Reviews

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

eusayart's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

midnight_bunny's review against another edition

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1.0

Spoilers Below

A dystopian sci-fi tale about evil people who work for a living and the politicians that represent them trying to fix the economy after the benevolent and virtuously selfish CEO's have vacuumed all the money out of society and into their pockets. The CEO's then take all the money and go hide away in the mountains so they can freely trade their gold pieces for... it's not clear what products they sell each other since the workers they've been exploiting to make the products didn't go with them.

reinhardt021's review against another edition

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4.0

Long book but a fun read.
Heavy political views and not for the faint in heart.
A little over the top in terms of extremes but effective in portraying the ideas at its core.

chloekg's review against another edition

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4.0

"You wouldn't edit the Bible." but damn, bitch, we all know somebody should have. Atlas has great ideas and really sparkling moments, but there are entirely too many words in the achievement of her vision. I didn't read the 90-page monologue. I do recommend it as a purist's understanding of the attitudes that founded the 20th century.

abhishek_tiwari's review against another edition

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3.0

Atlas Shrugged is a good book, despite most people doubting the relevance of its philosophy of extreme capitalism, the book contains ideas that can be applied still today irrespective of the times we live in.

Having said that, I think the message could have been delivered without stretching the story to death over a 1000-pages. It could also have done away with the never-ending speech by John Galt at the end but then it would not have been the philosophical manifesto it is known to be. I found that the ending also irked me a little with how the main characters who are the brightest of the people left on the earth take to vigilantism and killing to rescue John.

The thing I liked the most about the story was the brilliant character development arcs written for each of the prominent characters. Perhaps the length of the book gave the author sufficient bandwidth to work with and this is evident when you are halfway through this book and you look back to see how far the characters you are reading about have come.

eliseweber's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

dnf

cal_lindamood's review against another edition

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challenging inspiring reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

chelseacoulter15's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Dragged a little in several spots in the book 

emerygirl's review against another edition

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4.0

Who is John Galt?? This is the first book on my quest to read at least 12 of the "100 best books of the century" in the year 2009. I picked a LONG book for my first, but it was well worth it. Although it is not a quick or easy read, I found the theme very thought provoking.

Some helpful hints for those of you that would like to tackle Atlas Shrugged...get on line and read the "cliff notes" after you read the chapter. There is so much more in the chapter than in the summary of the chapter, but the summary helps you keep track of how what you just read relates to the theme. I don't think I would have finished this book without the cliff notes! And...one of the last chapters, where John Galt speaks...just skim it!!

Finally, I am hear to tell you that Atlas Shrugged will bring you instant popularity. Everywhere I went, when someone saw me holding Atlas Shrugged, they immediately struck up a conversation with me. I felt like a mini celebrity.

Definately a book I am glad I read!

dale_kooyenga's review against another edition

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4.0

Really enoyed, but I'm a bigger fan of her Fountainhead although the concensurs from others is that this is her better work. I wouldn't recommend reading this very long book in close proximity to Fountainhead since the themes are very similar -- railroads/steel versus building/architecture. You don't have to adopt Rand's liberatarian perspective to appreciate the novel, politics aside it's a great work. I also appreciate the libertatian message but I don't adopt it in whole. For one, I need to reconcile with my faith as a Christain and those principles take priorty over the Rand appoach. Some books are best reviewed over an in person conversatino over this format - this is one. No matter what your politics this is a must read.