Rating: 
Summary: This is how life should be
Review: Good art will change your life. This book has meant a lot more to me than even that.Or more precisely, it has changed my life in a more complete and beneficial way than I could have hoped for, and in a way that everybody on this planet needs. It was thanks to Atlas Shrugged that I went from listless self-pity to a belief that I could be happy in my life without anyone else's help. There is a real problem with the common train of thought today that being successful is not fulfilling. Work and purpose are seen as dark dangerous things. The result of this mentality, I think, is dreadful. No one tries to love their work, no one tries to take pleasure in things. People are afraid to embrace this world -- to embrace their life, their real, present life -- because the common wisdom is that doing so will leave them empty and regretful. Well, I embraced what Atlas Shrugged had to say, and have found that life itself can be the most profound source of joy it has to offer. But by 'life' I mean determined, purposeful living. I would love it if everyone in this world gave their own lives a chance. Happiness, they would find, is a lot easier than sitting on a beach acheiving enlightenment or cutting your arm off and giving to the poor.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reading
Review: I read this book for a reading assigment in high school. I thought that it would be a real drag but once I got started, I discovered that it was really interesting. Ayn Rand is a brilliant writer and her characters are very intriguing. I found it hard to put the book down! Rand also gives you a new perspective on life through her theory of objectivism. I highly recommend that everyone read this book.
Rating:
Summary: The Strike!!!
Review: What happens when a creator is forced to destroy? John Galt... a creator, a destroyer... The creator of motor, who stopped the motor of the world. Galt's character not as challenging as Howard Roark's character (Ayn Rand's Fountainhead) but certainly hits the bulls eye. Dagny Taggart, the woman, the heroine is the motion of this story, fighting for movement. In a world inhibited by people lacking courage and negated of originality, unappreciative of the sect who dares to invent, initiate... assiduous, the solution is for the creator to go on a Strike to bring the second-hander to realization... of their value... In defense of Capitalism, big business, this is probably the best fiction work ever printed. Besides promoting capitalism, Rand develops her philosophy of Selfishness, a virtue in this book as well.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant. Its lessons are as true today as ever.
Review: One of Atlas Shrugged's many excellent take-home messages is that hard work fuels our society, and the desire to create wealth for oneself is what ultimately brings out the best in an economy. At the risk of getting on a soap box, this book serves as an excellent parable of the dire direction in which society can head when it continues to give handouts to able bodied people who are too lazy to work; when it saps its citizens of fiduciary gain via taxes and thus provides a disincentive to working harder; and when too much deference is given to the squeaky wheels among us. This story sounds all too familiar, unfortunately, and I am amazed at how prophetic Rand's tale is- she must have seen things coming (can you say "Al Gore"?). The story's only drawback was a 75+ page soliloquy about money that became overkill over its first 10 pages.
Rating:
Summary: Changed my Life
Review: I am 17 years old and just discovered Ayn Rand - she is brillant, and so is this book. It took me 4 months to read it, but it is wonderful and amazing and I agree with everything in it. I almost cried when I read that Ayn Rand died in 1982, but hopefully, enough people will read her work so that her ideas will live on.
Rating:
Summary: This book explains how i feel about the world.
Review: For years i have commented to people about how the thinking man, the hard workers are the ones that are punished in this world because of their success, so as to prop up the worst of humanity. They're money and freedom are stolen as to provide for those who will not try, who will not live. Inevitably people look at you like your completely heartless. But this book, through one of the greatest stories ever told, puts it all down on paper. The premise that people should be able live there lives, free to do as they choose, provided they do no 'harm' to others, is the only true and just way for society to operate. T That is what i always believed, that that is what i think is the most important message of this book. That is what makes me so angry when i look at what's stolen from my pay every month and the money that is wasted by those 'representing' us in government. On a personal note, John Galt mentioned in the book that the only function of Goverment should be to enforce the code that men should interact with each other as traders, this reminded me of a question i asked people continuously in my grade school days, which was 'Why do we need a government mom, why can't the police just make sure that we don't do bad things to each other?'...of course i never got an answer... Read this book, it will open your eyes.
