugged greatly outweigh its vices, and it belongs on every thinking person's bookshelf.
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Summary: Ho-hum, life as usual on the Rand Planet
Review: I love watching independent-thinking Randies defend ATLAS SHRUGGED using the very same argumentational style Rand herself rejected from everyone but her. 'Well, fools, did you know that Alan Greenspan - yes, that Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve - is an adherent of Objectivism? That he had even contributed to some of Ayn's works? Probably not. It is difficult to know those kinds of things when one is using the Argument from Intimidation (to use Rand's term)' But it's not difficult at all when one is using one's mind, which - believe it or not - some non-Objectivists do. _Very_ few readers of Rand are unaware that Greenspan contributed to _Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal_ - though it is difficult to know those kinds of things when one is using the Argument from Intimidation. And the sorry fact is that Greenspan is an adherent of Objectivism the way oil is an adherent of water. Be that as it may, Greenspan's record at the Fed is not exemplary of free-market economics as developed by Mises and Rothbard - no matter what Rand (or Randies) might think about him. And what any of this has to do with ATLAS SHRUGGED is more than I can fathom. Maybe Rand's defenders could stick to the book itself instead of attacking her detractors based on a presumption of ignorance that is not borne out by the facts.
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Summary: Where's the debate...
Review: Read some philosophy and political science. Try a real "novel of ideas" or two. Lean to think critically. Don't waste time reading or debating this turgid non-novel illustrating a non-philosophy. It's odd there's such enthusiasm and rancor in the reviews below. This work and its associated "philosophy" falls of its own weight. Its main appeal is to teenagers, either just before they enter college or in their freshman year. And that's great, because it can lead to some of them taking a real interest in philosophy and literature. Rand's philosophy has not had any meaningful effect on society, philosophy, or literature. Ranting about it is a waste of time. I wish those who enjoyed this book, for whom it "changed their lives," the best of luck as they (as many of them will) use it as an impetus to discover a love of philosophy and literature.
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Summary: Rand's ultimate work was an epiphany.
Review: This is the book that changed the way I think about life and our world, from economics to ethics to love. After graduating from the University of California with a degree in Philosophy, I had never heard of Ayn Rand. Luckily, my mother gave me the book and I read it sparingly at first, and ravenously through the middle and end. Rand's style and insight, and her ability to put words to those facets of human nature that so often elude us, is absolutely stunning. Moreover, the philosophic tenets of this work are both easily accessible, practical and of utmost importance in today's world. Many self-important academic philosophers criticize Rand's work as "unsophisticated," though it is precisely this characteristic of Rand's work that deserves praise. As the renowned physicist Richard Feynman once said, if one can't prepare a freshman (layperson) lecture on a subject, then one doesn't really understand it. Rand understands philosophy. Many other critics rail against Rand's work without ever having read it. And then there are those who, like some of the characters in Rand's novel, are so insecure and frightened by the thought of rational selfishness that they hurl inane comments about Rand's work with vigorous enthusiasm. These negatives only serve to prove the arguments made by Rand in Atlas Shrugged. If you only read one Rand book (or one book, for that matter), read Atlas Shrugged or listen to it on Audio Tape. And pay attention.
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Summary: Have Read It Over 25 Times
Review: I first read Atlas Shrugged when I was thirteen. Really. I fell in love with it since. I am surprised by the ferocity with which certain reviewers have bashed this novel and those of us who enjoyed it, insulting our intelligence and claiming that we enjoy the novel because it is on par with "soap operas and daytime dramas." Also, the criticism of Ayn's lack of experience in the "real world" is equally vicious. Well, fools, did you know that Alan Greenspan - yes, that Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve - is an adherent of Objectivism? That he had even contributed to some of Ayn's works? Probably not. It is difficult to know those kinds of things when one is using the Argument from Intimidation (to use Rand's term) Look, I will readily admit Objectivism does not allow room for many things considered "irrational" yet proven to exist. But if you want to read the second most influential novel EVER, and are not the kind of person portrayed in the negative in this novel, read Atlas Shrugged. Calling the plot childish and inane proves the reviewers incompetence - one even recommended George Bernard Shaw?! "Pygmalion," yes, that's fine literature. Regardless, read the novel. Either way, you will be changed. P.S. I now own my own computer company. I am more than financially stable. I adhere to the value-judgement presented in Atlas Shrugged. And I am also nineteen years old. Hm...
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