Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
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Book Reviews of Atlas Shrugged
Book Review: A Must Read
Summary: 5 Stars
Perhaps the nay-sayers are afraid that Ayn Rand was trying to brain wash them. Or, could it be that anyone who even slightly steers away from the norm is a heretic and should not be allowed to publish their thoughts? How closed minded could anyone be?
ATLAS SHRUGGED is a story that is nothing short of brilliant. Is it a long read? Yes. Does Ms. Rand have her philosophy/ views and does she fervently believe in them? Of course. Is it wrong to write about them? No. Unless something has changed, we are all allowed the freedom of choices and beliefs as well as the benefit to talk about them. What ATLAS SHRUGGED discusses may not be for everybody but that must not take away from the amazing story that is introduced to the readers. Nor should it deride the genius of the plotting or the exhausting depth of imagination that went into creating the characters introduced here.
Years after reading the novel, images, sentences, words and thoughts will flood back to you: The new type of motor; A couple who disobey the accepted rules and eat when they are hungry, sleep when they are tired; The concert pianist who vanishes after his apex concert; The story of the railroad line and its meanings to all involved with it. Captivating imagery told to us by a true professional who believed in every word she wrote. Furthermore, history has told us that Ayn Rand never deferred to the whims of others. She knew her mind and, long before liberation was mentioned, stood up for her beliefs as well as herself. This steel casing of determination is indoctrinated into her vivid characters as they face the daily challenges as they practice their beliefs.
Of course no one can force a person to believe something and I do not think that Ayn Rand is trying to do that here as much as she is explaining her values. Ms. Rand's dedication to her way of life is presented to us in a well formatted way. The characters are intricately drawn and the situations, as they are introduced, never lower themselves to the soap opera level.
From John Galt to the hidden valley, ATLAS SHRUGGED is a literate carpet that asks the readers to at least try to understand what the author accepts as logic. Rather than blunt preaching, Ayn Rand wove her personal viewpoint into a story that is captivating. This novel can be taken as a blueprint for altruism (even Reverend Normal Vincent Peale discussed the art of selfishness at some points in one's life) as well as a frank argument on what happens when a radical set of thoughts is unleashed onto the public. By putting it into a tale about Dagny Taggert and John Galt, Ms. Rand has taken us away from text book logic and given us her ideas of how her beliefs would work in modern society.
All I can say is, don't get hung up on trying to accept the author's creed if it upsets you that much. Respect her and her rights to establish her own views. While you are at it, enjoy the practical, entertaining and down-right fascinating way she tells the story. BRAVO!
Book Review: The True "Great American Novel"
Summary: 5 Stars
It amazes me that it took me so long to discover Ayn Rand and her phenomenal works. No one ever mentioned her in school to me, not even in my graduate work for my Ph.D. She seems to be ignored by the academic establishment, yet she is probably the most powerful American writer of the twentieth century, and if any novel deserves the title of The Great American Novel, it is Atlas Shrugged. Gone With the Wind, Huckleberry Finn, or any other contenders for that title are admirable books that depict an era in American history, but they are completely lacking in depicting the magnificent ideology that this novel promotes, one that is at the foundation of what America stands for and are in many ways more clearly defined in the pages of Atlas Shrugged than in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Atlas Shrugged should be read by all our politicians and government officials and university leaders. Ayn Rand's novel is a great monument to capitalism, to freedom, to man's right to pursue happiness and knowledge and live without fear. And rather than simply show what is right with capitalism, she depicts what would happen if the capitalist way did not flourish in society.
Ayn Rand has been misunderstood by people who have not bothered to know anything about her. I have heard some people think she was a communist because she came from Russia, when in actually she lived through the Russian Revolution and saw the devastating effects it had upon her people, making her all the more embrace democracy and capitalism and come to the United States. It is also said she was an atheist, yet in Atlas Shrugged she makes no comments about the existence of God but simply refutes arguments that man is born in original sin and must give his life to serve others at the expense of his own happiness.
In her own words, Ayn Rand states: "My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." After reading Atlas Shrugged, I am convinced by this argument. I wonder what kind of a travesty it is that she is not read in the high schools and universities of America; despite this, her books sell hundreds of thousands of copies each year, a quarter century after her death. If you want a book you can't put down (it's over one thousand pages yet I read it in five days over a vacation), read this novel. If you want to understand what America is and can be, read this novel. If you want to know that your life is of value, and you have the right to pursue your own happiness, read this novel. Atlas Shrugged is one of those very rare books that change lives because Rand poured her life and thought into writing it, and after half a century it is as monumental and relevant as ever.
- Tyler R. Tichelaar, author of Iron Pioneers and The Queen City, available on Amazon
Book Review: President Obama needs to read this--can someone get this to him?
Summary: 5 Stars
Was this author able to foresee the future?
If someone personally knows Barak, can they get this book to him? President Obama and democrats in D.C. want to raise the income tax "for purposes of fairness." If he reads this book, he would definitely change his mind. Our congress/senators who got us in this mess...are just sitting back pointing fingers. I wish they could be fired. Barak I believe wants to do what is best...can someone really give him this book? I would mail it, but I don't have connections in D.C., and he'll never get it. America we need to do something, our politicians are going to destroy America. Thanks to the likes of Chris Dodd and Barney Frank. All this spending by the government that they debated and written all kind of things into it the 700 billion plan, 350 billion had been allotted to the banks, but the banks are not lending it. Well Congress wrote the legislation on this, why didn't they write this in...the oversight of this money? Remember the late night negotiations, remember all of the things that needed to be done in order to get this passed and the president to sign it. Remember the president doesn't write legislation, president doesn't write the law. Members of Congress do.
