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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN num: 9780452011878
ISBN number: 0452011876
Label: Plume
Manufacturer: Plume
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 1200
Printing Date: August 01, 1999
Publishing house: Plume
Sale Popularity Level: 354
Studio: Plume
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Product Description:
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
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I read that book about seven years ago because I was intensely curious about Ayn Rand and her books. So many people waiting for the bus or riding one seemed to be into her books so I bought a hardback edition and started reading it. I could not stop reading it and turning the pages. When I came to the last page, I was so terribly disappointed that the marvellous story had to come to the end. I WANTED MORE!!!
That book made me see how the material value is determined and how it is diminished by the intensive governmental intervention as well as the corporate interference.
The strong parallel between the society as depicted in the 1957 book and the society in reality is astoundingly accurate. You owe it to yourself to read this book as to understand the financial crisis of 2008 better.
Ayn Rand does understand the economy and its ramification on the modern society so splendidly. She also told it very brilliantly.
I shan't reveal who is John Galt and what is the "motor" that moved the world.
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I only got half way through before life got in the way. It was an interesting read and I'm hoping I can get back to it soon.
Rated by buyers -
A long read, but Ayn Rand tells the story of today's America. Politicians stay in power by redistributing wealth. Achievement is penalized, mediocrity is rewarded, and the country spirals down. Hmmm, sound familiar?
Loved it. Gave copies to all of our six children.
A must read...truly. Especially in this election year.
Rated by buyers -
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.
Rated by buyers 
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Atlas Shrugged works as a Fantasy Mystery or Detective Story. Ms.Rand succeeds at projecting the Russian Revolution of her homeland onto America, then reacting to it. To do this she had to drastically misunderstand American history.
The book does have some redeeming qualities. None of the protagonists have degrees in finance or economics. The Protagonists seem mostly to be mechanics, skilled hacks, and engineers. Rand developed the prototypes of many soundbytes used by coldwarriors and ideologues like Reagan and Greenspan.
The gospel of Ayn Rand's Objectivism is best discovered by analyzing her design of the Galt's Gulch civilization. What does it take for a civilization to exist to Ayn Rand's standards of freedom and capitalism? It has to have strict control over who is allowed to enter. The citizens must refuse to trade or commit commerce with all civilizations and individuals who do not live up to their standards of freedom. A hard currency of gold is used, yet somehow banking must also be possible. There must be engines that output more energy than is put into them(the laws of physics will rearrange themselves for you if you are "rational" enough). Objectivist Privateers must have better artillery and ships than national militaries. People who design air planes have tall lean physiques. Less than a days wages can pay for lectures from the top intellectuals and professionals. You can rent your friends car for a solid gold nickel, without having to sign release forms and provide proof of insurance.
Atlas Shrugged can serve as an inspiration for Iraqi Insurgents wishing to sabotage Iraqi civilization just to get rid of the people who don't live up to their standards of freedom and morality.
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