Atlas Shrugged

Rating:
Summary: Read This Book and Be Changed
Review: The world is full of Ayn Rand haters, lovers, worshipers, apologists, and everything in between. And then there are those few that honestly respect her. I am such a man, for of all people in the history of ideas, Ayn Rand is deserving of respect and admiration.

The truth is that books like Atlas Shrugged demand quite a bit from their readers, more than most people can handle or give. But Ayn Rand never wanted to reach out to the masses. Rather, she focused her work towards the smallest minority on earth - the individual.

If you have a working brain and you care about ideas then you must do yourself a monumental favor and read Atlas Shrugged. It is not easy nor is it simple. Everything that you know and believe may be questioned. But you will come away from the experience as either a better person or a furious one (or both, like me). Rand will hit you where it hurts with her passionate and truly brilliant story of what happens when the motor of the world stops.

I owe Ayn Rand quite a bit so let me tell you that if you can properly integrate your life with her philosophy, it will be a good one - difficult or not (good does not always mean easy). Rand does not make life simple for her readers but she does give you the tools to live it well.

Just remember two things. First - Don't try and "convert" your friends and loved ones to Rand's philosophy if they are not interested in hearing about it. You can better convince these people by allowing them to watch your own success in life. Many a friend has been lost by someone who couldn't reconcile their new found love of Ayn Rand with their old life. Judge your friends accordingly but also remember the value of benevolence when trying to deal with them. They can be swayed to better ideas with reason, and if not, you may just have to let them go - or accept them for the value that they bring you. After all, not all people accurately describe their values and ideas, yet many of them are worthy of praise and admiration nonetheless.

Second - You don't need anyone's advice on integrating Rand's ideas. Do it on your own through books and introspection and live a happy life. Trying to please the 1000's of rand-fans and haters out there in the world will make you crazy. Ignore them. For the most part, Rand did too.

Also read: Tai-Pan, Shogun and Noble House by James Clavell and Foundation by Issac Asimov.

Rating:
Summary: Genius or Cultist?
Review: Writing a review for Atlas Shrugged is personally difficult because while I grudgingly find Rand inspiring and was obsessed with the Fountainhead when I read it, I must concede that Ayn Rand is not an exceptional stylist or wordsmith. To the question: is she a writer or a philosopher, the answer is a firm 'philosopher.' Her works are much too idea-driven and one can't help but feel like he's reading a biblical comic book.

In this epic she presents a near-futurisitic world populated by industrial/scientific tycoons and populist parasites, the latter ruling the former, blinding them from perceiving their own greatness. Dagny Taggart, the engine behind a powerful railroad, and Hank Reardon, the inventor of a revolutionary steel alloy, are resolved to hold out when the industry giants begin to quit and disappear in response to American socialization.

Rand basically used this book to espouse (sometimes tediously so) the fundamental tenets of objectivism. It is wrong to criticize this book as anything other than what Rand intends it to be: a romantic vision of man as she sees him (as, indeed, she wants to see man). Yes, Atlas Shrugged, to a large extent, is a response to the time and place that produced Ayn Rand. Still, it is tough not to admire her steadfast, resolute, uncompromising vision of man as man ought to be - of freedom of ideas, speech, and ambition, the fulfillment of out greatest capacities for reason, progress, and happiness.

The tough part of reviewing Rand is looking at her as a writer. Yes, her character are cut out of cardboard. Yes, her ideas are single-minded and her morals fixed and diametrically opposed to her concept of evil. Atlas Shrugged is also frequently surprisingly flat, considering Rand's story-building skills. The Fountainhead had a hero and a worthy villain, but Atlas Shrugged has a number of heroes but not a single worthy adversary. For every John Galt, there are ten unbearably stupid, puerile, unconsciously evil enemies. This allows Rand to market her philosophy virtually without any competitition, making it that much more attractive. The story never really becomes compelling (even if the ideas sometimes do), and that is the measure of a great epic novel. We know where Rand is going and how she will get there; the issue that remains is how many words will she use?

Rating:
Summary: Relief from relativistic morality...
Review: The novel is absurd, in the form of stripping arguments to their bones and exposing the underlying assumptions. A brilliant absurdity. Yes, the philosophy (what is the "phylosophy" discussed below... a pastry?) has a simplistic tone, but that is what ideas look like when explained clearly; think of mathematical elegance. This is a novel of Utopian striving, a type of work that is easy to criticize for necessary simplifications.

However, the underlying structure of the ideas supporting the work have not been meaningfully refuted in the reviews below. Rand's tenet is that mankind reaches its fullest potential when working toward its own personal interests. The more that the state interferes with that work, the less mankind works toward that potential. Thus taxes that do not transparently serve the interests of the broad population, are widely viewed as confiscatory and lead to declines in work. Productivity measures in socialist societies prove this again and again. Not only does Germany have persistent unemployment that nearly doubles that of the US, their "disability" rate equals their unemployment rate.

Is there a perfect capitalist? No, but I trust an imperfect capitalist far more than I would trust an ideal socialist.

Rating:
Summary: Capitalists, the end for you is near!
Review: Go ahead, capitalists, read this awful book and enjoy its laughable message that you are somehow virtuous. Enjoy this fantasy as long as you can because justice will soon be served to you. Howard Dean will become president and you will then pay for your rape of the environment, exploitation of workers and selfish pursuits. No more slaps on the wrists. Jail time will be the norm, as it should be! There's no place you'll be able to hide, and no one will be able to save you. Your reign of darkness will come to an end. Mark my word!

