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Title: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, Leonard Peikoff ISBN: 0-451-19114-5 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: September, 1996 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $8.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.97 (1091 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Continuously in print for 47 years and not going away soon
Comment: Whatever you think of "Atlas Shrugged" as a work of literature or a work of philosophy, there is no arguing away its massive and enduring connection with its readers. The book is not assigned in schools, and yet it has been a continuously strong seller for 47 years now despite its daunting bulk and lengthy sermonizing. Obviously, there is something in it that speaks to people.
Many here would say that it merely flatters the adolescent reader (whatever their age) and their sense of themselves as an unappreciated but superior person. There is a large grain of truth in that, and I think only a die-hard Randian would feel the need to dispute it.
But there's another way of looking at that. One could just as easily say that it pays tribute to humanity's desire to better itself. And Rand did say so herself, with what must have been wearying frequency.
The novel is written with the crude emphaticness of allegory. (You will never need to wait to find out whether a character is one of the good guys or the bad guys.) The critics don't seem to mind that when they encounter it in "The Pilgrim's Progress". But that style is very out of fashion now, and it opens the book to, in my opinion, determinedly wrong-headed criticisms of its "flat" characters and "stagy" dialogue. Those who complain that it isn't written like "Madame Bovary" are saying in effect (to borrow C.S. Lewis's phrase): "Of course I don't like brown cheese. It isn't dry sherry."
As for the book's notorious philosophy, I think it futile to deny that, in its purest form, it is equally unworkable and unattractive. The same can be said of Plato's "The Republic", of course, so that is perhaps a soft indictment. The real point is that there are legitimate and unsettling ideas to be reckoned with here.
And for what it's worth: I used to believe in socialism. After I read this book, I didn't any more.
Rating: 5
Summary: Great in every sense of the word
Comment: I don't think I have yet read a book as absorbing and thought provoking as this one. It changed my worldview somewhat and gave me answers to many questions I had been holding before.
This book is indeed long - there are many subplots and lots of things going on, not to mention a speech 50 pages long - but I enjoyed every page. The plot is mesmerizing, writing clear, and heroes larger-than-life. It left me feeling exalted.
I realize this book is not for everyone. People may dislike it either because it goes against their most fundamental premises, or simply because it doesn't match their literary taste. However, that shouldn't keep you from reading it. Form your own opinion - at the very least, this book deserves the benefit of doubt.
Rating: 5
Summary: Kept me going when no one else could
Comment: When I read this book as a young, "impressionable" female engineering student - I was looking for a role model in a field where frankly, there aren't many. Dagny inspired and motivated me so much that I feel silly saying my only hero in life is a fictional character. My grandmother even read this book as a young engineering student and likewise found comfort and inspiration in Dagny. I can only hope more girls read this book.
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Title: Atlas Shrugged (Cliffs Notes) by Andrew Bernstein ISBN: 0764585568 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 05 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism by Ayn Rand ISBN: 0451163931 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: July, 1989 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Anthem by Ayn Rand, Leonard Peikoff ISBN: 0451191137 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: August, 1996 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: We the Living by Ayn Rand ISBN: 0451187849 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: January, 1996 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand ISBN: 0451147952 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: July, 1986 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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