Book Reviews of Atlas Shrugged

I tackled this (very thick) book because I have always thought of it as a modern classic - something I should suck it up and read, just for the experience. Perhaps not surprisingly, I really did enjoy it, and found myself sucked into the philosophy behind it. I keep eyeballing it on my shelf and thinking that I should re-read it, after which I will probably post it. Very good.

The book is based on the not-too-farfetched premise that all of the producers of the world - producers in the sense that these are the hardworking, brilliant, movers and shakers and people of ideas in the world - get fed up with carrying the metaphorical burden of society. "What if Atlas shrugged?" A reference, of course, to refusing to carry the weight of the world on one's shoulders. The producers band together and agree as one to stop producing, stop letting the idle and useless benefit from their ideas, and society be damned. I won't give away any more, but I'd be willing to bet that if the idea intrigues you, you will be sucked in as well.

i know who John Galt is too. i have read this book several times because the firsst time i tried to understand her principals and the second time i read it for pleasure and the story it might just have been...LOL
it is good to read The Fountainhead first as it sort of sets up her philosophy,making it easier to get thru Atlas Shrugged.

Who is John Gaut? It's a question that continues to echo in my head many years after first reading those words. "Atlas Shrugged" is the best book I ever read. And my second favorite is "The Fountainhead", also by Ayn Rand. I would recommend reading the latter first, which can be viewed almost as a prequel to "Atlas Shrugged". Huge in scope, fearless and unapologetic, these are books for the ages. Read them both; you won't be sorry you did. You might even be transformed by them, as I was.

I read this book as a young adult. It is not an easy read, it requires patience and commitment. Hang in, it delivers. I play to read it again in 2008. The site balktalk.org has it as it's selection of the summer. Cannot wait to read it again.

This book should be read, and passed on. I have read it 8 times and still find gems inside when I re-read it. One of the best books ever written, PERIOD.

This is not an easy read! This book requires a commitment that I haven't given to a book in years. It is over a thousand pages and you will feel as though you just completed a marathon when you are through. A friend had told me that I must read this book. After a few hundred pages, I found myself skipping entire paragraphs of beautiful narrative just to get to the meat of the story. I did not want to give up. I am glad I didn't. Three-quarters of the way through, I was finally engrossed in the story. It made my head spin with possibilities and questions. Not about the book, but about the world. By the time you finish, you will look at things much differently. I have not bought the entire philosophy, but it has made me question many long-held beliefs. There is room in the world for many viewpoints. And there is lots of room in the middle of opposing views, too. I am glad that I finally read this book!

I am unusual in that I cannot get into Ayn Rand's works and cannot appreciate her style. This book was too long and the characters too self absorbed in my opinion.

I wish I had read this book when I was young, but would I have understood it then? If I had, my ex-husband would never had a chance of becoming my husband!

This was a marathon read and it was well worth getting from page one to the end. You won't be disappointed by this book and you will find your mind twisting at times when the small things that didn't seem so bad on their own are shown to be HUGE as they lead to more and more controls by those grasping for power they can only have if we yield it to them.

At times I felt like the destruction described here is nipping at my heels here in 2012. I have to hope there are brave and smart rational men and women ready to rebuild from the ashes settling at our feet.

If I had known this book was 1074 pages printed in 6 point font I wouldn't have bothered getting it.
Who the heck wants to read 1074 pages in tiny type?
It's like watching a 9 hour foreign movie with subtitles. You like that kind of thing? You're welcome to it.
Me? No thanks.

If there's one book you should read in your life, it's this. Though it takes time and patience to get through, you'll be glad you did. Then will you know who is John Galt.

I read this book many, many years ago and remember hating it and hating Rand's philosophy. Just my two cents: I see that I am greatly outnumbered.

Incredible book and philosophy. I enjoyed it, but it took me years to finish the actual ending. Not sure why! Perhaps too much to digest at one time. Dagny was quite the hero.

Everybody should read this book. And then look for the parallels between what's happening in our country today, and what's happening in the book. It's a little bit scary.

There are tons of great reviews of this book floating around the world, and they're much better written than anything I'm going to produce on the fly.

There are over 2,300 reviews of this book on Amazon, so I recommend checking those out.

Or, just order (and read) the book because it's great.

It took me a little while to adjust to Rand's writing style, as I have never read anything she has written before. Once I got into "Atlas Shrugged," however, I tore through it pretty quickly, up until a certain point in the novel, very close to the end. There is a certain long speech by a certain character near the end, and anyone who has read the book knows exactly what I'm talking about. I found the speech to be long, repetitive and preachy, which is unfortunate because I had highly enjoyed the book up to that point. After you muscle through the speech, however, it gets pretty good again. (I did feel bad about the fate of one poor character, but then again dystopian novels aren't supposed to be filled with sunshine and rainbows, are they?)

incredible book it will change the way you view capatlisim

Thought provoking but very preachy and the 1064 page book could be 500 if everything wasn't repeated 10 times. Put aside 2 months to read this book.

Very good book. Long, but good.

I enjoyed this book. It is pretty deep with a lot of philosophy, but I liked the message.

Interesting

I enjoyed the premise of the book but found some of the monologues went on far to long without adding anything to the characters or the thrust og the story.I read the book without a political bent coming in and enjoyed the book as a novel.

This is one of my favorite books. Like all of Ayn Rand's work, this book is an intelligently written testament to the value of individuality and of capitalism.

This book is amazing, you will love it.

I absolutely loved this book. I got so involved with this novel, I didn't want it to end.

One of my favorite books of all time.

Great book - but very cumbersome to read - only read half of it but did enjoy what I read. Very deep!

honestly, I never read it. . .I got to about page 100 and then stopped.

very dry I never could finish

Rand is not easy to read, but worth it to understand her philosophy.

slightly worn, but not worn out.