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Atlas Shrugged

Ayn Rand

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1542 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Misunderstood 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The very instant you hear someone saying "She thinks so-and-so because in the end it's better for humanity" stop the conversation, because that person has either not read the book, or did not read it closely.

Ayn Rand's philosophy attempts to destroy the common trends in modern and contemporary philosophy who claim either there are no moral absolutes, or there are no absolute truths in reality. The claim is that in both instances there are absolutes, and we can know them.

Yes in this novel the characters are unrealistically good at everything, (good looking, can fly airplanes, incredibly intelligent, etc. etc.) Many people have taken this to be a sign of naivety in her writing. To those people I suggest you look at your premises of what constitutes "naive." Ayn Rand tries repeatedly to show that excellence is something to be loved, not flaws.

This sort of theme is present in all Greek epics, and in fact to the Greeks the very definition of "Hero" is something absolutely indistinguishable from what we typically see in our culture today. To the Greeks, heroism was practically synonymous with today's highly successful businessman. They attained wealth, and fame/glory. Yet the very same literary minded people who attack Atlas Shrugged for this precise theme will write entire dissertations on Greek epics, usually in extremely high regard.

The difference is a change of setting, and the philosophy of the person reading the book. She wanted to bring back the values which brought out the best in an individual, where all around her were novels which said that people are to be loved for their flaws, and that one should be GUILTY for loving something for how good it is.

This is only one aspect of the book, but an important one.

As for the economic themes, if you disagree with anything said in the book I only have to direct you to the American economy today. Banks are being seized and sold by the government, hundreds of billions of dollars (forcefully seized from its citizens) being spent to bail out banks (And should I add that in the beginning the banks were forced to take on these subprime loans, or else be sued for 'economic discrimination' and face other fines/legality issues. I know no other way to determine who to give a loan to except for 'economic discrimination' ) Smoking bans for private property, private property seizures.. the list goes on.


I think it's very unfortunate that people will read this book and leave it with such a deep rooted misunderstanding of it, when I approached this book I thought that I understood Ayn Rand's philosophy (at the time I was a libertarian) but I realized that I had everything absolutely wrong, and I had to go on a personal quest to figure out right and wrong practically from the beginning. This book changed me from pragmatism, (The exact antithesis of "absolute" the most subjective philosophy to exist) and showed me a way to live my life and be supremely happy with my accomplishments. I've never been happier in my life, and I only intend to continue accomplishing and bettering myself. Why? because I want to.

That's what this book has done for me.

Editorial Review:

At last, Ayn Rand's masterpiece is available to her millions of loyal readers in trade paperback.

With this acclaimed work and its immortal query, "Who is John Galt?", Ayn Rand found the perfect artistic form to express her vision of existence. Atlas Shrugged made Rand not only one of the most popular novelists of the century, but one of its most influential thinkers.

Atlas Shrugged is the astounding story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world--and did. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged stretches the boundaries further than any book you have ever read. It is a mystery, not about the murder of a man's body, but about the murder--and rebirth--of man's spirit.

* Atlas Shrugged is the "second most influential book for Americans today" after the Bible, according to a joint survey conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club

The Fountainhead

Ayn Rand, Leonard Peikoff

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 966 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

"But I don't think of you" 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I'm not quite sure how she pulled it off, but with The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand managed to forge a literary masterpiece out of reheated libertarianism, stone age sexual politics, and dialogue that's so full of grandiose monologuing it would make William Shakespeare blush. I'm not being tongue-in-cheek here; I really do love this novel. I really do think that it's a jaw-dropping monument to the might of the individual, a symphonic ode to mankind's potential. Its seven-hundred pages see Rand laying waste to conventional standards, inverting all of society's most cherished values, and dropping more than a few subtle hints about the potential dangers of good intentions. Critics of Rand's work seem to miss out on the difference between quality and agreeability; they attack The Fountainhead for its philosophical underpinnings, calling it a piece of trash for no other reason than that they don't see things in quite the same way as Ayn Rand. They don't seem to care about its literary merit. Either that, or they just can't see the novel for what it is. They're completely oblivious to its ecstatic drama, angular poetry, remorseless tension, and epic scope. When they call Rand humorless, I have a hard time believing that they're missing out on the smirking satire and bruising irony that lurk beneath The Fountainhead's surface. When they call Rand inhuman, I wonder what they make of the dizzying panoply of characters that populate her work. Are they aware of the care she takes in evoking sympathy, even for her antagonists? Are they aware that she goes out of her way to remind us that Peter Keating, Alvah Scarret, and the Dean really are human beings? Even when she's depicting pure evil, Ayn Rand understands the importance of complexity, vision, and dimension; indeed, the novel's arch villain is every bit as masterful a creation as Shakespeare's Iago. Critics don't seem to appreciate the protagonist, either. I mean, do they really need to be told that Howard Roark is the very opposite of a soulless automaton, that he's the personification of struggle, of ambition, of hope, of everything that is pure and honest and noble about humanity? No, I don't sympathize with Rand's atheism (or with Roark's). I don't think that selfishness is as clear-cut a virtue as it's made out to be in her work. I am, for the most part (and I say this somewhat grudgingly), a liberal. I'm certainly not an objectivist, and I only have libertarian sympathies if you squint hard enough and ignore my views on our healthcare system. But that's beside the point; I'm not a Christian and I still like the Bible. I'm not an objectivist, and I absolutely adore The Fountainhead.

