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Atlas Shrugged | 
 enlarge | Author: Ayn Rand
Publisher: Signet
Category: Book
List Price: $8.99
Buy New: $4.47
You Save: $4.52 (50%)
New (58) Collectible (6) from $4.47
Avg. Customer Rating:  1539 reviews
Sales Rank: 4602
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Edition: 35 Anv
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1088
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.7
ISBN: 0451191145
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780451191144
ASIN: 0451191145
Publication Date: September 1, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Published in 1957, Atlas Shrugged was Ayn Rand's greatest achievement and last work of fiction. In this novel she dramatizes her unique philosophy through an intellectual mystery story that integrates ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, politics, economics, and sex.
Set in a near-future U.S.A. whose economy is collapsing as a result of the mysterious disappearance of leading innovators and industrialists, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life-from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy...to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction...to the philosopher who becomes a pirate...to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad...to the lowest track worker in her train tunnels.
Peopled by larger-than-life heroes and villains, charged with towering questions of good and evil, Atlas Shrugged is a philosophical revolution told in the form of an action thriller.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1534 more reviews...
 She (author) nailed it! Written for Today! October 5, 2008
A long read, but Ayn Rand tells the story of today's America. Politicians stay in power by redistributing wealth. Achievement is penalized, mediocrity is rewarded, and the country spirals down. Hmmm, sound familiar?
Loved it. Gave copies to all of our six children.
A must read...truly. Especially in this election year.
Misunderstood October 4, 2008
The very instant you hear someone saying "She thinks so-and-so because in the end it's better for humanity" stop the conversation, because that person has either not read the book, or did not read it closely.
Ayn Rand's philosophy attempts to destroy the common trends in modern and contemporary philosophy who claim either there are no moral absolutes, or there are no absolute truths in reality. The claim is that in both instances there are absolutes, and we can know them.
Yes in this novel the characters are unrealistically good at everything, (good looking, can fly airplanes, incredibly intelligent, etc. etc.) Many people have taken this to be a sign of naivety in her writing. To those people I suggest you look at your premises of what constitutes "naive." Ayn Rand tries repeatedly to show that excellence is something to be loved, not flaws.
This sort of theme is present in all Greek epics, and in fact to the Greeks the very definition of "Hero" is something absolutely indistinguishable from what we typically see in our culture today. To the Greeks, heroism was practically synonymous with today's highly successful businessman. They attained wealth, and fame/glory. Yet the very same literary minded people who attack Atlas Shrugged for this precise theme will write entire dissertations on Greek epics, usually in extremely high regard.
The difference is a change of setting, and the philosophy of the person reading the book. She wanted to bring back the values which brought out the best in an individual, where all around her were novels which said that people are to be loved for their flaws, and that one should be GUILTY for loving something for how good it is.
This is only one aspect of the book, but an important one.
As for the economic themes, if you disagree with anything said in the book I only have to direct you to the American economy today. Banks are being seized and sold by the government, hundreds of billions of dollars (forcefully seized from its citizens) being spent to bail out banks (And should I add that in the beginning the banks were forced to take on these subprime loans, or else be sued for 'economic discrimination' and face other fines/legality issues. I know no other way to determine who to give a loan to except for 'economic discrimination' ) Smoking bans for private property, private property seizures.. the list goes on.
I think it's very unfortunate that people will read this book and leave it with such a deep rooted misunderstanding of it, when I approached this book I thought that I understood Ayn Rand's philosophy (at the time I was a libertarian) but I realized that I had everything absolutely wrong, and I had to go on a personal quest to figure out right and wrong practically from the beginning. This book changed me from pragmatism, (The exact antithesis of "absolute" the most subjective philosophy to exist) and showed me a way to live my life and be supremely happy with my accomplishments. I've never been happier in my life, and I only intend to continue accomplishing and bettering myself. Why? because I want to.
That's what this book has done for me.
 drivel October 3, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Atlas Shrugged works as a Fantasy Mystery or Detective Story. Ms.Rand succeeds at projecting the Russian Revolution of her homeland onto America, then reacting to it. To do this she had to drastically misunderstand American history.
The book does have some redeeming qualities. None of the protagonists have degrees in finance or economics. The Protagonists seem mostly to be mechanics, skilled hacks, and engineers. Rand developed the prototypes of many soundbytes used by coldwarriors and ideologues like Reagan and Greenspan.
The gospel of Ayn Rand's Objectivism is best discovered by analyzing her design of the Galt's Gulch civilization. What does it take for a civilization to exist to Ayn Rand's standards of freedom and capitalism? It has to have strict control over who is allowed to enter. The citizens must refuse to trade or commit commerce with all civilizations and individuals who do not live up to their standards of freedom. A hard currency of gold is used, yet somehow banking must also be possible. There must be engines that output more energy than is put into them(the laws of physics will rearrange themselves for you if you are "rational" enough). Objectivist Privateers must have better artillery and ships than national militaries. People who design air planes have tall lean physiques. Less than a days wages can pay for lectures from the top intellectuals and professionals. You can rent your friends car for a solid gold nickel, without having to sign release forms and provide proof of insurance.
Atlas Shrugged can serve as an inspiration for Iraqi Insurgents wishing to sabotage Iraqi civilization just to get rid of the people who don't live up to their standards of freedom and morality.
A Must Read September 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After the Bible, this is the most important book you should read. I bought this book as a gift to send to two friends and have done so before.
With the current economic crisis it takes on a new meaning.
One of the best page turners I have ever read September 26, 2008
I had heard many references to Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged over the last few years and thought I would give it a try. Here are my thoughts:
The good: Though VERY long, this book is a page turner. The characters Rand introduces to us are rich (no pun intended) and well thought out. We come to feel greatly for several of them, even those who are not introduced until later in the book. Rand makes the case for her economic and cultural philosophy through parable, which in my opinion is the best way to reach the masses. The story is clearly meant for discussion and Rand makes her point clearly.
The not so good: As mentioned above, the book is long. The same story could have been presented in maybe half the pages. The speech toward the end which takes up 60 pages is too verbose and could have been said in maybe 10 pages or even less. I found myself scanning through this part. I would have preferred some of the "villains" in the story to be less of a caricature of the socialist tendencies in our society, though it may have been necessary for them to be this way for the book to be as satirical as it is. Somewhere around the middle of the book, the story strays from the realistic to the realm of science fiction. I found myself liking the first half better.
In short, this is a book everyone should read, even if for the entertainment value. I don't agree 100% with all of Rand's "Objectivism" philosophy, most notably on the concept of charitable giving, but as an economic screed there is quite a bit of wisdom in it. There are some important lessons to learn from Atlas Shrugged and the world would be a better place if we learned them.
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