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Summary: Good book, extreme political views.
Review: To some degree, I agree with Ayn Rand's political views, and the idea of the destroyer in this novel does indeed parallel the effect of the United States on the knowledge pool in my home land of Canada.The main characters are very impassioned about their work, and for the most part this keeps the book interesting. Their is a big but here though. The main characters are all social morons, they have a real union shop attitude towards their work, and their attitudes wouldn't really motivate normal people. I think that Rand was probably hurt by her home land, and that comes through in her extreme views. The great hypocrasy of this book is the forward by, I think, Leonard Peokiff. Some guy trying to mooch off the success of someone who hates moochers. Real strange. Also, there is this stupid piece of cardboard in the middle of this edition.
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Summary: If you don't like this book, you're probably a moron!!!
Review: Philosophically, this is the greatest piece of work ever to grace the pages of a novel. I think it is very sad that so many people don't get it!!! I had given up on the idea that there were intelligent people left in the world until I read this book. ( Although, when I read reviews comparing Ayn Rand to Adolf Hitler, I am reassured that there are still very few of them ). Ayn clearly demonsrates the evil of the collectivist mentality (something Hitler promoted by the way) that has overcome this once great nation, thanks to the whiny, moron liberals who keep reproducing and brainwashing their young. If you are the type of person that believes that an individual can and should GREAT, then this is the book for you. However, if you're the typical whiny person who believes that the world owes YOU something ,then don't read this book. In fact please go live somewhere else!!! These words may seem harsh ( awwww ), but "Atlas Shrugged" is more than a novel. It is a warning of the inevitable future that may lay ahead if the people of this world do not start using their brains that genetics ( not GOD ) gave them. People must realize that an individual owes nothing to the world, and that the world only owes him the freedom to achieve his values. If this makes sense to you, then read this book. Otherwise, I shall enjoy watching you self-destruct!!! Oh yeah...you wanna know what it is about...right? Well...in a nutshell... In a once great USA that is slowly falling apart from the parasitic collectivist movement, a small group of individuals struggles with the fact that they are supporting a world of ungrateful leaches and "looters". They are the thinkers, the innovators who are carrying the weight of the world, and they decide to "shrug" it, leaving the leaches and "looters" to fend for themselves.
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Summary: I liked it...but
Review: Things I liked about Atlas Shrugged:
1) It talks about people being creative in the kinds of jobs that are not considered to be so- engineering, smelting, dispatching,etc. and damned if she doesn't make it exciting.
2) The sex is pretty hot
3) It makes some pretty great arguements that if a person is personally fulfilled and honest about their needs, they have more to offer the world.
4) I really couldn't tell what was going to happen next
5) The secret hide away- that was a cool thing, too bad they had to do work while they were there
6) The clever little ways the master plans were put into motion-I love clever Not so thrilled about:
1) Hardly any kids, with a book so concerned about the future, I would think one of those future embodiments might be around
2) The "One good woman" syndrome. There was Dabney and that was it with a bunch of really hot men drooling. Which was funny, because it's a fantasy that most(okay, me)have.(Okay, her sister in law that commited suicide was good, but she died, so that doesn't count)
3) The repetetiveness, and the everlasting long time it would take to read the whole of it. I skipped ALOT, pretty much whenever I saw a speech coming on-- I don't want to even talk about that last radio anouncement, I gave it a try since it was what she'd built the entire book on, but MY GOD (or MY SELF if we want to be objectivist) it was windy and boring, I wussed and skipped.
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Summary: Who is Ayn Rand?
Review: It must be about ten years ago that I first read the Fountainhead and then this book as an introduction to "American Life". Since then I have read my way through a significant part of (post)modern American literature, and have also seen some tv interviews of the late Ms. Rand. When it comes to art I have a simple mantra: the work of art, not the creator, is the thing. Reading all these reviews, it is unfortunate, that so many admire Rand's two dinosaurs of the McCarthy era, in despite of their clear pulp-fiction pedigree. Atlas Shrugged is an overly long, poorly written, romance novel, pushing a pro-capitalist world-view, despising socialist ideology, and that in a regurgitation of Nietzsche's "Uebermensch" ideology often comes dangerously close to embracing ideas that made a certain Adolf H. very popular. Based on the quality of the book I think a two star rating is pretty generous. Yet, the book is mostly adored by those that consider it an equivalent of a new set of commandments, and that see it's author as Moses' second coming. I must admit after watching some of her interviews, that Rand did have her act together pretty well. For many highly impressionable youngsters her fierce, unapologetic defense of the world according to Ayn came over as pretty convincing. Just the fact that she could get away with calling her creed "Objectivism" is a testimony to her saleswomanship. Let's give that four stars. Thus: (book + Ayn)/2= 3. Yet, it was all a well-crafted illusion. Think the tears of (Jimmy Swaggart) a clown. Frank Loyd Wright aka Howard Roark may not have been a man of great principle, but he did have a Zarathustrian stature next to the real life Ms. Rand. Read some of the biographies or just look at the extent that she was willing to "abdicate her deepest beliefs" in getting her Fountainhead spread thin on the big screen. So prospective readers wondering "should I spend my spare time on this book", make your choice. I think there are much better books out there that bring some of Ayn's points home in a concise and also literary responsible way. But, if you really have to find out yourself which book was so important in making Hillary Rodham into the woman she is today, go ahead. In that case I do advise you to get Lenny Bernstein's own recording of Candide as a healthy antidote.
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Summary: Ayn Rand woke me up 25 years ago.