Rating:
Summary: Naive misconception of truth and reality
Review: This book will appeal to only the most inexperienced student of truth, the more discerning observer has no choice but to reject this work as a fictional fantasy novel projecting Newtonian phylosophical idealism and secular humanistic propositions disporoven long ago.

Rand tries to promote Reason as the ultimate human ideal failing to recognize the link between reason and the corruption she denounces. In the real world her Atlantean heroes have joined the ranks of the looters, there are no maverick bankers and invincible lone Pirates with Military weaponry leading a resistance to restore righteousness.

The corrupt are not foolish enough to leave such resources under the control of potential resistors neither do they lack the power to subdue them. Her book is a grand contradiction filled with narrow ideals void of pragmatism

In the real world the resistance has been neutralized its key components willingly synthesized, with Reason at the helm of destruction and the abandonment of faith its cause.

Rand's political condition may have some future place if American society ever declines into the Russian morality standard but not until the heroes she describes have long vanished entirely from the American industrial scene and the power of Government and those in control of it have become absolute. The Atlantean hero solution however is simply Naive fiction.

I would not recommend this book even for entertainment value, Rand is too naive to deserve a reading.

Rating:
Summary: Conservative Pseudo-Philosophy
Review: This is perhaps the most overrated "novel" in recent history. This book is meant to indoctrinate teenagers and non-academics into the pseudo-philosophy of Objectivism. Because Rand was intolerant of any debate or criticism of her ideas, never published an article in a peer-reviewed philosophy journal, and had only minimal philosophical training (see Jeff Walker's "The Ayn Rand Cult"), she chose fiction as the vehicle for her ideas. As a work of fiction, "Atlas Shrugged" fails miserably. The characters are flat and one-dimensional, the dialogue is often laughably melodramatic, and the "philosophical" message is so heavy-handed it parallels the Stalinist aesthetic of "socialist realism." Rand's obsession with "hero-worship" leads her to create Nietzschean supermen and juxtapose them with their polar opposite. This makes for painfully boring reading. By creating an imaginary world on which she can superimpose her philosophy, she is able to manipulate the characters and environment to "prove" her biases. Any fool can create a belief system and write a novel which supports this belief system, and this book is proof of that. Objectivism, of course, could not function in the real world. Ayn Rand proclaims that all taxes are a form of theft, so therefore the government should be run on voluntary donations. She also argues that charity is not a moral action (the moral ideal is "selfishness"). So where would the money come to run a government that would ensure that one's individuality was not infringed upon? Or, would the almighty "Reason" (a crucial Randian concept) take over like an invisible hand and make government unnecessary? Also, Rand avoids the subject of children almost altogether in her works. How can one reconcile raising children, an act which often requires selflessness and putting another first in your life, with leading a completely selfish, egoistic life? If you are a fan of heavy-handed hero worship, long-winded arrogance, and Hollywood-style dialogue, this book is for you! If not, save yourself the excruciating experience of reading this trash.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: This is certainly one of the greatest novels ever written, and one of the most influential ones at that.
The plot is stunningly original, the characters are larger than life heroes and villains, and the dialogue is simply beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: who is john galt
Review: just wanted to post a five star vote.
most important book ever.

Rating:
Summary: Write a review....are you serious?
Review: What the world needs is another lenghty review of a 1200 page book with as many reviews on this listing. It would take a book to truly review this book.

This should sum it up: Almost 50 years in publication, voted the second most influential book behind the Bible, the topic of endless debate and moving those who disagree to line-up and submit one-star reviews because they'll sleep better knowing that the Amazon 'star rating' is lower for their effort. It's one of the greats and you'll not walk away from it unchanged in some way.

Rating:
Summary: typical right-wing intellectualism
Review: I was really into Ayn Rand in my younger days. Recently I picked up a copy and began to read. How I have grown up.

Rand's central problem is her reliance on massive psychological ad-hominem attacks against all who do not agree to worship capitalism.

But I guess I have to be more specific, since the free-market fascists have gratuitously eliminated well-constructed arguments from public debate: some refer to ad-hominem as a personal attack. A person's psychological motivations have nothing to do with the evidence and logic of the argument. The massive recurrence of this fallacy in this book is only a distraction which, intentional or not, only serves to cause hatred of those who think unbridled free markets belong in the historical display of failed theologies, next to Marxism, Communism, and Fascism.

Not surprisingly, nowhere in this book is the actual definition of capitalism even remotely explored. Since nobody seems to remember, capitalism is the act of owning assets that generate income even when you are not there to operate them. And to own enough assets generating enough income to live on, most people have to inherit them-or trick the government into giving it to them, the standard practice used by most of today's "corporate heros."

There was once some use in the corporation: it was a tool for socializing risk, for which investors were duly rewarded. But the railroad companies so admired by Rand were some of the first to run crying to the Federal government for free handouts while hiding thier lobbying with PR campaigns about the "free market" and "competition" and "individual initiative" even as they ruthlessly stomped the "competition" they professed to admire.

As a final note: To any free market fascist reading this, I really don't care what you think. My job is to reveal this "work" for what it is: rhetoric-driven fundamentalism, serving to obfuscate the quest of the rich and privileged for the endless aggrandizement of more wealth and privilege.

"All for ourselves and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind."--Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book 3, Chapter 4, Paragraph 10.