Atlas Shrugged
 

Atlas Shrugged

by Ayn Rand

At last, Ayn Rand's masterpiece is available to her millions of loyal readers in trade paperback.

With this acclaimed work and its immortal query, "Who is John Galt?", Ayn Rand found the perfect artistic form to express her vision of existence. Atlas Shrugged made Rand not only one of the most popular novelists of the century, but one of its most influential thinkers.
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Other Reviews

Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

3 of 4 members found this review helpful.
greenmom
  • Rated 4 stars

Socialists beware: you will not relish this book. I think that is the main reason I loved this book so much. Sometimes the truth hurts people. This book was a fascinating read and glimpse into the mind of a great, visionary author. Rand is a ruthless exposer of things as they really are, although I'd hate to be her child =).

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Didn’t Like It

5 of 5 members found this review helpful.
Theophania
  • Rated 2 stars

I once heard Gloria Steinem say that Ayn Rand was smart, but had no sense of humor. After reading this, I can believe she didn't have a sense of humor. I can't imagine she was that smart--at least about human nature. The people who really think that Ayn Rand's view of Utopia would really work are seriously naive or possibly mentally ill. Atlas Shrugged is mildly intresting as a story, though overlong. As a blueprint for Utopia it is laughable.

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Community:
  • Rated 4.268571 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4.035714 stars
 

Newest Comments

  • satbir s

    satbir s said:

    which one shall I read first? Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged?

    posted 2 weeks ago ( | view 8 replies )
  • Alexander B

    alexander b said:

    Atlas Shrugged will almost assuredly remain for the rest of my life the most remarkable book I will ever read, unless lightening strikes twice and we have another genius who is both a first-rate novelist AND philosopher. There is no reference point for this book. Nothing is like it. There has never been a figure like Ayn Rand in history before - as she is both an original philosopher and a giant in literature.

    I don't have to tell you to read this book because it is deep, or profound, or eye-opening, or a work of extremely uncommon genius, or of such broad scope you will never think about business, politics, money, sex or many other things the same way again.

    All the above is true. But one of the best compliments I can give this book is IT IS A RIP-ROARING YARN. The plot is incredible. The story is over-the-top compelling. I found myself rushing through all the brilliant digressions (which I've then re-read several times at later dates) which aren't digressions at all but feed into the stakes at risk in the story, but I would rush through them anyway, just to find out what happens next.

    If you want to experience one of the richest and most surprising combinations of plot and theme you will ever find in the English language (and probably any other) read Atlas Shrugged.

    And then when its over, deal with the sadness, at least as a reader, because you will never find anything like it again. A compensation is that, if her views appeal to you, there are several non-fiction books she then wrote the following decades on every philosophical branch - Metaphysics, Epistemology Ethics, Politics, and Aesthetics (Art) that will blow your mind. As this is a literature forum, I particularly recommend "The Romantic Manifesto", Ayn Rands thesis about art. Again, remarkable.

    - Alexander

    posted 2 weeks ago ( | view 3 replies )
  • Amanda A

    amanda a said:

    Did anyone else have a rough go of getting through Galt's speech toward the end? Granted, it's just about the whole of a philosophy stuffed into, what, 50 or so pages, but PHEW! I am anxiously awaiting the resolution of the last chapter, but this speech is brutal. Does it ever end??

    posted Monday, September 1 2008 ( | view 1 reply )
  • parinitha

    parinitha said:

    All i can say about this book is that it is so simply wonderful that it compels you to do some very serious thinking!

    posted Sunday, August 31 2008
  • Luella S

    luella s said:

    Someone told me that when this book first came out, a group of people thought it was real!

    posted Wednesday, August 27 2008 ( | view 2 replies )
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