Scan barcode
justin92's review against another edition
5.0
This book, though slow to start, became amazing. The characters, settings, and plot were well-developed. I began associating with the characters and Hank in particular. I would get upset when characters disappeared and truly wished that men and women like this existed around me.
Being in the Army, I could definitely apply this concept to it. There are always a few who strive to make the unit better, while others loaf and wait around. As the "Prime Soldiers" show they can accomplish mission, more and more missions are added to them until they eventually step back like those failures around them or ETS out.
The story was well wrote, the plot (as shown above) could be applied to any real-world setting, the characters mattered. You would feel with these people, you would scream at them to let go or scream at them to do it themselves.
Being in the Army, I could definitely apply this concept to it. There are always a few who strive to make the unit better, while others loaf and wait around. As the "Prime Soldiers" show they can accomplish mission, more and more missions are added to them until they eventually step back like those failures around them or ETS out.
The story was well wrote, the plot (as shown above) could be applied to any real-world setting, the characters mattered. You would feel with these people, you would scream at them to let go or scream at them to do it themselves.
nfassino's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Interesting enough philosophical fiction in the first half. Spirals far into the realms of science fiction, fantasy, and just plain silliness in the second.
Just a taaaaad verbose too 😂
Just a taaaaad verbose too 😂
ptait3's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I believe this is the best book I've ever read.
ingridbergman's review against another edition
it is exactly like the fountainhead.
chrizzo1's review against another edition
most boring book I've ever tried to read
draybaum's review against another edition
Oh no ! The poor billionaires are being oppressed after making all the jobs :’(. This author is literally insane and has absolutely no understanding of human nature, statistics, motivations or even an ounce of empathy for people with less than ideal circumstances. We are more than just greed, we are social animals. A main point of this book appears to be : follow logic and listen to data and yet the author ignores all data and makes ridiculous unfounded assumptions. Billionaires are allegedly the most brilliant of humanity and the uneducated are the ones to make scientific discovery but years of Vigorous tests confirms that title belongs to doctors, scientists, and mathematicians while the average iq of businessmen is startlingly low. The author claims that a government would insist on monopolies when that’s exactly the opposite of what they do, unbound capitalism and a free market automatically leads to monopolies as it is in the interest of the profits of the business to consume others and decrease competition so as to inflate prices (as we see today with insulin) . The author claims the great sufferers of society are the wealthy business owners and yet the people around them are starving and destitute and studies indicate a strong link to destitution and lack of motivation and when these people are given a head start their motivation changes (perhaps because they actually have hope and access to fair work conditions).
I’m convinced she is psychopathic and demonizes empathy, the only characteristic that has kept humans from destroying ourselves with the nuclear bombs we possess
My boss (who makes 10x what I make) told me to read this and I sincerely regret it especially the 90% of it that is repetitive circular arguments that can be made by a 14 year old and easily refuted with dozens of peer reviewed studies . A pathetic dated McCarthyism shitpile. They act as though business owners (not bound by any moral duties to the people in any official capacity) are the ones who are moral while the careers founded on morality and the general interest of humanity, are immoral and corrupt with absolutely no evidence to back up the claim. Every single scientific advancement that leads to increased profits is undoubtedly out through and the verification process by experts in their fields and spent years of study are necessary for the safety of consumers.
It’s pathetic that this book totes logic but the author is unable to use actual data and follow logical conclusions to their end point.
While a professor might say “ everything is relative and nothing has meaning” it is not a literal fact and is always followed by “there is objective rules we have tested and devoted our lives to learning and adjusting for the benefit of humanity” but she leaves this part out because it implodes her ridiculous circumstances and arguments.
The key ingredient missing in her utopia is that there are no billionaires or industrialists who have any capability to do any of the skills of those that they employ let alone to do dishes or build a house or even do their own laundry without the help of servants. The winners of capitalism are those who know how to skim from the top or exploit those with actual skills that is why the average scientist makes a fraction of a fraction of what a stockbroker makes. This idea that the mind attracts money ignores the corruption of capitalism and the logical path of exploitation to profit. This is why government accountable to people (which corporations are not ) has the duty to skim this fat they take and insert it back into the economy and rule out corporate corruption and excess greed. So unfortunate all of these people don’t critically think when reading this book and compare her ideal with real facts and logic.
So pathetic that people are stupid enough to gobble this up without actually looking at facts data and figures as the protagonist claims to do.
I’m convinced she is psychopathic and demonizes empathy, the only characteristic that has kept humans from destroying ourselves with the nuclear bombs we possess
My boss (who makes 10x what I make) told me to read this and I sincerely regret it especially the 90% of it that is repetitive circular arguments that can be made by a 14 year old and easily refuted with dozens of peer reviewed studies . A pathetic dated McCarthyism shitpile. They act as though business owners (not bound by any moral duties to the people in any official capacity) are the ones who are moral while the careers founded on morality and the general interest of humanity, are immoral and corrupt with absolutely no evidence to back up the claim. Every single scientific advancement that leads to increased profits is undoubtedly out through and the verification process by experts in their fields and spent years of study are necessary for the safety of consumers.
