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.
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A lot of baggage, but still one of the most relevant works of all time
This is one of them most intriguing works I've read in years and it can provoke vigorous reaction on a variety of levels. There's easily enough meat here to justify considering this one of the most important writing in Western Civilization, but unfortunately, it's weighed down by more than enough baggage to prevent many from seeing it in that light. Even so, the ideas are so powerful, I'll give it five stars and point out flaws only to help you recognize and avoid being distracted by them. For starters, this book is a disaster if viewed purely in novelistic terms. I cannot recall having ever seen more stilted characters nor can I recall having seen worse dialogue. I understand what Rand was going for when she sought to present her objectivist philosophy in the context of a novel, but I wish she wouldn't have tried to do that. A philosophical tract is a philosophical tract, and a novel is a novel. Perhaps it is possible to join the two, but I don't think it was done effectively here. I also think Rand's philosophy itself took an unfortunate turn as she settled into life as a U.S. celebrity and became more prone toward playing to her crowd. If you take the core plot elements of "Atlas Shrugged" and set them against the backdrop of Rand's formative years (in Russia at the time of the Bolshevik revolution and on the wrong side, so to speak) and the subsequent history of planned economies, you'd see that Rand has much to say that is extremely relevant to us. Had she stuck to being a pure novelist, as she seemed to be with "We the Living," the message might have gotten through quite well. Unfortunately, as she pushed the philosophy further and further, perhaps based on the need to play to her core audience, I think she took it to places where it didn't really need to go and which detracted from her core ideas. Example: John Galt, the hero of "Atlas Shrugged," is being pressed by government leaders to become Economic Dictator and fix the mess into which society has plun...
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