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Atlas Shrugged Kindle Edition

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 20,832 ratings

Peopled by larger-than-life heroes and villains, charged with towering questions of good and evil, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand’s magnum opus: a philosophical revolution told in the form of an action thriller.

Who is John Galt? When he says that he will stop the motor of the world, is he a destroyer or a liberator? Why does he have to fight his battles not against his enemies but against those who need him most? Why does he fight his hardest battle against the woman he loves?

You will know the answer to these questions when you discover the reason behind the baffling events that play havoc with the lives of the amazing men and women in this book. You will discover why a productive genius becomes a worthless playboy...why a great steel industrialist is working for his own destruction...why a composer gives up his career on the night of his triumph...why a beautiful woman who runs a transcontinental railroad falls in love with the man she has sworn to kill.

Atlas Shrugged, a modern classic and Rand’s most extensive statement of Objectivism—her groundbreaking philosophy—offers the reader the spectacle of human greatness, depicted with all the poetry and power of one of the twentieth century’s leading artists.
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Editorial Reviews

Review

[A] vibrant and powerful novel of ideas.

-- "New York Herald Tribune"

Countless individuals working to secure liberty have found inspiration in the works of Ayn Rand. With her unique ability to depict heroism, idealism, and romance behind the creativity of the individual, Rand inspires readers to come to the defense of free minds and free markets.

-- "Chip Mellor, Institute for Justice"

Narrator Scott Brick takes listeners on a journey so extraordinary they'll hardly notice the book's length. While his performance offers little in the way of theatrics, Brick is capable of garnering sympathy and, perhaps most importantly, devout attention for Rand's plot and characters. On the surface, Brick's voice is a cool, unrelenting force determined to capture every facet of Rand's complex story. But amid his calm and collected delivery, he taps into a more colorful emotional palette that will keep listeners involved. Brick's subtle delivery holds far more than meets the ear.

-- "AudioFile"

Atlas Shrugged is not merely a novel. It is also--or may I say: first of all--a cogent analysis of the evils that plague our society.

-- "Ludwig von Mises, economist and historian"

Ayn Rand is destined to rank in history as the outstanding novelist and most profound philosopher of the twentieth century.

-- "New York Daily Mirror"

About the Author

Born February 2, 1905, Ayn Rand published her first novel, We the Living, in 1936. Anthem followed in 1938. It was with the publication of The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957) that she achieved her spectacular success. Rand’s unique philosophy, Objectivism, has gained a worldwide audience. The fundamentals of her philosophy are put forth in three nonfiction books, Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, The Virtues of Selfishness, and Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. They are all available in Signet editions, as is the magnificent statement of her artistic credo, The Romantic Manifesto.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003V8B5XO
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Signet; Centennial edition (April 21, 2005)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 21, 2005
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3425 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 1188 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 20,832 ratings

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Ayn Rand
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Ayn Rand's first novel, We the Living, was published in 1936, followed by Anthem. With the publication of The Fountainhead in 1943, she achieved spectacular and enduring success. Rand's unique philosophy, Objectivism, has gained a worldwide audience and maintains a lasting influence on popular thought. The fundamentals of her philosophy are set forth in such books as Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, The Virtue of Selfishness, Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal, and The Romantic Manifesto. Ayn Rand died in 1982.

(Image reproduced courtesy of The Ayn Rand® Institute)

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
20,832 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book engaging and thought-provoking. They appreciate the philosophical ideas and narrative style. The descriptions are described as clear and honest, with a timeless tale that makes sense. However, some readers feel the book is too long.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

2,115 customers mention "Readability"2,035 positive80 negative

Customers find the book engaging and well-written. They describe it as an important and influential novel with excellent prose. Readers appreciate the great subplots and digressions. Overall, they consider it a worthwhile read with brilliant ideas worth considering.

