A modern Prometheus? Does he even exist? And why, if no one knows the answer, does the entire world know his name? As she fights to save her railroad, Dagny struggles to understand why incompetence, which she believes to be powerless, seems to be stopping her at every turn and winning every battle.
And to answer that question, she must grapple with another one: Why does the man she loves say that she is responsible for the victories of her enemies? His greatest achievement, a new alloy he calls Rearden Metal, has the potential to revolutionize the economy. But Rearden soon finds his metal under attack from the government, the media and so-called scientific experts. Rearden loves his work, but he does not regard it as a moral achievement and is unconcerned with defending it and himself from intellectual attack.
But as Rearden begins to understand the importance of championing his work, he starts to see a connection to why he is unhappy at home, where he is surrounded by a family who mocks and scorns him, caught in a loveless marriage, and plagued by a sense of guilt over his sexual desire, which he regards as a low, animalistic urge.
But what will happen as other players make their own backroom deals, threatening the very existence of Taggart Transcontinental? And what does his response reveal about his soul? Unlike the heroes of the novel, he is not a creative giant, but he is unfailingly conscientious and deeply devoted to Taggart Transcontinental. Through Eddie we see that those of greater productive ability do not exploit those with less ability, but benefit them by giving them the capacity to be even more productive.
Eddie also reveals the way in which the best of the men of average intelligence require the creation of a rational society: whereas the heroes can create such a society, Eddie may very well perish without them. For Rand reason is needed not just by a theoretical scientist in his lab, but by all of us at all times. They choose their goals and values by a process of thought, never putting their desires above the facts.
As a result, they are in constant conflict with reality and achieve nothing. Atlas Shrugged challenges many conventional notions about good and evil: that sex is a low, animal desire; that money is the root of evil; that man is sinful by nature. One of the most prominent is the notion that selfishness is evil and self-sacrifice is good. The heroes of Atlas Shrugged are condemned for their selfishness, while the villains tout their selflessness and the moral duty to sacrifice.
In their dealings with others, they seek to gain by trade, with the result being a profound benevolence toward other such self-interested characters. Thus in Atlas a code of rational self-interest emerges as a Morality of Life and the conventional code of selflessness and self-sacrifice emerges as a Morality of Death.
In this sense, it takes its place alongside books like as 20th-century cautionary tales that teach lessons we ignore at our peril. This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here. More From Forbes. Aug 30, , pm EDT. Jul 30, , am EDT. Jun 23, , pm EDT. May 31, , am EDT. Aug 14, , am EDT. Jul 23, , am EDT. Jul 15, , am EDT.
Jun 28, , am EDT. Thank you, Kingsley Amis. But on the plus side, the book is a page-turner; it does a great job of helping people brought up in a In some ways, this is a very bad book. But on the plus side, the book is a page-turner; it does a great job of helping people brought up in a left-wing tradition to understand the right as not just deluded or evil my friend Gen said she had the same experience after reading it ; and it is good at voicing the frustration that competent and honest people feel when they are surrounded by incompetent and dishonest ones.
And the romance between Dagny and Hank is emotionally very satisfying. I was so disappointed when she But I fear the author's desire to push her philosophical agenda got in the way of the story. I haven't exactly changed my mind on any of the above, but, as Jordan persuasively argues, it's kind of missing the point.
And, with all due respect to the other reviews here, most of them are also missing the point. Well, because we're answering the wrong question. Some people uncritically adore this book. Guys, dare I suggest that you might want to broaden your reading tastes just the tiniest amount, and see if you still feel that way?
A rather larger group of reviewers can't stand Ayn Rand, and point out various obvious flaws: lack of feeling for English prose style, lack of character development, lack of realistic dialogue, interminable sermons on Objectivism, and sundry other charges. Of course. All of that's clearly true. But here's the question I find more interesting: if the book is so terrible, how come it's been such a gigantic success?
It's been said that only the Bible has had a greater influence on 20th century American thought. It must have something going for it.
So here's my second attempt. I think the book is dishonest, but it's dazzlingly dishonest, on a grand scale, and that's what readers find fascinating. As everyone knows, the basic thesis is that people should be more selfish, and that this will in some mystical way be good for society as a whole; a boldly paradoxical idea, and, at first sight, it's complete nonsense.
