Atlas Shrugged

by Ayn Rand

English language

Published July 29, 1999

ISBN:: 978-0-452-01187-8

(151 reviews)

Atlas Shrugged is a 1957 novel by Ayn Rand. Rand's fourth and final novel, it was also her longest, and the one she considered to be her magnum opus in the realm of fiction writing. Atlas Shrugged includes elements of science fiction, mystery, and romance, and it contains Rand's most extensive statement of Objectivism in any of her works of fiction. The theme of Atlas Shrugged, as Rand described it, is "the role of man's mind in existence". The book explores a number of philosophical themes from which Rand would subsequently develop Objectivism. In doing so, it expresses the advocacy of reason, individualism, and capitalism, and depicts what Rand saw to be the failures of governmental coercion. The book depicts a dystopian United States in which private businesses suffer under increasingly burdensome laws and regulations. Railroad executive Dagny Taggart and her lover, steel magnate Hank Rearden, struggle against "looters" who want to exploit their productivity. Dagny and Hank discover that a mysterious figure called John Galt is persuading other business leaders to abandon their companies and disappear as a strike of productive individuals against the looters. The novel ends with the strikers planning to build a new capitalist society based on Galt's philosophy of reason and individualism. Atlas Shrugged received largely negative reviews after its 1957 publication, but achieved enduring popularity and ongoing sales in the following decades. After several unsuccessful attempts to adapt the novel for film or television, a film trilogy based on it was released from 2011 to 2014. The book has also achieved currency among libertarian and conservative thinkers and politicians.

57 editions

sporiff reviewed Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Review of 'Atlas Shrugged' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

This is possibly some of the worst writing ever put to a book this long. A thoroughly miserable experience.

Alexander L. Belikoff reviewed Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Review of 'Atlas Shrugged' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

"For you, who are a human being, the question ‘to be or not to be’ is the question ’To think or not to think..‘"

It seems to be difficult to find another book that elicited such a wide range of emotions and opinions: from glowing praise to horrified condemnation. But of all labels attached to this work "mediocre" is not one of them.

Looking at this book as a literary work of art, there's a lot of issue to take: from characters verging on the point of being cartoonish (especially the antagonists), to sometimes unbearably long-winded dialogues (advice to Mr. Galt: a three-hour manifest could probably be reduced to a 45-minute one without loosing any detail and probably without having lost 80% of your radio audience). However, I forgive all of that for the motive and the message.

It is crucial to remember, that this book is not a recipe and not a political program. Playing a "reductio ad absurdum" trick and claiming that the Author glorifies leaving the widows and orphans, the old and the weak to their demise cannot be more wrong and Mrs. Rand professed it on numerous occasions. She knew full well how complex the real world was - and how it would be impossible to define a "simple" solution for its ailments, even on 1,300 pages. This book is not that. It is a thunderous anthem to the human ability to create - a blueprint for man's self-perception and a loud warning against the "looter mindset."

I cannot help seeing the irony of having read this book at this point of time with so many developments almost coming off the pages. That I'll leave to you, so you are free to draw your own conjectures.

I will finish with Ayn Rand's own words: "My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."

clair reviewed Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Review of 'Atlas Shrugged' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

I tried to read this book like four times. I almost finished it (77 page masturbatory speech totally killed it). At the time, I wanted to like it, but came to realize how poorly written and how flimsy its ideology and characters truly are.

lijadora reviewed Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Review of 'Atlas Shrugged' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Wow. Now that's a longread.

There's some interesting ideas in the book - ideas that were completely new to me. The story is not half bad, nor is the writing. It has its shortcomings - straw man reasoning the most obvious one.

What I don't get is why people would get upset over Ayn Rand's ideas. Disagree - yes, but upset? They're outlandish, immoral nor revolting as far as I can see.

horiaconstantin reviewed Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Review of 'Atlas Shrugged' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST BOOK I'VE READ IN A LONG TIME!

Despite a huge number of pages and despite a very annoying and hard to follow monologue in one of the last chapters.

Yes, I know I wrote the first sentence in capitals and for good reason: it has influenced my world view.
The book hides the basics of objectivist philosophy in it's covers.

I'm not going to give any spoilers, this book is very dear to me and I'm ready to discuss about it with anyone who is interested.

Jacob Campbell reviewed Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Review of 'Atlas Shrugged' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Ayn Rand’s classic Atlas Shrugged (Amazon || Google Books] is an enthralling novel with lots of conservative political implications done in the opposite of brevity. My friend Ami, carried this book probably weighing at least five pounds across most of our Jaunt Down to South America. I wondered at the time why she continued to pack the heavy book in her bag and heft it onto her shoulders every day. Even without having read the book, it sparked a number of interesting discussions between us as she leafed through it’s pages.

I decided that it was finally time for me to go through this highly acclaimed book. Instead of trying to take the time to read the book word for word, I decided to purchase the Unabridged Atlas Shrugged Audio Book and listed to it on my drive back and forth to work, and as I got further into the …

Sandra reviewed Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Review of 'Atlas Shrugged' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

This book was just horrible. So dreary and blah. The characters were like cardboard cutouts. I don't get it. The moral? People with big ideas deserve to get rich and the rest of us should just slave away bringing their dreams to fruition and be happy about it? What?

Eldaerenth reviewed Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Review of 'Atlas Shrugged' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

This vaguely interesting story is the propaganda vehicle of Rand's political ideology, Objectivism, one of the foundation stones of American Libertarianism.

Whatever your views of those ideologies, this tome contains a number of multi-page monologues that read more as an instruction manual than as part of a storyline. Proper fourth wall-busting stuff that led to me quietly putting the book down and giving it away.

But it's clearly a polarising book, as shown by the number of 1- and 5-star reviews on this site. That alone makes it worth a try, if you're so inclined.

Rainer reviewed Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Review of 'Atlas Shrugged' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

Original review said this was my favorite book of all time. New revised review says that the philosophy espoused by this book is toxic and will lead to the collective death of humanity as a species. I'm not a Nazi so I don't think we should burn this book, but I do believe our society would be significantly healthier for future generations if we just composted every copy in existence.

Original score: 5 stars New score: 1 star

Curtis reviewed Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Review of 'Atlas Shrugged' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This was on my "to-read" list for a long time until I finally buckled down and--well, listened to it.

To be honest, I don't think I could have finished reading it. Not to say that I wouldn't have wanted to, but it is a weighty tome, and even listening to it was a daunting task.

But it was a great book for the ideas it presents. Even if you don't agree wholly with Rand's "Objectivist" outlook (which at times seems not exactly objective in the usual sense of the word), the concepts that she presents as her characters struggle through their sundry and varied persecutions are indeed fascinating.

There are two shining gems of this book which are must-reads for anyone interested in the ideas of freedom and individual responsibility. The first is d'Anconia's speech about money, which offers keen insight into the oft-stated but more often misunderstood quote "love of money is the root of all evil." The second is John Galt's radio speech, which goes on for many pages and traverses many topics.

The rest of the book is background to these two speeches. In part, that's what makes this book "really good" instead of "great" -- because it takes Rand so long to get around to saying what she really wants to say. Of course, there simply may not have been any other way to do it well.