Rating:
Summary: Most important book
Review: Atlas Shrugged was given to me on by my Grandmother without a comment when I was 19 years old. I asked about what it was, and she said to read it. The book after completing it over a summer connected every thought about politics and economics together that I had thought. I never thought I would say that a book would change my life, but this one did. This is must read for anyone who is young and ready to take on the world.
Rating:
Summary: Truly a must read.
Review: I was 25 when I first picked up this book. In college we were required to read one of Rand's shorter novels. Seeing how I was all caught up on my Clancy books, I decided to try Atlas Shrugged. I say try, because this is a huge read. 1000+ pages, but each one is better than the previous. I won't go into the story that much, cause I am sure it is done to death by other reviewers. I will tell you that this is one of those books that you will easily relate to. For me, I must be able to associate myself with a character or be completely fascinated with the character's individuality to be engrossed in a book. I almost lost me job staying up late 'cause I couldn't put this book down. Not only did I associate myself with several characters (rarely can relate to 2 characters in one book,) I understood them and yet was wildly fascinated with them. Everyone, no matter age, sex or race should be able to get into this book. This book also clearly, but not bluntly or over the top, brings out Rand's theory of Objectivism. Basically, her thoughts are that everyone is different, yet when everyone is viewed as being the same, problems will arise. When too much government interefernce dictates how we go about our daily lives, what will happen? John Galt - finally I wrap up my review by looking, for a moment, at the focus of this book, "Who is John Galt?" John is a man who believed in his principles, so much in fact, he walked away from everything in an attempt to find a far better place. When asked where he was going, his only response was "I am going to stop the motor of the world." I got chills when I read that line each time in the book, and I still get them just writing it.
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Question
Review: "Who is John Galt?" This is the first line of Rand's masterpiece, and the question she devotes the next 1000+ pages to answering. But it is important to know what the question means in order to understand the answer. It does not simply mean "Who is the man who is know by the name John Galt?" Nearly everyone who asks the question in the book is a character without hope, who is searching for a reason why life has not lived up to his expectations. To these people, the question means "Why is the world the way it is?" They pick up the phrase without knowing its meaning because the tone it is asked in contains so much dispair. "Who is John Galt?"="Why is the world crumbling around us?" The world is crumbling because John Galt has destroyed it. He has not declared rebellion, or sabatoged its infrastructure. He has destroyed it by refusing to be its slave, and by convincing others like him to make the same refusal. Once Galt makes his appearance, and the most superficial answer to the question is settled, the question takes on a newer, more noble meaning. It means "Who is this man who can do such a thing? What is there about him that gives him such strength?" Eloquently put, "John Galt is the man who loves his life." He is a man who defends that life on principle, never sacrificing a moment of his life or a portion of his mind to another. The world may enslave him, but he refuses to forge the chains for them; and without him and others like him, the world is powerless. They can not even torture him without his help. That is who John Galt is.
Rating:
Summary: A Dangerous Work
Review: I've recommended this book to any number of people since coming late in life to it. This is the refutation of Marx's "Communist Manifesto" - the powerful rationalist and ethical argument for capitalism. But you'd be amazed how many supposedly intelligent, open-minded people have told me they REFUSE to read this book because they disagree with its basic premise: that capitalism - the belief that free people creating and freely exchanging wealth - is a moral good, and that communism - the belief that what you create belongs not to yourself, but to everyone else (i.e., government-sanctioned thievery) - is evil. They actually seem AFRAID to read it; they seem to have a lurking, fear that this book somehow threatens some cherished core belief. Who would have thought that simply READING a book could be dangerous? If you read nothing else this year, read this book - if you dare. But know that doing so will put your beliefs about how the world works under a pitiless microscope. And if you read it with any kind of an open mind, it will change the way you think.
| 