"...It develops characters and lets them develop further as the story continues, their thinking, feelings and actions so beautifully expressed...." Read more

"...The audio reader does such a good job at making the story flow in a beautiful rhythm, almost poetic...." Read more

"...That having been said it is a thoroughly entertaining novel with excellent prose especially when describing intra-personal feelings and objects...." Read more

"...Besides being a "good think", the book is also a "good read"...." Read more

804 customers mention "Thought provoking"684 positive120 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking and profound on many levels. They describe it as enlightening, refreshing, and helpful. Readers appreciate the depth of the story, its sustained metaphor, and the organic interplay between cognition and emotion. The book is described as a serious and compelling novel that explores the search for physical and spiritual fulfillment.

"...Regardless, this is a grand book filled with things worth thinking about, whether you come to Rand's conclusions or not...." Read more

"...I urge you to read it, for the love of words, for the depth of story for the escapism and for the philosophy, it's blended together in a way I have..." Read more

"...writings as one can see by the pros and cons of her works.. An incomparable work that deserves to be read and contemplated by anyone who is..." Read more

"...Her work makes perfect sense when viewed through her lenses. Rand I believe after reading her works was a sociopath with origins in Russia...." Read more

679 customers mention "Philosophy"579 positive100 negative

Customers appreciate the philosophy in the book. They find it insightful, with a blend of conservative and liberal ideas. The book is described as a good read that resonates with their beliefs. It celebrates capitalism and rationality, and offers an insight into the altruism of elites.

"...In reality it's a love story and a capitalist dream. It's a political manifesto and a revolutionary's cook book...." Read more

"...Dagny Taggart-A steel minded, ambitious, passionate industrialist with a strong command of herself and her direction in life...." Read more

"...Besides being a "good think", the book is also a "good read"...." Read more

"...The book has something to say about love, sex, politics, economics, history, human nature, happiness, greed, shame, courage, selfishness, art, and..." Read more

388 customers mention "Story telling"384 positive4 negative

Customers enjoy the story. They find it epic, timeless, and enjoyable. The book is described as a sprawling dystopian novel with enough fantasy to be almost science fiction. Readers appreciate the love stories, even if idealized. Overall, they describe it as a classic work of fiction well-written.

"...her characters and the plot of this story, but the story takes front and center stage, not the philosophy, which is easy to make an issue of...." Read more

"...She is also to be lauded for steamy erotic scenes that are downright scintillating with heat without the unbuttoning of a blouse taking place...." Read more

"...The book has something to say about love, sex, politics, economics, history, human nature, happiness, greed, shame, courage, selfishness, art, and..." Read more

"...I kid you not. It is, in fact, hard SF, set in a near-future dystopia (relative to publication; I'm guessing 1960) with sociopolitics and technology..." Read more

251 customers mention "Description"221 positive30 negative

Customers appreciate the book's clear presentation of concepts and principles. They find the purpose inspiring and honest, making the book relatable to current events. Readers describe it as a masterful work that is relevant today.

"...I think I was more Hank than Francisco or Eddie. The clarity of purpose is inspiring and even possible for a while but where the "flaws" start to..." Read more

"...There are many philosophies that are simple, original, or profound. Rand's is all three...." Read more

"...The plot navigates through the lives of a set of highly successful industrialists whose common trait is a superior intelligence, unmatched ability..." Read more

"...by her strong, declarative sentences and her tendency to oversimplify complex issues...." Read more

864 customers mention "Writing quality"392 positive472 negative

Customers have different views on the writing quality. Some find it well-written and articulate, while others feel it could be better written and difficult to read due to redundant philosophical arguments. The dialogue is also criticized as unrealistic.

"...much time to what turn out to be minor characters, it is overtly didactic in the extreme, the plot devices and revelations are extremely easy to..." Read more

"...But it was worth it! I enjoy the forcefulness and certainty of Rand's writing, and the sheer scale of this book with its many characters..." Read more

"...- Much of this book is mind-numbingly dense and verbose. It could have been less than half its 1200-page length without losing a thing...." Read more

"...I urge you to read it, for the love of words, for the depth of story for the escapism and for the philosophy, it's blended together in a way I have..." Read more

273 customers mention "Character development"179 positive94 negative

Customers have differing views on the character development. Some find the characters well-developed and believable, with a likable villain and admirable heroes. Others feel the characters seem dour, their emotions are stilted, and the names are ridiculous. They also mention that the characters lack depth and nuance, and the heroes are simplistic with few weaknesses.