I can well believe that my selfishness might be good for me personally, but why on Earth should it be good for anyone else? It flies in the face of at least two thousand years of Western ethical thought, which has been largely focused on making people less selfish, not more.
As has been widely pointed out, Objectivism is pretty much the antithesis of Christianity. Which does suggest the question of why many people on the American Right claim both to be Christians and at the same time supporters of Rand's ideas, but let's not get into that right now. I don't really understand how the American Right thinks, so it'll be more productive to consider my own reactions to the book, which were by no means all negative.
In particular, I find Dagny a sympathetic main character. Yes, she's the Mary Sue to end all Mary Sues, but that's exactly it. Rand believes in her so completely that I can't help being swept along. I am aware that few real women are hypercompetent technical and managerial geniuses, who think nothing of working 48 hours straight and then looking drop-dead gorgeous in a designer gown.
If the movie ever does get made, though, you must admit that Angelina Jolie was a shrewd piece of casting. Even if Dagny doesn't exist, I want her to, and I've seen many worse role-models for young women.
That mixture of beauty, intelligence and passion is appealing. And sure, most of the other characters are one-dimensional stereotypes, but, when you're as self-centered as Ayn Rand was, that's how you see things. It's a subjective view, and I find it interesting to look at the world through her eyes.
Now that I've admitted that I love Dagny - I must admit that I can't decide whether I want to be her or sleep with her; probably a bit of both - let's get on to analyzing Rand's big con. A large part of the book is a lavish, over-the-top, melodramatic romance.
Will Dagny get her guy? She's hopelessly in love with Hank, who feels just the same way about her. But Hank's ghastly wife, Lillian, seems to be an insuperable obstacle to their happiness. Hank's got all these mistaken principles , see, which mean he has to stay with Lillian, who doesn't appreciate him one bit, rather than go off with his true love. The best scene in the book is the confrontation at the party.
Hank has created his new miracle alloy, which is a thousand times stronger than steel and a cool blue-green color to boot. The very first thing he makes from is it a bracelet for Lillian. And is she grateful? Of course not! She's actually going around complaining to the other women about this ugly thing her dumb husband has given her to wear on her wrist.
Why couldn't he give her a diamond bracelet like a normal guy? But Dagny, in a blazing fury, goes up to her, and in front of everyone says that she'll be so happy to swap her own diamond bracelet for Hank's unappreciated present. Honestly, if you're not on Dagny's side at this point, I fear you have no heart at all. I was certainly cheering her on, and given the general success of the novel I assume I was one of millions.
Rand has stacked the deck, but she's not exactly the first author to do so. The reasonable point she's making here is that, in romantic matters, people should often do what they want to do, rather than than what they feel they ought to do.
Straightforwardly selfish behavior is better for everyone; people need love, which makes them happy, rather than pity, which ultimately makes them miserable. At least, it's true in this particular case. You're sitting there willing Hank to understand what's so blatantly obvious. And, once she's got you to buy into her idea, she switches the cards right under your nose. In just the same way, she argues, people should always act selfishly! See, if you're given something you haven't truly earned whatever that means , it won't make you happy.
Moreover, the people who are actually entitled to it will feel hurt and frustrated, just like Dagny, and in the end they'll lose their motivation. And thus, um, if you tax multi-billionaires at more than whatever the fashionable rate is, civilization will collapse.
I may have condensed the argument a little, but I think that's roughly it. As already mentioned, this is nonsense, and shows that romance authors, even quite good ones, shouldn't try their hand at political philosophy.
But that needn't stop you from appreciating their romances, and I certainly did. Next week, I will be reviewing Barbara Cartland's commentaries on Kant. To be continued. View all 87 comments. Mar 30, Mario the lone bookwolf rated it did not like it Shelves: facepalm-trash-bin. The premise: Everyone is stupid except the faith and ideology I want to spread with awkward, bad writing and glorifying sociopathy with a touch of ethical thoughts to make it not look even more inhuman. Great, beautiful misogynist vs ugly women.
Any kind of wonderful fascism-, eugenic-, master rac The premise: Everyone is stupid except the faith and ideology I want to spread with awkward, bad writing and glorifying sociopathy with a touch of ethical thoughts to make it not look even more inhuman.
