Atlas Shrugged (Centennial Edition)
by Ayn Rand
|
List Price: Our Price: $24.05 You Save: $15.90 (40%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $19.94 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Atlas Shrugged (Centennial Edition)
Book Review: Atlas Strikes again
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the most influential, but rarely mentioned,
books of the 20th century.
OK, this is a RE-RELEASE of a book first printed in 1957,
and available in various paperback editions.
Nevertheless, Amazon ran out of books, and my initial
ship date of April 21 - the release date - got changed
to April 27. And I had had my order sitting for weeks, and
shipping was first-come/first-served.
Alan Greenspan was part of the author's (Ayn Rand)
inner circle, back in the fifties.
The "Reagan revolution" (specifically Budget director
David Stockman), Californias "Proposition 13", airline
deregulation and many other freedom-directed polical
movements of from about 1975 onwards took a large
chunk of their intellectual nourishment from
Atlas Shrugged, directly or indirectly.
This applies not only to the US but to e.g.
the UK (under Margaret Thatcher),
to New Zealand under Lange and to many other
countries to varying degrees.
I am glad to see this formative and formidable tome
back in print as hardcover. Read and you will understand,
whether you agree or disagree (in eihter case, prepare
to do so - but violently).
And no, I will not review the actual novel, this has
been done many times. This is a review of the
re-release, and of the book as a phenomenon.
Nils Andersson
Book Review: An absolute must-read
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a modern-day classic on par with George Orwell's "1984." It is an absolute must-read and is at least as timely today as when it was written.
This is obviously a VERY long novel (nearly 1200 pages), and yes, it does have quite a bit of dialog (including several rather long monologues). With that said, this book is a real page-turner that only rarely drags. It really doesn't seem long, and I had a hard time putting it down.
Some have criticized this book for being "too unrealistic" or having characters that are "one-dimensional." Yes, many of the characters are larger than life; they're supposed to be. This is not a book about ordinary people in ordinary circumstances; one of the main purposes of this book was to show the result of various philosophies, so this book shows the end point of these philosophies. Rand is critiquing opposing philosophies by asking two questions: first, what would happen if these opponents really became fully consistently with their presuppositions? Second, what if their victims refused to help them do so? (One of her arguments in the book is that the "looters" need what she calls the "sanction of the victim" - i.e. the willingness of victims to suffer for doing good).
If you're interested in either economics or philosophy, this is a great book to read. Even if you're not interested in these topics (maybe I should say "especially if"), this is still a great book to read. Definitely recommended.
Book Review: After One Chapter, You're Hooked!
Summary: 5 Stars
After hearing repeatedly for years and years about author Ayn Rand's work, centered mostly around Atlas Shrugged, I didn't quite believe the hype. For one thing, in such celebrated books, it usually takes two or three readings to gain an understanding of it's purpose let alone what the characters are talking about in a given scene (such as it is in Lord of the Rings).
To my dismay towards myself, I was utterly wrong.
Rand weaves an unbelievalbe tapestry of logic and common sense in a fictional story that actually describes her philosophy of Objectivism. In the very first chapter you learn so much about the dangers of socialism, communism, and the 'benefit of all at the expense of the one'. Much of society's ills today, related to socialism programs in the United States and abroad, are metaphorically represented in this book written so many years and years ago, to which Rand was obviously foretelling our unstable future. In just one chapter, written so long ago, our society today is summed up and it's not good, not good at all.
Ayn Rand is a superb writer, matching complexity with describing simplicity. You then realize the story, as life itself, is not so complex at all, that its up to individuals and groups that make it that way. Never before have I ever related so closely to an author. I promise you, after one chapter, you will be hooked just as I have, but unlike scientology you won't join a cult.
Book Review: Good book hampered by bad editing
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me start off by stating that this is a book worth reading. In it, Ayn Rand propounds her philosophy of Objectivism (politically similar to Libertarianism) which, as she states, has the following core principles:
"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."
--Ayn Rand
There's not much to fault in those principles; and, it's easy to envision the benefit that could accrue from espousing them. Even the story itself has appeal: it takes place within an extremely socialistic society whose economy is foundering because all of its great industrialists are disappearing.
My problem with the book, and what made it, at times, almost torture to get through, is that the action of the story happens between a seemingly interminable series of long repetitive speeches expounding Rand's philosophy. For example, toward the end of the book, a character gives an uninterrupted speech of almost 70 pages; and, even more exasperating than the sheer length of the speech is the fact that it's essentially just a reiteration of points made earlier in the book by other characters -- and earlier in the speech by the character himself. This book would've been made considerably better if several hundred pages of tedious pontifications had been culled from it.
Book Review: How to Live as a Full Human Being?
Summary: 5 Stars
This book runs for 1080 pages, and like the greatest novels, it is the world you "enter" rather the a book you read. It is usually painted as naive, extreme and simplistic, but, the best word to describe it is that it is "uncompromising". Rand was a genuine radical who creates an ideal of humanity that is uncomfortable for most. The book may not be the most brilliant prose and there is a fair amount of repetition-but, there is a "spirit" behind the words that makes you certain your are reading something "important". Rand was a philosopher who used fiction to try to influence the masses. This book manages to get you thinking for the first time about the capitalist system and the ethical individual freedom that underpins it. The work is a treatise on the heights that human being can and should reach for. "Wealth creators be proud" is the book's cry. Fight for your freedom to innovate and produce, and never accept the guilt of the non-productive. Economic life in the 21st century is not simply a triumph of technology, but a culture of invention generated by individual imagination. The motto of the book is the dollar sign. It is a sacred symbol represented the triumph of the creative mind over the state, religion and tradition. Rand is a patron sign of the 21st century entrepreneur because her morality supports practical dreamers and visionaries. One of her disciples is Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.