This, along with The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand), is the greatest text ever written. The reason the book is so great is because it understands what is evil, and has the only proper presentations of heroic people in writing. The characters of Dagny and Hank (along with others that I will not spoil) are heroes in the truest sense of the word. ( )

A philosophical treatise in the form of a novel. I enjoyed the story immensely - it's a reverse Zorro story, if that makes sense, and the Dread Pirate Roberts makes an appearance - but admit that after the fourth or fifth 20-page sermon, I skimmed the rest of them. I dare say I agree with a good portion of Rand's philosophy, but I found myself saying, "Alright already! Let's get back to the story, lady..." quite a few times.

Overall, it's an enjoyable book and one I'd recommend, especially if you don't mind skimming long monologues every now and then. ( )

A staggering portrait of emptiness. If only someone had remembered to tell the author.

Atlas Shrugged is breathtaking empty. Devoid of morality, depleted of literary skill, deprived of sensible plot, deserted of dialogue. Philosophy textbooks disguised as novels are rarely appealing, but especially not when the underlying philosophy is so absurd. Like much throat-slitting libertarianism (which Rand chose to call "objectivism"), the views make minimal sense in regard to their actions, but make no sense whatsoever in regard to the consequences of those actions. Take a few logical steps down the line and see what kind of world you'll end up in if you follow these instructions.

(If you're reading this on the cusp of the 2020s, you won't have to do too much guessing; Rand's principles underwrite some of our most prominent world politicians and thinkers.)

Run. Take your children and your pets, grab that wad of cash from under grandma's mattress, and head for the hills. A world awaits you there of kindness and compassion, and - for that matter - genuine literature. Maybe you'll enjoy [a:Lawrence Durrell|8166|Lawrence Durrell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1463722118p2/8166.jpg] or [a:Sally Rooney|15860970|Sally Rooney|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1534007127p2/15860970.jpg]? Perhaps you're a [a:Toni Morrison|3534|Toni Morrison|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1494211316p2/3534.jpg] type, a [a:Kazuo Ishiguro|4280|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1424906625p2/4280.jpg] acolyte, mad for [a:John Barth|8113|John Barth|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1222685060p2/8113.jpg] or eager for [a:George Eliot|173|George Eliot|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1596202587p2/173.jpg]. Whatever you choose, it's got to be better than this. As Robinson Jeffers famously said, "when the cities lie at the monster's feet, there are left the mountains". ( )

All those words and it still falls short of any poignancy. ( )

There are certainly enjoyable parts of the story although I fell the soliloquies are too long winded and tend to repeat themselves. This is by no means a must-read book although if you ever had even a slight desire to read it you should probably make an attempt. ( )