|
|
Title: Atlas Shrugged
Purchase
Item
Manufacturer: Plume
List Price: $22.00
Our Price: $11.81
|
|
| Customer Reviews: |
| Atlas Shrugged by Plume Rand could use some lessons on subtlety | I am all for philosophical thinking, and have no problem with a book designed to deliver a message, but the writing here is just ridiculous. The problem with Atlas Shrugged can be summed up by this brief dialogue between the three character types in the book. This is entirely made up, but could just as well be a direct quote from the novel. Here, Person A believes in an entirely capitalistic society, Person B has allowed even the tiniest notion of socialism to enter their mind, and Person C is an unenlightened American public citizen.
PERSON B: Sorry I'm late, I tripped over my own two feet on the way in to the office and landed face-first in a conveniently placed cream pie! Then the pavement collapsed and I fell into the sewer system!
PERSON A: That's funny. I was greeted at the door by two supermodels who handed me a comedically large check and the "Most Amazing American in America, Ever" award. Then I won the Olympic Gold for 100m dash and saved three children from a burning building on my way in to work.
PERSON C: Gee, I wonder which of these people I should choose for my role model...?
PERSON B: OH GOD MY HAIR IS ON FIRE!
In case you didn't get it from the first 1000 pages, Person A goes on to make a 50 PAGE SPEECH outlining Rand's philosophy in excruciating detail near the end.
It's disappointing because there's actually a fairly interesting story of corporate intrigue here, but it's completely ruined by the one-dimensional characters. Every plot point is totally predictable, you already know the outcome of every confrontation before it begins, and the science isn't even remotely accurate. Rand just uses the weak story to beat you over the head repeatedly with her philosophy. Considering the size of the novel, this leaves quite a headache! | | Atlas Shrugged by Plume Economics for All | | You can't criticize the book if you don't read the book and I'm still plowing through it. It sheds some light on some of the Greenspan decision-making and useful for anyone interested in better understanding the current economic state of the country. | | Atlas Shrugged by Plume I picked up this weighty book and could not put it away! | | I have been generally oblivious to Ayn Rand's politics and philosophies and I don't have a desire to become a convert to objectivism - but this is a great book! The saga of an architect fighting the establishment doesn't provide much of an enticement to pick up this 2 lb. book, but it was gripping. The protagonist is unwavering and disagreeable and I could not wait to read what happens next in the well written story. I won't parse the plot points, since there are about thousands of reviews of this book. It was simply one of the most enlightening and unapologetic works I've ever read. Kasey Cotulla | | Atlas Shrugged by Plume Fear not the length of this book | | The only fictional book I recommend to my clients for good reason. Ayn Rand builds the formidable, beautiful, relentlessly driven protagonist of Dagny Taggart as the ultimate heroine. Dagny is an inspirational example of a woman who continually makes choices that honor her Authentic Self, including one of the hardest of her life. I keep a copy of Atlas on my desk and at my bedside table, just in case. Be warned: Dagny is not perfect and that lack of perfection is one of the reasons that I love her character and this book so much. She's so damn real! | | Atlas Shrugged by Plume Ridiculous Extremes to make a point | Atlas Shrugged isn't a book about your next door neighbor. It's a novel about ridiculous extremes. The socialism and communism Rand uses in this novel were even rarer in her world of the 1940's and 1950's when this book was being written. However, she clearly saw the path America was traveling down and took it to that ridiculous, but not completely implausible extreme.
The country is in trouble. There are poor. The majority of people feel that need, not ability, should be the great decider of who gets what. Things are done for the "greater good". Most people don't try to do good work, they just try to avoid blame. Most, but not all. People like Dagny Taggert, the female Vice President of Operations for the Taggert Transcontinental railroad. People like Hank Reardon of Reardon Steel. Even people like Eddie Willers, Dagny's faithful assistant and fellow "mind".
No, this is not a novel about reality as Rand, or either we, know it. But instead, it's a warning about how our world could be if we continue down a path that will ultimately lead to a socialist society.
One doesn't need to agree with Ayn Rand to need to read this book. However, it's an insight into the minds of capitalists. This novel has changed my views of those who work for profit and make bones about it. I'm sure it will for many of you as well. | | Atlas Shrugged by Plume Book 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 |
| |
