Atlas Shrugged

Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: Atlas Shruggedis known as Ayn Rand's magnum opus, and the reasons for thishonor are easily found within the pages of the book. The novel challenges thousandsof years of altruism and collectivism in human civilization. Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand's tribute to the men of the mind: scientists, philosophers, businessmen, artists, teachers. It is a mystery novel, not about the murder of a man, but the murder of mankind's spirit and the struggle to bring it back. The novel unites metaphysics, ethics, economics and romantic love. The integration of theme, plot, characterization and style are unparalleled by any other philosophical work of the century. These elements, combined with the novel's scope and depth, lead the reader into Ayn Rand's world, where he discovers and enters the lost Atlantis, a world of moral giants.

Rating:
Summary: I just don't agree that this is a masterpiece
Review: I had heard of but never read Ayn Rand's fiction so decided to read Atlas Shrugged to enlighten myself on her philosophy.

What I found was a tiresome, plodding story with one dimensional characters and impossible dialog. Rand never says in three words what she can say in three hundred, and her illustration of Objectivism could have been done in a few hundred pages instead of the thousand or so that she used.

While I personally agree with her philosophy, I just can't recommend this book to anyone. It's difficult to read, it's boring, it's condescending, and by the time you're several pages into a character's monologue in which the character says the same thing in a different way in each paragraph, you just want to escape this awful book.

I'm well aware I'm going against the mainstream here, but I just dont' see what's so great about this awful book.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most inspired books I've ever been consumed by.
Review: In Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand illustrates, through a wonderfully crafted and complex story, her aesthetically intelligent philosophy of Objectivism. Her unique vision of the existence of man's spirit has had a greater impact on me than any other book I have ever read. Who is John Galt? I am John Galt.--Patricia E. Larki

Rating:
Summary: This book made an impact on me!
Review: In case this is your first encounter with this book, It is a fresh story but a continuation to Ayn Rand's philosophy that started out with books like "We the living" where she new something was wrong but could not put her finger on it. She progressed to books as "The Fountainhead" where she could describe the problem quite well. Now in "Atlas Shrugged she has come up with a plausible answer to the problem. In essence your head can work without your hands yet your hands can not work without your head.
I can tell you of my experience with the book. Normally my reviews are flippant and I include nothing personal. I must have been a late bloomer or just unlucky, because I did not come across "Atlas shrugged" until I was 20 years old. I was in the military and needed some reading material. My younger sister sent me the book. It looks just a little thick to me but I started reading, and reading and reading. I do not know if it was the story or the clarity of thought. Now I saw everything in a new or different light. It felt weird to see the newspapers and politics paralleling the book.
I was in New York (West Point) at the time and three things stood out to this day. The was a public service announcement on the TV "The law says that an apartment owner can not charge more than 30% of what you make" and at the same time the apartment buildings were closing down. The postal carriers went on strike and the military had to deliver the mail. That winter the snowplow drivers went on strike. When the strike was over the snowplows were missing. They found them the next summer in an empty lot.
There is nothing quite as convincing as watching the world and book parallel. I have mellowed out some sense then. However, I really think that this book should be read by high school where it would have maximum impact of one's train of thought.



Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: Read it and see the issues unfold clearly before your eyes. How should man live his life? What political system is best? Should we rely on reason or emotions for guidance? If you take ideas seriously and like to think, this is the book for you. It offers a rational philosophy based not on supernatural revelation or subjective emotion, but on what is and man's ability to discern it - all of which is argued in a superbly integrated and suspenseful story sure to keep you up late many nights in a row. Introduce yourself to the characters you'll wish sat across from you at the office - introduce yourself to a new approach to life

Rating:
Summary: What An Education !!
Review: Second to the Bible, this is the most profound, impacting, and educational book I have ever read. This book is a Philosophy 101, Politics 101, Economics 101, Sociology 101, and Psychology 101. Some readers will not grasp or appreciate many of the concepts in the book, but those who are tired of incompetence, tired of being manipulated through guilt, tired of seeing people make decisions out of emotion rather than logic, and tired of paying for someone else's living will find this book fantastically liberating.

This book is for the self-made-man (or woman) who must combat the bureaucracy of the world, the takers of freedom, and the incompetence and subsistence of its inhabitants in order to succeed.

It is incredible that many of the arguments and scenarios portrayed in this 50-year old fiction could be read as everyday news today. It really makes you think twice about America's graduated income tax!

This book has a permanent place in my home library, as I will be reading this one again!