So these clowns mess up and get to act like spectators and say they were tricked? What, do they think the American people are stupid. They spend our money all the time, they don't want us to know about their earmarks; about their pork. They Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, the rest of these people, are the ones who spend money..that's all they're good at. They do it in public ways, but they do it without accountability for themselves. And here they are now running around blaming everyone else. And every time a disaster strikes, be it an economic disaster, natural disaster, guess what? They had no clue. I say fire them all...if we only could. Obama's administration can't fulfill anything unless it's in the legislation. Bottom line, nothing positive has happened with all of this money, and we loaned money to auto companies, nothing happening there. And yet the government wants to give out more money?
The bottom line of this book: Politicians invariably respond to crises--that in most cases they themselves created--by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs..and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.
If only "Atlas" were required reading for every member of Congress and political appointee in the Obama administration. I think that we'd get out of the current financial mess a lot faster.
We're actually living what is happening in this book right now!
Book Review: It's been a while since I read this one...
Summary: 5 Stars
I think I first read ATLAS SHRUGGED thirty or so years ago, and it had an impact on me, and later, when I loaned it to my son (now 50) it had an impact on him, too. Ayn Rand had a political philosophy she called "objectivism" which she thought would be presented to advantage in a fiction book.
As many have noted here, she was not a great fiction writer, but she got her idea across. As fiction, the book was lacking in many ways. She was given to long-winded speeches exposing her philosophy, and of course she was dead set against socialism--which endears her to many, including me, and she was an advocate of enlightened self-interest which, when closely examined, is a positive force in the world. Of course, the socialists think that they are guiltless, or would like to be, when it comes to selfishness--but they are kidding themselves.
I have a recently published book, titled "HANDGUNS AND FREEDOM...Their Care and Maintenance," which I recently sent to a friend as a gift because he is a wonderfully skilled writer and a fellow conservative. He sent me a check for the full retail price with the following message,
"I'm sure you've heard Rush [Limbaugh] giving away a free year's subscription to his newsletter to one of his callers. I've always waited to hear one of them say, 'I'll send a check for my subscription, since I pay for what I want and for those things of value that I receive.' Enclosed is my check.
"Perhaps it's a hangover from a book that I'm almost finished reading, after having it sit unread on my shelf for years --'ATLAS SHRUGGED,' by Ayn Rand."
Here's a man who practices what he preaches. The world would be better off with more like him, in my opinion.
As for Ayn Rand, as I recall she was Russian born, and had a colorful life. She was often the center of controversy, but there can be little doubt that she, like my friend, believed in what she said. I've read others of her books, including "THE FOUNTAINHEAD," "THE NEW INTELLECTUAL," and other of her writings. It may be true that she was an idealist, or a utopian, but I'd greatly prefer her version of an ideal world to that of the socialists who prefer equality of result to equality of opportunity, and transfer of wealth from those who work hard for what they have to those who hardly work at all.
There is an old saying, "The society that robs Peter to pay Paul, can always count on the support of Paul." There are a lot of 'Paul's' in America today.
I recommend her books highly, but keep in mind that, in my opinion, their chief value is in the philosophy presented, and not in her skill as a fiction writer. Her philosophy may have its flaws, but not nearly so many as those of the socialists.
Joe Pierre
author of Handguns and Freedom and other books
Book Review: Willy
Summary: 5 Stars
In reading a good half of the reviews, people either tell you to read it or not read it. Many people spent paragraphs telling you what you should think of it and how you should not be bothered to read such trip and low brow philosophy(if it ever was) and trash in an overwhelming, unconquerable, epic 1070 pages, how her characters were paper and transparent and unrealistically heroic, how wrong she was, how the real world is not, cannot and should not be this way. The Looters of her novel.
The people who side with Ayn Rand had only a paragraph or two and at most had a description on how it benifitted their life and that one should read it for their own analysis. That it is knowledge to be learned or to bolster freedom loving peoples ideals. The Capitalists of her novel.
In fact you are handed in these reviews, a real life example and the essance of what she was putting on display in this novel. The simple fact that there are people who will tell you what to think and do and that there are people who tell you what they think and leave you to do what you will with that knowledge and that is your responsibility.
In Atlas Shruggs, Ayn Rand asks the question of what will happen if all the people who DO things in a country go on strike when a goverment attempts redistribution of wealth, be it gold, property or ideas. What if they said no and refused to create wealth with ideas, ability and capital, for no goverment has ever created wealth but instead takes it and doles it out to those who do no such thing. The world would stop. This is in opposition to the leftists asking what would all you industrialists do if your workers went on strike. They would simply shrugg and make robots to do the work instead.
Ayn Rand's Utopian system is simple.....there is no system, as in true capitalism. She understands the founders of this country far more then it's born citizenry I think. She champions the ideas that its the superiority of the individual that makes people wealthy and that one's self is the only one who can make one's self happy and successful. She shines a bright spotlight on Collectivism and its evils of forced charity which is and eternally stands as an oxymoron. She marvalously cuts down Political correctness and artificial equality.
I liked the novel immensly and highly reccomend it. I find the heros (thats what they are) to be totally realistic, encouraging and refreshing and not unlike myself. Infact I found them to be very much like myself. I also found her antagonsits to be equally realistic especially given todays changes that are afoot in this country.
In the end I find excerps from her novel word for word in todays news and political arena. Scary stuff considering how long ago she wrote this and where she was born.
I am John Galt!