

Loading... Atlas Shrugged (1957)by Ayn Rand
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» 41 more Favorite Long Books (66) 1950s (70) Female Protagonist (213) Best Dystopias (193) 20th Century Literature (471) Female Author (611) Books Read in 2020 (3,761) Banned Books Week 2014 (164) SHOULD Read Books! (188) Read These Too (90) Nifty Fifties (51) Política - Clásicos (88) Shelf 101 (27) Books on my Kindle (93) Awful Books (5) Very Very Bad (20) Out of Copyright (125) 2017 Goal (18) Great American Novels (127) Unread books (642) Favourite Books (1,580) No current Talk conversations about this book. One star for ambition, one for influence, and another for never diluting the message, even when its wrong. I was very moved by this book when I read it, which I think is all too typical of its many young college readers. Distance proved a good analytic dose to really appreciate how Rand constructs such a contrived world around caricatures and an especially simple worldview. The narrative is occasionally exciting but the characters are unbelievable as the monologues. Rand ultimately fails - here and elsewhere - in her rejection of basic human qualities like helping other people without expecting an exact return on investment. But taken in context - as a rejection of the Stalinist state from which she emigrated and the trendy collectivism of the time, Rand's single minded arguments become a bit more comprehensible. This book, like the rest of her work, is a foil to the equally narrow and simplistic collectivism of her time. It's not the world's greatest piece of literature, nor is the philosophy terribly sound, but then again the arguments which she rails against isn't fully baked either. The "Fountain Head" is a more compelling work on a subject which she knew more about; "We the Living" is a better novel than either of those tomes; and "Anthem" is probably a sufficient (and shorter) introduction to her philosophical bent, unburdened of 30 page monologues. ...ouch Aside from the garbage politics, this is garbage writing. Atlas shrugged is a tedious tale consisting of haranguing, repetitive monologues on the virtues of being selfish interrupted by the thrilling exploits of railroad schedules, steel production and utterly unerotic adultery. Also an inexplicable death ray. About 800 pages too long.
"Despite laborious monologues, the reader will stay with this strange world, borne along by its story and eloquent flow of ideas." "to warn contemporary America against abandoning its factories, neglecting technological progress and abolishing the profit motive seems a little like admonishing water against running uphill." "inspired" and "monumental" but "(t)o the Christian, everyone is redeemable. But Ayn Rand’s ethical hardness may repel those who most need her message: that charity should be voluntary…. She should not have tried to rewrite the Sermon on the Mount." Atlas Shrugged represents a watershed in the history of world literature. Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article... "We struggle to be just. For we cannot help feeling at least a sympathetic pain before the sheer labor, discipline, and patient craftsmanship that went to making this mountain of words. But the words keep shouting us down. In the end that tone dominates. But it should be its own antidote, warning us that anything it shouts is best taken with the usual reservations with which we might sip a patent medicine. Some may like the flavor. In any case, the brew is probably without lasting ill effects. But it is not a cure for anything. Nor would we, ordinarily, place much confidence in the diagnosis of a doctor who supposes that the Hippocratic Oath is a kind of curse." "remarkably silly" and "can be called a novel only by devaluing the term" ... "From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard, from painful necessity, commanding: 'To the gas chambers — go!'" Is contained inContainsIs abridged inInspiredHas as a reference guide/companionHas as a commentary on the textHas as a student's study guideHas as a teacher's guide
This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world, and did. Is he a destroyer or a liberator? Why does he have to fight his battle not against his enemys but against those who need him most? Why does he fight his hardest battle against the woman he loves? You will learn the answers to these questions when you discover the reason behind the baffling events that play havoc with the lives of the amazing men and women in this remarkable book. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, "Atlas shrugged" is Ayn Rand's magnum opus, which launched an ideology and a movement. With the publication of this work in 1957, Rand gained an instant following and became a phenomenon. "Atlas shrugged" emerged as a premier moral apologia for Capitalism, a defense that had an electrifying effect on millions of readers (and now listeners) who have never heard Capitalism defended in other than technical terms. No library descriptions found. |
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.52 — Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1900-1944LC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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Why I picked this book up: I read her Anthem book and liked it enough to pick up this one.
Thoughts: This book is full. If touches on the concept of conflict between the haves vs have-nots labor unrest, progressive policies, natural resources, iron ore, financial investments, with the discussion about what the intended consequences are which includes crushing other people too, the company that wants things to be fair and equitable which pushes the company to failure but it is a book with variety, not just the labor, the business man, the thinkers, artists, etc. and the politicians but it is able to span time such as in the 1940/50’s to today. The free market and competition. We have interesting characters, the female, Dagney, that is running the company, she cheats with a married man), her brother is really is in charge only by name really, there is a lot of tension in this book, Rand is an atheist and there is a religious component, the role of the mind in man's existence, the economy, powerful writing and well written romantic words, the relational aspect (not all good like the owning of a wife, dominance, tolerance and indifference in this book all play into making this book a great read imo. This book in packed with complex characters like John Galt the Taggarts, Francisco Franconia just to name a few. I highly recommend reading this one.
Why I finished this read: I finished as I wanted to finish this long book to complete it from start to finish even though this one took me a long time to finish. I am glad I finished it. I finally finished today.
I gave this book 5 out I 5 stars even though I disagreed with her liberal, progressive idea. I am very pro capitalism and mixed economy that works. (