Any kind of wonderful fascism-, eugenic-, master race- driven lunatics vs all other humans. Wise feminists vs bad men. Environmentalists vs evil bureaucracies. Ingenius racists vs the inferior population. The good political party vs the evil political party.
One understands the sheer stupidity much better in such an ironized context and it shows the immense main problem of misusing fictional literature to implement agenda and bias in a work of fiction to manipulate so many people in real life to think that destructive ideas are great.
Why so many adjectives and extreme contrasts in her writing you may ask? Well, if an author is unable to explain things by showing, not telling, and being an objective and talented storyteller, there have to be many little helpers to make it understandable.
I mean, what about dialogues or interacting with the world instead of endless, boring inner and outer monologues? Looks like some people never get out of pubertal defiant phase. So many people saying that they got influenced by this piece of capitalist propaganda show how the misuse of literature can be instrumentalized to promote an inhuman and disturbing point of view.
In the contrast, I tend to feel ashamed about my first world problems, lack of motivation, procrastination, all these luxury problems, and have a strong attitude towards improving the world by spreading the knowledge about the good, proven, logical, human, alternatives to the stupidity that ruled the earth for millennia. A kind of obligation to be thankful, mindful, positive, and progressive.
Because they are superior. Extremism is always the same, boring concept, look at all the great historical examples with the same mentality, I live in a country with a history lesson around that you might have heard about. View all 36 comments. Jan 03, Stephen rated it liked it Shelves: classics , world-in-the-shitter , polly-sighs-and-pubic-policy , , philosophy , audiobook , literature , science-fiction , classics-americas , epic.
A review many minutes in the writing and several hours in the photo finding. A review so important that one Dr. Hyperbole had this to say upon seeing it This review will pull no punches as it discusses all aspects of the novel and includes opinions that run the gamut from 5 stars of love to seething cauldron's of 1 star rage It is a book of new and radical ideas being passionately expressed by someone who believes deeply in them.
Whether you agree or disagree whole-heartedly or belong somewhere in the middle, it's right and proper to respect the passion and conviction that Ms. Rand feels for her subject. Call it controversial, call it inflammatory, even call it wrong, but it is impossible to call it irrelevant. There is little question that as a book of ideas, Atlas Shrugged is a monumental book and deserves its place as one of the most important books of the 20th Century Ain't I right there Normie.
Among these detractors was one P. Whether or not you believe her vision is skewed or biased, there is still much that her book can add to the debate on the proper role of government in the life of the individual. People are people and everyone is entitled to being judged for who they are. Walk around your house and pick up the products that you use every day and that make your life easier and ask yourself how many of them were made by people who made a lot of money off them my guess is most of them.
The world we be a lot worse off without the inventors, the builders and the risk takers and they deserve our thanks and not our animosity There were additional negative reactions raised about Atlas Shrugged and this review promises to tackle them in depth. One very controversial subject deals with attacks on Ayn Rands views on sexuality which are certainly on display in the novel. This does nothing but preach to the converted and has all the persuasive power of a political attack ad.
State your opinion once and that is laudable. If it is overly complex, maybe you repeat it a second, even a third time. One disgruntled reader stopped reading the novel halfway through and said simply Many found the prose less than noteworthy but were very taken by the plot.
Still others liked the passion of Rand's convictions but found her message lost in a myriad of meandering speeches. Until then View all 34 comments. When my mother gave me this book and said, "I think you will like this; I read it over a vacation in a week when I was your age," I took one look at the massive text and couldn't believe it. She also said that I reminded her of the characters And that is exactly what I learned from this book: that pride is most beautiful thing, and to live on this earth means that one must understand its reality, and learn to use one's mind to make it what one wants When my mother gave me this book and said, "I think you will like this; I read it over a vacation in a week when I was your age," I took one look at the massive text and couldn't believe it.
And that is exactly what I learned from this book: that pride is most beautiful thing, and to live on this earth means that one must understand its reality, and learn to use one's mind to make it what one wants it to be. It is about truly loving life and all that it means to 'live' it. It is the reason why I understand myself as a man who belongs on earth It is very long almost pages , so get ready for an epic.