It’s pathetic that this book totes logic but the author is unable to use actual data and follow logical conclusions to their end point.
While a professor might say “ everything is relative and nothing has meaning” it is not a literal fact and is always followed by “there is objective rules we have tested and devoted our lives to learning and adjusting for the benefit of humanity” but she leaves this part out because it implodes her ridiculous circumstances and arguments.
The key ingredient missing in her utopia is that there are no billionaires or industrialists who have any capability to do any of the skills of those that they employ let alone to do dishes or build a house or even do their own laundry without the help of servants. The winners of capitalism are those who know how to skim from the top or exploit those with actual skills that is why the average scientist makes a fraction of a fraction of what a stockbroker makes. This idea that the mind attracts money ignores the corruption of capitalism and the logical path of exploitation to profit. This is why government accountable to people (which corporations are not ) has the duty to skim this fat they take and insert it back into the economy and rule out corporate corruption and excess greed. So unfortunate all of these people don’t critically think when reading this book and compare her ideal with real facts and logic.
So pathetic that people are stupid enough to gobble this up without actually looking at facts data and figures as the protagonist claims to do.
quasario's review against another edition
3.0
Paul Krugman: "There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."
mhumby123's review against another edition
5.0
This book changes you...these kind of the books are the best kind. “I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine"
tinab4's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
midwifereading's review against another edition
4.0
Once again, I find myself annoyed that I didn't take notes while reading this ginormous tome, to keep my thoughts together in order to write a review. Not that a piece of classic literature needs a review.
Anyway, I thought I would just share my own personal take-aways from Atlas Shrugged. Here's what I liked about what it had to say:
-The "greater good" argument is total bunk. I've always thought it was, but Ayn Rand sums up why I think this. Doing things "for the greater good" always results from the willingness to sacrifice the few to the many. If your "greater good" requires sacrificial victims, then I am not on board. Ever.
-One should not be ashamed to have a profit motive. Just because someone is doing something to make money does not make them inherently greedy. Some of the most generous people are able to be so generous because they make a lot of money!!!
-Needs should never be mistaken for rights. Just because you need something does not mean you have a right to someone else's labor.
-Just because someone is driven by passion and a calling, does not mean that anyone else is entitled to the fruits of their success.
-Do not be ashamed of success. Get government out of the way to let producers actually make things.
-You are not obligated to rescue anyone whose failure has bankrupted them.
Here's what I didn't like:
-She makes God out to be the arbiter of "sacrifce is the highest virtue," as if that's a bad thing. I think what she doesn't understand is that God never commands us to demand sacrifice of others, but to instead be responsible for laying down our own lives. I get that she's trying to say that, if you are successful, do not let the world guilt you into giving away your success, just because they want it. But there is a time and a place for self-sacrifice.
-Happiness and pride are the highest forms of virtue.
-Her utopian view of the hidden valley is as unrealistic as any other utopia we can conceive of, because it presumes the basic moral goodness of its residents and producers.
My conclusion:
I am so glad I read this book. It's full of so much that validates my own views, but there are definitely several basic premises that I disagree with on a fundamental level. I can see myself reading this again. Even though it probably could have been told in half the pages.
Anyway, I thought I would just share my own personal take-aways from Atlas Shrugged. Here's what I liked about what it had to say:
-The "greater good" argument is total bunk. I've always thought it was, but Ayn Rand sums up why I think this. Doing things "for the greater good" always results from the willingness to sacrifice the few to the many. If your "greater good" requires sacrificial victims, then I am not on board. Ever.
-One should not be ashamed to have a profit motive. Just because someone is doing something to make money does not make them inherently greedy. Some of the most generous people are able to be so generous because they make a lot of money!!!
-Needs should never be mistaken for rights. Just because you need something does not mean you have a right to someone else's labor.
-Just because someone is driven by passion and a calling, does not mean that anyone else is entitled to the fruits of their success.
-Do not be ashamed of success. Get government out of the way to let producers actually make things.
-You are not obligated to rescue anyone whose failure has bankrupted them.
Here's what I didn't like:
-She makes God out to be the arbiter of "sacrifce is the highest virtue," as if that's a bad thing. I think what she doesn't understand is that God never commands us to demand sacrifice of others, but to instead be responsible for laying down our own lives. I get that she's trying to say that, if you are successful, do not let the world guilt you into giving away your success, just because they want it. But there is a time and a place for self-sacrifice.
-Happiness and pride are the highest forms of virtue.
-Her utopian view of the hidden valley is as unrealistic as any other utopia we can conceive of, because it presumes the basic moral goodness of its residents and producers.
My conclusion:
I am so glad I read this book. It's full of so much that validates my own views, but there are definitely several basic premises that I disagree with on a fundamental level. I can see myself reading this again. Even though it probably could have been told in half the pages.