Editorial Review:

The Fountainhead has become an enduring piece of literature, more popular now than when published in 1943. On the surface, it is a story of one man, Howard Roark, and his struggles as an architect in the face of a successful rival, Peter Keating, and a newspaper columnist, Ellsworth Toohey. But the book addresses a number of universal themes: the strength of the individual, the tug between good and evil, the threat of fascism. The confrontation of those themes, along with the amazing stroke of Rand's writing, combine to give this book its enduring influence.

Atlas Shrugged (Centennial Ed. HC)

Ayn Rand

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Inspirational 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Ayn Rand is probably one of the finest authors I have ever read. She has amazing character development and explores issues that are incredibly hard to describe.

I love one of the many themes of this book -- how people who do their jobs well can get penalized by others who don't understand them.

Like an excellent wine, savor but do not overimbibe. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

A sprawling novel of nearly 1200 pages, this book was first published in 1957 by the Russian immigrant, Ayn Rand, writing in English, a second language she had to learn. It has continued to be read, explained, interpreted, memorialized, and frequently reprinted over the last 50 years for its unapologetic defense of capitalism and its often overembellished, overdramatized lectures about Ms. Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. While very stilted and repetitive in the frequent monologues of its main characters, its profuse examples and unflinching conviction embolden it to worship the accumulation of wealth through the pursuit of capitalist ideals.

The book is divided into three sections, each with a concise, inarguable statement of logic as its title. Part I, "Non-Contradiction", shows a world in turmoil in which the opposing forces of selfishness and selflessness are colliding. In Part II, "Either-Or", she explains why the profiteers - the "movers" of the world, as she calls them - are withdrawing their knowledge and refusing to participate in the system that the rule-makers - the "looters" of the world, as she calls them - have created. In Part III, "A Is A", Ms. Rand unveils her Utopian ideals, buffered with an uninterrupted speech of 43 pages by John Galt, to show why Atlas has shrugged only to once again take a strong grip on the world which he then holds in balance.

The beauty of this book is in the clarity of its ideals and the certainty of its characters as they commit themselves to the necessity of living by Ms. Rand's objectivist philosophy. However, when reading it, you must also be prepared to skim parts because the same messages are continuously pounded into your head like a throbbing headache - greed is good, need is bad; self-reliance is good, self-dependence is bad; individualism will triumph, collectivism will fail.

Ms. Rand is certainly guilty of an excessive amount of simplification as she draws distinctions between ideas as large and somewhat nebulous as those of capitalism and socialism and, at her most insistent, seems oblivious to the essential role of government in providing roads, bridges, highways, courts, prisons, schools, libraries, parks, water and sewage systems, street lights, airports, harbors, tunnels, as well as the military, police, fire, postal, and hospital workers. Surely without that core of essential products and services provided by a collectivist, profitless government there could be no economic system of any kind, let alone the one she blesses so reverently. It also seems overly presumptive, I believe, to ignore the government created and enforced role of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and property ownership that play such an important role in a system of profiteering. Surely the abolition of these would topple a system of capitalism as quickly as it would take mobsters and racketeers to take over the role of adjudicating justice.

Nonetheless, this is an important book for anyone trying to grasp the big issues which confront our world economically. But, like an excellent wine, if you drink it too fast, you will lose some of its finer points, and if you drink too much, you will be numbed by its inebriating qualities. While Atlas Shrugged is certainly a book to be savored, it is also one not to be overimbibed.

Editorial Review:

The year 2005 marks Ayn Rand’s Centennial Year.

The astounding story of a man that said that he would stop the motor of the world—and did. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged is unlike any other book you have ever read.