I won't try to say it is great literature, though if the style fits the person who is reading it, it will certainly be an amazing read. It can be long-winded and wordy at times, but what philospher isn't? My advice: stick with it through the first half of the first section: it takes it bit to get going in the book, but once it starts, it is worth it To the proposition that we all have inside of us the inherent values to be heros: we just need to learn the virtues that will bring those values out of us View all 12 comments.
Mar 09, David rated it did not like it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The first false premise is that there are only a dozen or so people in the country who are worth a damn. The second false premise is that every government employee is a lazy no-good who has nothing on his mind but pillaging the bank accounts of the lucky dozen. But beyond that, the government is inherently evil, to the point of passing laws that inflict major economic damage and suffering on virtually everyone in the country with the exception of the privileged government leaders.
This evil government is all-powerful and has total control over every newspaper, television and radio station. Fat chance. She has no concept that other governments have not tolerated the oppression that she found there. The third false premise is that the rest of the people of the U. Further, they have no ability or process to provoke change. They wander around like a bunch of sheep being led to the slaughter.
The country has a middle class composed of about 24 people who are the trusted, loyal assistants of the elite. When the elite disappear on strike , their trusted assistants are left behind to bear the misfortune of the rest of the poor slobs.
These magic things were, of course, invented by the intelligent elite who use them to help wreak havoc and despair on the rest of the million people of the country in order to punish the evil government.
Dagny Taggart, the heroine and only intelligent woman in the universe, has sex with three of the elite. She dumps the only real relationship with Rearden in favor of the demi-god John Galt who she barely knows along the lines of a teenage girl throwing herself at one of the Beatles.
Her favorite encounters are sado-masochistic. They think the only path to change is to take their football and go home. You have to wonder how brilliant these people really are. The author spends great quantities of print describing and re-describing thoughts and feelings of the characters ad nauseum.
The redundancy is overwhelming. This poor attempt at science fiction with a supposed moral message demonstrates how a page book can be padded to become a page behemoth.
Elitists, libertarians and others paranoid about the government will undoubtedly enjoy this book. Paramilitary groups will love it. View all 24 comments. Sep 28, Nandakishore Mridula rated it did not like it Shelves: general-fiction. I read this book as a teenager while recovering from a long bout of viral fever which had left me bedridden for almost a month: I had exhausted all my other books and forced to rummage through old shelves in my house.
Ironically, I read The Grapes of Wrath also at the same time. My teenage mind was captivated by the "dangerous" ideas proposed by Ayn Rand. At that time, India was having an inefficient "mixed" economy comprising all the negative aspects of capitalism and socialism, and Ms. Rand I read this book as a teenager while recovering from a long bout of viral fever which had left me bedridden for almost a month: I had exhausted all my other books and forced to rummage through old shelves in my house.
Rand seemed to point a way out of the quagmire. Almost thirty years hence, I find the novel if it can be called that - Ayn Rand's idea of fiction is a bunch of pasteboard characters put there as her mouthpieces to be silly beyond imagination. The premise is laughable; the characters entirely forgettable; and the writing, abyssmal. The idea that governments governing the least and allowing a "winner-take-all" economy to flourish will solve all the world's woes "Social Darwinism", a word I've heard used to describe her philosophy will not wash anywhere today, I would wager - even with the hard-core adherents of the GOP in the USA.
Especially when we look at Europe, where capitalism has gone into a downward spiral. Rand, sorry to say, Atlas didn't shrug: Atlas collapsed! View all 30 comments. Apr 13, Monica MizMiz rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Any reader interested in philosophy or just a good story. Shelves: favoritesforpleasurereading.
The Concept: Rand follows the lives of society's movers and shakers first-handers, in her words, and business men, scientists, inventors, and artists in her novel as they resist the societal pull to become second-handers and to remain true to themselves and their live's work. Meanwhile, something is happening that is shaking the very foundation of society. Applying Rand's ideas t The Concept: Rand follows the lives of society's movers and shakers first-handers, in her words, and business men, scientists, inventors, and artists in her novel as they resist the societal pull to become second-handers and to remain true to themselves and their live's work.