Review: Reading Atlas Shrugged in high school 25 years ago woke me up. For the first time, I realized that there were other people in the world who actually thought about what makes the world go round. She helped me understand (through extremely long and convoluted speaches by the main characters sometimes) that there is nothing wrong with doing what's right for it's own sake, that making a profit is a good thing (remember, this was the 70's) and that a man can stand up for what he thinks is right. To one's own self be true, always act in a responsible manner, believe in yourself first and foremost. This author changed my life with this book. I read it again every 5 years or so. It's not the most well written book in the world, but it contains the most meaningful message of any I've ever read. Read this book. Form your own opinions. Think for yourself about where you fit in the world. Thank the stars for teachers like Nadine Royer who first encouraged me to pick up this 5 pound eye-opener.
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Summary: pretentious (...) with little or no redeeming qualities
Review: (...)like nietzsche, who unlike ayn rand i admire somewhat, she mistakes ALL morality as herd instinct and falsehood, and on this point they are both simply wrong. it is true that some morality is based in weakness and unhealthy emotions, but the faculty of sympathy and compassion in man is what makes him great and genuinely human, along with his intellect and imagination. anyone who is half decent will find this woman's so called "philosophy" chilling and disgusting. what can one say about a person, no matter how bright or literate, who actively campaigns against pity and concern for others? even when i was 15, not the most mature or well informed age for anyone, i realized after about three chapters that this lady had no aesthetic sensibility, no actual talent as a writer, and absolutely no capacity to entertain and hold the reader's attention. her characters are so cardboard that you expect them to fall over, and wish that they would so it would end the book. it is pure didacticism, but not interesting didacticism, just labored and pretentious. she made it her mission to root out and destroy all feelings of love between man and man, although in this as in everything else she failed miserably. but nonetheless we should despise her for corrupting impressionable and naive students of philosophy and literature everywhere. artists and thinkers should be able to recognize this kind of philosophy for what it is, truly evil and poisonous ethical relativism which, whether they know or not and whether they admit it or not, leads the horrifying motto of dostoevsky's ivan karamazov, "anything is permitted!" i would class her less with the serious, relevant and sensitive philosophers of the twentieth century, and put her more in the category of someone like max stirner or aleister crowley (the crucial difference being that while they are clearly depraved and utterly misguided, i can actually read and enjoy their work). if there was a satan (i am an atheist) spawned philosopher to inhabit the world, it would not be anton lavey, it would undoubtedly be ayn rand. (...)i may not believe in a controlling factor in the universe and i openly admit that there are no 'values in themselves', but i am hardly for this reason going to run with it and formulate a philosophy of egoism and hatred of the other. her notoriety and reputation as being a ground breaking writer is false to the point of madness, and her cult of objectivism will get weaker and weaker and eventually die out completely. put this down and 'shrug' it off.
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Summary: Inspirational in moderation....
Review: This book has had a significant impact on my life. While Rand was pretty extreme in her views on government and the duality of humankind, the book provides a thoughtful message about the importance of striving for meaning in life. The book celebrates achievement, big and small, and should encourage people to take pride in the accomplishments of their lives. Atlas Shrugged should not be taken as an endorsement of monopolies, it should serve as a reminder to people that we should not be satisfied with just getting by.
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Summary: clarification
Review: Since there are so many misconceptions and mischaracterizations regarding this book, I thought it warranted clarification. Count me as one well-educated (JD, MBA) adult (40 years old), who can write a review with no spelling errors and no sense of anger, despite the protestations of many of these reviews. Atlas Shrugged represents a positive, life-affirming philosophy. It stands for the proposition that each individual exists for his own sake and owes nothing to his fellow man. This does not mean that people can't or shouldn't work together, or that those of us who endorse Rand's philosophy don't want to work together. It simply means that we demand nothing from other people, just as others should demand nothing from us. Contrary to the common misconceptions regarding Rand's philosophy, practical application of this doctrine would result in a highly productive, inter-connected world of voluntary interaction, not one of self-inflicted isolation. The most difficult concept for people to grasp is that the alternative to the coercion which Rand opposes is NOT isolation. Rather, it is VOLUNTARY interaction. Capitalism is indeed an unknown ideal because it represents the ultimate freedom and liberty. It simply says that man is free to enter into any voluntary relationships he chooses, and that he will not be forced to enter into any which he does not choose. Here is the other common misconception: eliminating mandatory support systems (e.g. welfare, public education, wealth redistribution) will NOT mean that disadvantaged people will be left to fend for themselves. Every individual will always have the right to form private organizations to accomplish the same goals. Count me as one who endorses certain voluntary support mechanisms - just not the mandatory ones that we currently have. The bottom line is that Rand's philosophy is positive. If you don't come away from reading Atlas Shrugged with a wonderful sense of life, you have misunderstood the book.
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Summary: If Only Hitler Could See These Reviews
Review: If Only Hitler Could See These Reviews - he'd be truly pleased. For after all doesn't events like the holocaust happen when people are as selfish and hateful as Rand wants us to be? For Rand's philosophy to work man would have to become a heartless, cold uncaring being and from the number of positive reviews for this book we are just about there. Those that agree with Rand should take some time to reflect on what the world would be like with out compassion for those less fortunate. This belief that those unfortunate are only unfortunate because of their own shortcomings is a conclusion derived from false premesis and as primitive as believing in curses. For those who want to live with sefishness being your greatest attribute, just get a flat tire on a lonely road one night and see how fast you convert. God Bless America and for young readers please talk to an adult before buying the ideas Rand is selling.
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