Rating: 
Summary: Timeless, gripping, real
Review: "Have you ever read 'Atlas Shrugged'?" I asked my roommate. "Naah. I heard it was three times as long as it needed to be." No matter what else one might say about Ayn Rand, it cannot be denied that she was first a philosopher and a writer by default. The case for objectivism is clearly, if exhaustingly, laid out in "Atlas Shrugged". The productive, the creators, are hailed, while the unproductive, the parasites are given their just desserts by the end of the novel. The idea that one cannot live off the effort of others, but must stand on one's own feet and survive by the sweat of one's own brow is an idea this country was founded on. Somehow, we've forgotten it under mounds of policy Ms. Rand reminds us in this weighty doomsday missive. "Atlas Shrugged" is a worthy read. The plot is fascinating, even if the characters are one-sided (the same can be said of The Bible). Though Ms. Rand tends to make her point multiple times within the same scene, the story never stops. It's scope and depth are breathtaking. Whatever you feel about Ms. Rand's philosophy of objectivism, and there are definite holes in her logic (oddly enough, this is one of the values she holds most high), "Atlas Shrugged" will change your life. You may not come away a dyed in the wool believer, but you will uncover much of what's wrong with the current American way of life.
Rating: 
Summary: Who is John Galt?
Review: "Atlas Shrugged" is Miss Rand's crowning achievement. Although she does not posses the finest style, nor does she write particularly deep books, she places within her books her philosophy, and forms a masterful plot around her (via Aristotle) beatiful, simplistic maxim "A is A", reason, honesty, and truth. "Atlas Shrugged" is the story of every person who believes that those who have the ability do, should be rewarded for their doing so, and that those who do not, should not. It is a testament to all those who can live by the simple creed:
"I swear -- by my life and my love of it -- that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."
Rating:
Summary: Awesome. Life-changing. Why greed is good.
Review: "Greed, for the lack of a better word, is good. And greed will save the United States of America." One has to suspect that Gordon Gekko's famous speech in Wall Street was inspired in small part by Ayn Rand's masterpiece. Reading it, even a dyed-in-the-wool Communist will understand why free markets work and government intervention and planned economies do not. Rand's masterpiece is timeless and a must-read for every political-science and economics major in our colleges. Unforgettable (if somewhat one-dimensional) characters, a purposeful plot, and an unquenchable belief -- the freedom to choose one's own destiny, good or bad -- make this not just a book, but THE Book.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless, gripping, real
Review: "Have you ever read 'Atlas Shrugged'?" I asked my roommate.
"Naah. I heard it was three times as long as it needed to be." No matter what else one might say about Ayn Rand, it cannot be denied that she was first a philosopher and a writer by default.
The case for objectivism is clearly, if exhaustingly, laid out in "Atlas Shrugged". The productive, the creators, are hailed, while the unproductive, the parasites are given their just desserts by the end of the novel. The idea that one cannot live off the effort of others, but must stand on one's own feet and survive by the sweat of one's own brow is an idea this country was founded on. Somehow, we've forgotten it under mounds of policy Ms. Rand reminds us in this weighty doomsday missive.
"Atlas Shrugged" is a worthy read. The plot is fascinating, even if the characters are one-sided (the same can be said of The Bible). Though Ms. Rand tends to make her point multiple times within the same scene, the story never stops. It's scope and depth are breathtaking.
Whatever you feel about Ms. Rand's philosophy of objectivism, and there are definite holes in her logic (oddly enough, this is one of the values she holds most high), "Atlas Shrugged" will change your life. You may not come away a dyed in the wool believer, but you will uncover much of what's wrong with the current American way of life.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent work that will make you think.
Review: Atlas Shrugged had been on my parents shelf throughout my childhood in England but I had always been intimidated by the length and the small type. Since then, I have moved to Japan and I am now living and working in the middle of one of the worst economic periods Japan has experienced since the war. All around me I see unhappy faces, the kind that in Atlas Shrugged might suddenly ask "Who is John Galt," and in many ways the situation has parallels with the one that Ayn Rand paints in her novel. The book was being promoted heavily in the English language section of one of Tokyo's largest book stores and it caught my attention. One month later, I have had one of the most profound reading experiences I have ever had. I think that the story, its characters and its philosophy were the right message for me at this point in my life. I always thought that John Galt was not to be found in society or government but in ones own capacity to think and act and in the highly conformist culture of Japan this is a message that any individual needs to hear from time to time. However, to be your own John Galt, you must think for yourself, and this means that you will take from Atlas Shrugged that which makes sence in the context of your own life and should not swollow every idea in the book. The situations, people and events in the book are designed to create the best backdrop to explain Ayn Rands philosophy but the situations, people and events in our lives are many and varied. There is a time to be logical, there is a time to be sensitive, there is a time to be selfish and there is a time to be selfless. To be happy and to really live our life in accordance with our highest ideas of ourselves is the end that Ayn Rand teaches, but the means must be up to every individual to work out for themselves taking into account the lives of all those we love. ADL
Rating:
Summary: It's the Best. Read it, and judge for yourself.
Review: Atlas Shrugged is a mystery-adventure-love story-science fiction epic like no other book written before or since. It changed my life -- it just might change yours
Rating:
Summary: You'll either love it or hate it. I love it!
Review: Atlas Shrugged is one of the most ambitious and intelligent novels of this century. No matter how many times you read it, it always gives you something more to think about. This is a thinking man's (and thinking woman's!) novel. It also has one of the best and most positive heroines of any novel I have ever read. Don't let the hecklers and net.trolls who give bad reviews of the novel prevent you from exploring it for yourself. You'll either end up agreeing or disagreeing with the ideas therein, but at least you'll have had a chance to think about challenging ethical and political issues.
Rating:
Summary: required reading for any serious business person.
Review: Atlas Shrugged is required reading at our company. It is a manual for business ethics and personal responsibility. In today's world of broken promises and failed commitments, Atlas Shrugged motivates the reader to "take the high road" and live with honor and integrity.
Rating:
Summary: Ayn Rand at her best
Review: Atlas Shrugged may be one of the best pieces of fiction/philosophy ever written. Ms. Rand completely integrated her philosophy of "Objectivism" into the character of John Galt. This book stands as masterpiece of modern literature and should be recognized more for it's value than the distaste for the philosophy of it's writer.
Rating: 
Summary: A dissapointment
Review: Atlas Shrugged seems to be an apology by Ayn Rand for writing a devastating account of an individualist in "The Fountain Head". Atlas gives too many explanations for questions that were left unanswered in Fountain Head and for which it was perhaps most respected. I think this book is best read while you are in college and are scratching the surface of reality
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