Applying Rand's ideas to my own life has made my mind clearer and has helped me to acchieve goals I thought were unreachable. Rand's ideas have been a big part of "growing up" and getting through the "quarter life crisis" for me. While I read Rand's books for her ideas and to better understand the application of her philosophy, they can also be read on many different levels. Through reading them, not only did I read an amazing story, carefully crafted and well rendered, but I also learned so much.
However, one does not have to delve deep into Rand's philosophical background to enjoy The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged -- they are also great stories about human endurance, individualism, freedom, relationships, and integrity.
The Fountainhead is a more straight forward place to start that study. I highly recommend this book, and I have a copy to loan if you're interested. When you're reading, we can go out for coffee to talk about the book -- there is much to think about in this one.
View all 7 comments. May 30, Ken rated it did not like it Shelves: masochism , fiction. This book was the most overrated piece of crap of the twentieth century. It spars only with Dianetics and in its absolute absurdity. The characters are absolutely idealized 'heroes of capitalism' action figures. I wonder if Rand imagined some of these great barons of industry coming to her rescue when she immigrated away from the vile pit of communism that she left behind.
You know, during the time where she forged her citizenship papers and depended on the generocity and kindness of a liberal, o This book was the most overrated piece of crap of the twentieth century. You know, during the time where she forged her citizenship papers and depended on the generocity and kindness of a liberal, open society.
If only she had us all her irritating, long winded, repetative tales of woe for the monied class of brilliantly handsome, powerful super geniuses. The Fascists in Italy, the National Socialists Nazis in Germany, and the Communists — first in Russia and later in China and elsewhere — seriously threatened individual freedom throughout the world.
Ayn Rand lived through the heart of this terrifying historical period. In fact, when she started writing Atlas Shrugged in , the West had just achieved victory over the Nazis. For years, the specter of national socialism had haunted the world, exterminating millions of innocent people, enslaving millions more, and threatening the freedom of the entire globe.
The triumph of the free countries of the West over Naziism was achieved at an enormous cost in human life. However, it left the threat of communism unabated. Ayn Rand was born in Russia in and witnessed firsthand the Bolshevik Revolution, the Communist conquest of Russia, and the political oppression that followed.
Even after her escape from the Soviet Union and her safe arrival in the United States, she kept in close touch with family members who remained there. But when the murderous policies of Joseph Stalin swallowed the Soviet Union, she lost track of her family.
From her own life experiences, Ayn Rand knew the brutal oppression of Communist tyranny. During the last days of World War II and in the years immediately following, communism conquered large portions of the world.
Soviet armies first rolled through the countries of Eastern Europe, setting up Russian "satellite" nations in East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and elsewhere.
Shortly thereafter, communism was also dominant in Cuba, on America's doorstep. In the s and s, communism was an expanding military power, threatening to engulf the free world. This time period was the height of the Cold War — the ideological battle between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union ruled its empire in Eastern Europe by means of terror, brutally suppressing an uprising by Hungarian freedom fighters in The Russians developed the atomic bomb and amassed huge armies in Eastern Europe, threatening the free nations of the West. Like the Nazis in the s, communists stood for a collectivist political system: one in which an individual is morally obliged to sacrifice himself for the state.
Intellectual freedom and individual rights, cherished in the United States and other Western countries, were in grave danger. Foreign military power was not the only way in which communism threatened U. Collectivism was an increasingly popular political philosophy among American intellectuals and politicians. In the s, both national socialism and communism had supporters among American thinkers, businessmen, politicians, and labor leaders.
The full horror of Naziism was revealed during World War II, and support for national socialism dwindled in the United States as a result. Many American professors, writers, journalists, and politicians continued to advocate Marxist principles.
When Ayn Rand was writing Atlas Shrugged, many Americans strongly believed that the government should have the power to coercively redistribute income and to regulate private industry. The capitalist system of political and economic freedom was consistently attacked by socialists and welfare statists. The belief that an individual has a right to live his own life was replaced, to a significant extent, by the collectivist idea that individuals must work and live in service to other people.
Individual rights and political freedom were threatened in American politics, education, and culture. Rand argues in Atlas Shrugged that the freedom of American society is responsible for its greatest achievements. For example, in the nineteenth century, inventors and entrepreneurs created an outpouring of innovations that raised the standard of living to unprecedented heights and changed forever the way people live.
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