Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


There are no words for me to describe the impact this book had on me when I read it.  I picked this book up reluctantly back in December of 2000.  It is quite the lengthy book but it wasn't the page count that intimidated me.  I wondered if the reading level was too high for me.  I can only say that I'm glad I read it when I wasn't too far removed when when I used to read at a college level.  Most of the books I read now are written at a sixth grade level or less, even if the content is for 21 and over.

For a voracious reader who can easily read a 400 page book in about 5 to 6 hours, this book was probably a weekend read for me.  So colour me surprised when it took me close to a month to finish this book.  Why did it take so long?  Because the material was just so heavy.  The concepts were intriguing.  The monologues were pieces of art.  The theories were presented in a way that made me feel as if the rug was pulled out from under me.  I felt so much for Dagny.  That was a point in my life where I felt I was Dagny in many ways.  Hank was a person I admired and represented a close friend of mine.  Perhaps this book meant so much more to me than any other book to date, because I could relate in every aspect.  Not only that, but the book called into question many of the concepts I lived by. 

While I don't agree with unions and no matter what Ms. Rand tries to push about unionized intellectuals, I will not succumb to that party of thought.  What I do find alluring is the place where all the people who actually DO work, disappear.  The place they disappear into is like the sci-fi show Eureka.  I remember when Eureka first came out and I thought, wow!  It is kind of like the place I imagined when reading Atlas Shrugged.

I realize people will debate and argue about socialism, capitalism and the ramifications of Ms. Rand's sometimes heavy handed theories.  I think that's good because an author like Ms. Rand would have liked the debate and people talking about her book.  From what I could tell, Ms. Rand was a complex person in real life with some very interesting relationships.