Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Atlas Shrugged
Book Review: A Primer on Objectivism
Summary: 4 Stars
While the book will take most readers more than a weekend to read, it would be wrong to judge a book by its size (anymore than it's cover), unless we are prepared to condemn the Bible for its lack of brevity.
Readers of Rand's Atlas Shrugged may be interested in viewing old video clips of Ayn Rand on Youtube, including an interesting interview by Mike Wallace.
While I came away appreciating Rand's literary skills, I'm perplexed by her conflating of religion and faith with throttling man's ambitions. I consider myself a follower of Von Mises and Friedman, and I question the depth of her contempt for organized religion, which is the bedrock of reason and purpose, industriousness, trade, individual and property rights. Her belief that faith is contrary to reason ignores thousands of years of scholarly opinion that finds faith and reason quite compatible, for science cannot prove first causes, lest it become a religion unto itself. It is unclear what set of moral standards Rand is preaching here: will to power, according to Nietzsche, needed a new religion and I don't see one offered here by Rand.
Rand's book contains some glaring contradictions. For example, Reardon's divorce from his wife, on a crude, material level, is akin to a breach of contract, which he never would have done (unless forced) to a supplier or customer. If Reardon didn't intend to remain with his wife, then forming the marriage contract was bad faith. Rand alludes to lack of consideration as grounds for a divorce, but courts look to whether consideration existed at the inception of a contract, not after one party claims they received less than expected.
Rand mocks the argument that humans are inherently evil. If they are not evil on some level, then perhaps she could explain the blackmail, extortion, blame, corruption and contemptible wickedness of her characters played as the "looters". Human nature created the system of dependency and malaise she scorns, but she fails to explain why we should continue to put our faith in human reason alone.
Book Review: A Refreshing Sense of Life
Summary: 5 Stars
I thought I'd be ambitious and write an actual review of the novel, rather than a review of Ayn Rand or her philosophy, Objectivism. Although I hold both in high regard, I think any disrespectful ad hominems need no response.
First let me tell you what this book is not. Atlas Shrugged is not a novel depicting ordinary people in ordinary situations. It is not here to tell you what is - it is here to tell you what could be and should be. That is why so many find the characters unbelievable, unreachable, even childish in their idealism.
As for the ideal itself, it is personified in the productive giants of (then) modern America. Dagny Taggart does railroads, Francisco D'Anconia does copper mines, Hank Rearden - steel. For centuries, men have asked what would happen if the working class went on strike; Miss Rand asks, what would happen if the men of industry went on strike.
What would happen if Atlas, a man whose shoulders held a world damning him a robber baron, shrugged? This is not a novel for the chronic skepticists who dismiss strong convictions as dogmatism, nor for the pessimists who proudly declare that they "grew out" of Miss Rand's "naive optimism."
For everyone else, though, I recommend Atlas Shrugged highly.
Book Review: A TRIBUTE TO THE HEROIC WITHIN MAN!
Summary: 5 Stars
A truly outstanding novel that will inspire all those who oppose dictatorship, slavery,(service to others as the sole justification of one's existence) and all forms of collectivist ideology.Ayn Rand's unique philosophy, "Objectivism", provides excellent ammunition against contemporary intellectual "mystics" who preach that an individual's life, work, and identity are the property and product of the group,( whether a "race", "class", "state" or "religion" etc.)and that self-sacrifice, (the surrender of that which one values in favour of that which one does not value), should be upheld as the "moral ideal".
Objectivism provides a powerful, valid alternative to modern philosophy's attempts to enslave or destroy man's conceptual faculty, this novel will offer you the chance to believe in man as an independent, benevolent being; with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, (neither sacrificing himself to others nor others to himself), with productive achievement as his noblest activity and reason his only absolute.
Book Review: A Tale Of 2 Books
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a GREAT 700 page book, the only problem is that it's 1150 pages. The first 600 pages are great. Well written and intriguing. However, after about the 700th page it starts to get a bit heavy. I found myself glancing through page after page without really missing anything of great importance. Things that could be summed up in a paragraph or 2 tend to go on for several pages. The worst part is that it feels like the same things are being said over and over and over. The author didn't seem to trust that the reader would be able to "get" her message the first time. A shame really. If this book had been edited properly it would probably be my favorite book, or at least in the top 5. To sum up: this is a good book for the most part just a bit heavy (especially towards the end.)Book Review: A Timless Message
Summary: 5 Stars
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand is not just a novel; it is an intellectual illustration of the author's philosophy. It is also a suspense thriller, a mystery, a love story, and a self help book all rolled into one. It has been in continuous publication for over fifty years and people are still reading it. Why? Because though the philosophy is not perfect, it is not nearly as flawed as the other philosophies dished up and accepted for the last couple of thousand years. Ordinary man is not a worm; he is an individual and the values he adopts as an individual matter, they are the things that keep civilization moving, or freeze it into a static corpse. In reading Confucius one learns everyone and everything has a place and in this there is harmony, but there is no place for change. This is a major fault found in most philosophies and religious doctrines. The acceptable strategies for achieving happiness are all based on yesterday and today, none of them work when pitted against the only true constant of the universe, Change. Tomorrow always brings change, whether embraced or rejected, it comes and must be dealt with.
The characters in this story at the time of their creation were considered to be much larger than life, but life has gotten bigger since then and in today's world they feel only a little above real people we see in the news all the time. The story exposes the dark side of communism and the dangers of government meddling with the market, while inventors and entrepreneurs struggle to move the world into tomorrow. It begins with the sensing of change, the world is sliding into decay and stagnation. People have adopted cultural philosophies that are not logical and their civilization is not just slowing down, it's starting to fall backward. Instead of admiring achievement, people vilify it, feeling they should support those who can't achieve because this is a more noble way of behaving. Their philosophies are a lot like the recent acceptance of PC (politically correctness), where the truth and validity of an argument was not as important how it was stated and some things could not be discussed at all because such discussions were deemed not PC.
This is a book that will entertain and enlighten you and it could change the way you feel about those who criticize your achievements. At the time it was published the book had a message, but times have changed and interestingly enough the message has grown larger.