Atlas Shrugged[ATLAS SHRUGGED][Hardcover]

This book is often sited as a major source of inspiration for the views summed up under the "Chicago School" Friedmanian idea of markets and economics. That is the reason I bought it. I was curious to know what all the hype was about. I'm still curious. Although now, what puzzles me more than anything else is how the book ever saw the drum of a printing press in the first place.I knew before I had finished the first chapter that I was not going to be able to enjoy it. What made me persevere was the challenge it presented and my own desire to be able to say that I had read it. I now have. And I suspect I may have lost some of my sanity in the bargain.To begin with, it is hard to think of this book as a fiction novel. There is a story buried somewhere inside it, but finding it is a challenge, and enjoying it is nigh impossible. The first thing I noticed was the authors desperation to produce something with literary weight, while possessing little of the skill required to do so. The book bleeds adverbs like a stuck pig; contemptuously and reproachfully, being two of the most frequent offenders. It tries to make up for this with a heavy and constant barrage of ostentatious similes (as if.......) which more often than not, serve only to make things even less clear. One gets the impression the author did not think it very likely that her readers would posses more than a rudimentary imagination of their own.Another thing that is hard to stomach is that the book doesn't really have any characters, only identities, each serving as a mouthpiece for some facet of the writer's world view. In consequence, the dialogue rings false to the point of absurdity.Much of the book is taken up with a tireless description of mindset, so twisted and nonsensical, for the most part, that I could only conclude everyone depicted in it was insane. Add to this the fact that just about every view expressed is ultimately contradicted, and then contradicted again, until the reader is left stupefied, and you have what I can only describe as chaos masquerading as a work of fiction.In conclusion, this is a work as verbose as it is naive and as pointless as it is long. The story itself could have been told in a third of the words. The rest is the ceaseless rambling of a woman who has clearly lost the plot (pun not intended).

Ayn Rand informs and warns us about the long term efforts to destroy America and the free enterprise system that has raised people out of poverty and improved millions of lives.

One of thee best books ever. Prophetic to say the least. A book everyone needs to read this day in age.

I treasure Rand's insight into the human condition.

A gift but always a good book

Great book