“A writer of great power. She has a subtle and ingenious mind and the capacity of writing brilliantly, beautifully, bitterly.”
—The New York Times

Atlas Shrugged: 35th Anniversary Edition

Ayn Rand

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Those who preach selflessness do it for selfish reasons 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

In today's political clime Rand's writing is must reading. We are currently experiencing a resurgence in the war on the individual, with Hillary Clinton dropping quotes right and left that sound remarkably similar to statements made by Stalin and Lenin. Enough is a enough. Those who preach collectivism are trying to subjugate you. Those who preach altruism typically have their hand in someone else's pocket. As Rand says in Atlas Shrugged, "public welfare" is the banner that looters hide behind. Here Rand argues that capitalism is the ONLY just political system. The problem with many conservatives, as Rand saw them, is that though they defend capitalism they usually ground their defense in some vague notion of "God-given rights." Since religious beliefs are not rationally defensible this move greatly risks placing reason on the side of the anti-capitalists. No, Rand said, we must do what's right because it's right and not because we are told to or want to get into heaven. We must defend capitalism not because of some bizarre notion of being mandated by a supreme being but rather because it is the only political system that allows man to rise to his potential, to choose for himself, to bargain with others freely and to exercise his volition. Liberals who defend "minorities" (all the while ignoring that in one out of three of the most populated counties in America today whites are actually the minority) while engaging in collectivist attacks on "the cult of the individual" and "egoism" must contend with Rand's statement that one cannot claim to defend minorities while attacking individualism, for the smallest minority is ALWAYS the individual. People always act with selfish reasons. In order for charity to even be of any help the recipient must selfishly accept the charity. Bad competition, which levels the playing field by inhibiting the performance of rivals, drags achievers down to the mean. All the good such achievers can do for society as a whole is then eliminated, as in the "Anti-dog-eat-dog" agreement in this book. Good competition, in which people compete by perfecting their own skill and knowledge, improves everyone. Even if you are beat by someone else you are left more knowledgeable and able. I only have one question: Where is Galt's Gulch? I would like to move. This novel, originally entitled The Strike, is brilliant. The Fountainhead was about the individual vs. the collective, and this is about the producers vs. the parasites. What if the reviled "rich," those who produce the amenities others take for granted or expect the "government" to pay for, all went on strike? What then? By the way, if you like this book you will probably also like a book called Camp of the Saints. Check it out.

I love the party scene in this book. Rand perfectly points out the ultimate irony of parties: A party is supposed to be a celebration, but those who have done things worthy of celebration typically are not the kind of people who find any enjoyment in parties, whereas those who love partying are not the kind of people there is anything worth celebrating about!

The point of this book was ably made by Jon Hanson, author of a nifty little book called Good Debt, Bad Debt. The point is this: NEVER in history has there been a society that was socialist BEFORE it went capitalist. This has never happened because it would be impossible. It can only be the other way around. FIRST capitalists must BUILD and MAINTAIN a society BEFORE socialists can come and leech off of it parasitically. Socialists don't build or produce anything. They only appropriate. This is why socialism can only follow capitalism. Further, if the last remnant of the capitalist elements of society completely disintegrate, the entire structure collapses. It's not the socialists that keep things going, they just feed off of open sores.

Editorial Review:

Published in 1957, Atlas Shrugged was Ayn Rand's greatest achievement and last work of fiction. In this novel she dramatizes her unique philosophy through an intellectual mystery story that integrates ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, politics, economics, and sex.

Set in a near-future U.S.A. whose economy is collapsing as a result of the mysterious disappearance of leading innovators and industrialists, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life-from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy...to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction...to the philosopher who becomes a pirate...to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad...to the lowest track worker in her train tunnels.

Peopled by larger-than-life heroes and villains, charged with towering questions of good and evil, Atlas Shrugged is a philosophical revolution told in the form of an action thriller.

The Virtue of Selfishness

Ayn Rand

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 125 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

How Selfish 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I find myself again reviewing a book by Ayn Rand that I quite liked. I am not a philosophy major so I won't be arguing about the soundness of her metaphysics or epistemology. I will simply say that while I don't agree with everything she has to say (few would) she makes very interesting observations. Her essay on the concept of human rights as a way to subjugate rulers to moral law is spot on. Her definition of sacrifice is also more logical than another one proposed in another review. Her idea that capitalism is the only free economic system borders on tautological and her support of property rights is a rarity amongst modern "thinkers". Again, while I don't support everything she said (I am still debating the idea of absolute morality, as if morality was something we can discover like the laws of physics) I think she makes strong arguments for personal freedom and the proper relation between a government and its governed.

Adolescent, juvenile philosophy 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 15 people found this review helpful.

Objectism appeals to an adolescent mind. An individual who has thought about self, non-self, life, meaning, spirituality, materialism ... in any meaningful way cannot but come to the realization that Rand's philosophy is woefully superficial and juvenile. Or so one might hope...

People who are ardent devotees of Rand always seem to impress me as a bit odd. Their personalities and characters seem shallow, robotic, cold, underdeveloped but at the same time they appear smug and self-satisfied.

It is ironic that most Rand followers are intelligent, but not really. It truly does take an intelligent mind to convulute what is intuitive truth and combined with the ruse of so-called logic and rational thinking, build an artifice only a clever but misguided child might.

Rand's raison detre is the concept of "self". But what is the "self"? Rand superficially believes the self begins with one's personal mind or consciousness. And from there, all her "selfish" ethics follow. In her world, everything begins and ends with "self". In other words, the small little world encased in her tiny head.

To be sure, the "self" is the individual. This is not false. And therefore, it is logical that ethics should stem from this source and fountain.

But it's also not all true, either.

This is why Rand appeals to the adolescent. An adolescent is one who is yet maturing from childhood, growing into an adult individual. And this growing into his own is exciting. He is enthralled with his growing independence. His growing awareness of his individuality is exhilerating. To him, his little self is the beginning and end to all things.

But as adolescents grows older, most realize at some level that the "self" is not binary. As the ancient philosophers, mystics and sages before us have realized, the "self" is really a continuum. There are no clear lines. There is no beginning or end. No real boundaries; just those you create.

True wisdom comes when one is able to transcend the conventional, narrow definition of "self" that Rand defines and limits one's self to being.

Does a wider conception of self entail a politics and society empty of individual rights, liberties and freedoms? Of course not. Only a child would come to such a conclusion.

Contrary to Rand, a society that respects individual rights and liberties is possible concomitantly with a culture/philosophy that realizes that the "self" can be and is larger than the individual flesh and bones that encases our egos. It can be a society that respects not only individuals but peoples, nature and everything in the world... to fulfill and seek out their happiness in their own unique way while at the same time, helping each other without the need or expectation of "self interested benefit" in the narrowest sense.

Indeed, unlike Rand, whose ethics are driven by "self-interest"; the ethics of a "larger self" are driven by love and charity. But unlike Rand, the latter would realize that the two are really the same thing inasmuch as love is the enlargement of the self to include others in that idea of self, until ultimately, the binary notion of self disappears altogether.

Logically, then, loving others is really loving one's self inasmuch as one comes to realize that "I" am "you" and "you" are "me".

This realization however comes not by logic alone but intuitively. But it should not be dismissed because of that. All knowledge is first intuitive, until it is rationalized, categorized and logically made sense of by the conscious mind. However, what is intuitively obvious is sometimes mashed up into something else entirely by clever but juvenile minds.

Should self-interest in the Randian sense then play no part in our ethics? No. But in moderation.

If self is a continuum, then our ethics should reflect this. What I do, I do for myself, my family, my friends, my neighbor, for mankind and for the world in general. The mature individual realizes that ethics cannot be constructed based on the narowest definition of self alone. But neither can it be defined based solely on any one particular definition of self as well -- whether that be family, friends, tribe or nation. The mature, rational individual should keep all things in balance; and in this balance, his ethics follow.

I am "self" in the narrowest sense; but my "self" also exists in the widest sense that includes "you" and "everything" else. And when this is realized, "self-interest" = "your-interest" = "our interest" = "all interests" = love = transcendence.

We the Living

Ayn Rand

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 133 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Brutal, Sincere, and Maybe Rand's Best 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Sometimes, after finishing a book, I feel deep within me that it is important that other people read it, too.

I'm sure you feel the same way.

We The Living is such a book. I can't say whether it is Rand's best fiction or not... certainly a better read than Atlas Shrugged or Anthem, but The Fountainhead looms large in my memory, and might still claim the throne. However, I wouldn't feel it as important to have others read The Fountainhead as I might this one -- We The Living is somehow more personal, and more affecting.

Ayn Rand is a divisive author, especially for those who haven't really bothered to study her and are just going off of what they've heard from others. If even a detractor reads We The Living, however, I think they'll see a person passionately devoted to the best things about humanity, and about life. Who could witness the plight of Kira and not be moved? Not be profoundly angered at the society that would put her through such ordeal? Not be convicted to ensure that no such thing could take place again, anywhere on earth?

We The Living is a labor of love, and its plain to see in the writing. It sparkles with honesty, and draws from its readers the true pain that only honest writing can. A person may or may not agree with the Objectivist stand on laissez-faire, or inductive reasoning, but a solid common ground can still be reached by looking into this slice of Soviet life and being properly and profoundly horrified. From the resultant senses of pain, sorrow, and anger, our common philosophical conversation can continue...

Editorial Review:

An exploration of the eternal human struggle between the human individual and the state offers the first installment of Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and features an introduction by the author's heir, Leonard Peikoff. Reissue.

Anthem

Ayn Rand

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Easy read, great for travel or when you've got just a little time. 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a good travel book for anyone looking to get hooked right away. It is a simple read and easy to follow, so it's great for reading through in one sitting or in spurts. The book takes place sometime in the distant future. Somehow, mankind has become completely and utterly socialized. They no longer think or act for themselves. The word "I" has become the unspeakable word, the unpardonable sin. Only "we" exists now, and "we", the society as a whole, is all that matters.

This story is told through the eyes of a man called Equality 7-2521 because people no longer have names. Ayn Rand gives us a glimpse of the dangers and evils of social totalitarianism and loss of self, and also shows the beauty of freedom. It really makes you think...

Editorial Review:

Anthem is Ayn Rand’s classic tale of a dark future age of the great "We"—a world that deprives individuals of name, independence, and values. Written a full decade before George Orwell's "1984," this dystopian novel depicts a man who seeks escape from a society in which individuality has been utterly destroyed. Rand expertly shows how collectivism (including social programs in the United States) destroys freedom and individuality. Her philosophy is simple: "planning" is a synonym for "collectivism," and "collectivism" is a metaphor for communism and tyranny. This important book should be read by all who are concerned about the role of government in modern life. This publication from Boomer Books is specially designed and typeset for comfortable reading.

Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal

Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, Robert Hessen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 112 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

At Whose Expense? 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Ayn Rand, best known for her best selling fictional works outlining her own philosophy of Objectivism, presents a collection of thoughts on economics that provides one of the best explanations of laissez-faire capitalism available. Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal was my introduction to the Austrian economic school of thought and to this day, after considerable research on the subject, I cannot think of a better introduction.

Rand, in combination with Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, and Robert Hessen, provides an admirable compilation of thought portraying the very essence of laissez-faire capitalism. The book is based on the founding principals of America and an understanding that "America's abundance was not created by public sacrifices to the `common good', but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes."

If you resent the fact that your life is your own responsibility and no one else's, then you will not like this book. This will account for the less than perfect overall rating this book inevitably will acquire as there are many among the masses who just cannot accept that they might have to be accountable for their own decisions. Such thoughts clearly do not speak to the quality of the book, rather frustration with the ideals; an understandable and anticipated response to a book of this nature.

Anyone seeking to understand the logical and objective ideals of laissez faire capitalists will discover all they are searching for with this book and I highly recommended this to readers and critical thinkers of all views of economic thought.

Atlas Shrugged: Centennial Edition

Ayn Rand

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

One of The Great Novels 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I first read Atlas Shrugged almost 30 years ago on the advice of a friend, who described it as the best book he had ever read. I also found it to be in that class. It had a profound effect on me. I was moved by it toward a (even more) conservative view of politics and econimics, to the extent of becoming a little too "mean-spirited" and maybe a little paranoid.

I realize now that Ms. Rand is considered by some, accurately in my estimation, to have been an extremist . . . in the extreme. She was also an atheist, which viewpoint leaves one without hope outside of this world. Notwithstanding, her message regarding the liberal, anti-business, free lunch crowd rings through with refreshing clarity and plainly spoken truth. There is much wisdom in her "objectivist" philosophy and as a bonus, this story wraps it in an epic, hard-to-put-down novel.

This is one of the great books of the 20th century. Recommended.

Editorial Review:

The astounding story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world—and did. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged is unlike any other book you have ever read.

Atlas Shrugged (In two parts)

Ayn Rand

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent and Important! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book has made me able to see only 2 kinds of people, the ones who achieive and get things done and the others who feed off of them. Complaining and badmouthing the ones who create the jobs and truly help out society. Amazing Book.

Atlas Shrugged is the "Bible" of Capitalism 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Every American should be required to read Atlas Shugged.
That's how important I believe the message of the book to be.
It doesn't hurt that the story is great!
I absolutely LOVE it! I've read and listened to it at least 6 times
so far.

Liz Epps
Madison, AL

Great Classic Book by Rand, Excelent Reading by Hurt. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Book should be a must for anyone who intends to create - and those who dont too! Atlas Shrugged is far more accurate, truethful and profetic then Orwell's 1984. The book on tape is the best way to get through this huge accomplishment by Ayn Rand. Very fine and entertanining reading by Mr. Hurt.

Editorial Review:

Atlas Shrugged is the "second most influential book for Americans today" after the Bible, according to a joint survey conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club.