"...It develops characters and lets them develop further as the story continues, their thinking, feelings and actions so beautifully expressed...." Read more

"...she divides the world into intelligent, ambitious and competent sociopaths and incompetent, corrupt, uncompetitive, moocher, irrational wishy-washy..." Read more

"...Yes, this book does have many shallow 2-dimensional characters -- they're typically more "caricatures" than "characters," particularly the..." Read more

"...showed considerable craft in the use of language, imagery, character and plot development...." Read more

419 customers mention "Length"84 positive335 negative

Customers find the book excessively long. They find many passages redundant and overstated. The storyline is criticized for being too basic and lacking character development. Readers also mention that the multi-page monologues are unengaging.

"Granted this is a lengthy book...." Read more

"...Yes it’s long but it’s also informative politically, psychology and wonderfully entertaining...." Read more

"...First is its prodigious length -- the 35th anniversary paperback edition is 1,074 small-type pages...." Read more

"...the forcefulness and certainty of Rand's writing, and the sheer scale of this book with its many characters and big ideas...." Read more

Mixed feelings about the book
4 out of 5 stars
Mixed feelings about the book
Unlike many books it has a lot of both good and bad things about it:The good: interesting plot, very good narration in between dialoguesThe bad: dialogues are cartoonish, and multi-page monologues (which are many) are mostly unbearable. When I was reading dialogues more often than not my brain was superimposing them on characters from Donald Duck or Chip&Dale or Rick and Marty in best case. Not always but like 80% of the time.The good: the key message of the book is brought home really well and from multiple angles, that modern society depends on talents and energy and motivation of the few and that any attempt to milk them or otherwise restraint considerably for the desired benefits of the so-called many leads to ugly consequences.The bad: this point and the whole plot could have been be fully elaborated in 2x less words for surePro tip: if you haven’t started reading your huge novels on kindle yet, this one should make you do it. Instead of holding the weigh of this behemoth book and breaking your eyes with small font in your hands set the font to 8 on Kindle Oasis and you will feel thankful very soon ☺️P.S. watching “Mad Men” for the first time now, my god Peggy there is Ayn Rand, in both body and spirit! (but not quite in talent and ambition)
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2013
    Non-libertarian here.

    Wow. This book took me 3 years (and one re-start 1/4 way in) to read.

    But it was worth it!

    I enjoy the forcefulness and certainty of Rand's writing, and the sheer scale of this book with its many characters and big ideas.

    Yes, this book does have many shallow 2-dimensional characters -- they're typically more "caricatures" than "characters," particularly the characters who stand for the type of people Rand clearly hated with almost vicious cynicism in the real world. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the decisiveness and conviction of the leads. It's refreshing, in fact, to have a book so hell-bent on its ideas and narrative without a hint of shades of gray, without any patience for human weakness or intellectual murkiness, and with endless joy and celebration of the drive and decisiveness that make some people so admirable. Rearden, Francisco, [kinda-obvious-but-still-a-spoiler character], and especially Dagny were people you could root for... assuming you're not one of the "looters" Rand has so much hate for. If you're a selfish, sneaky, dishonest, needy person, well, this book will be like a 1000-page whipping for you.

    That hatred of weak human beings is probably what I liked least about the book. Man, the hatred, it drips from the pages like a poison. The villains of this book aren't just dumb or misguided... They're portrayed as utterly hopeless and irredeemable in every way, useless lumps of flesh that are best destroyed under the wheels of their iron-willed betters. And in the real world, while the traits Rand hated exist in abundance and I understand and often share her dislike, people are not all such simple caricatures who should be discarded without any consideration for the qualities they DO have, or at least the potential they have. Rand seems to consciously ignore the idea that the world does "take all kinds" to function, and in doing so, misses out on some opportunities for her characters to find other ways to realize and express their intellectual and material values. You'll notice that nobody in this book has cancer. There are no children whom parents have to sacrifice for and love for no reason other than that the children are their own. There are no old men or women who are dying. The only children are Dagny and her friends who think like little adults, the only injuries are not terminal (i.e., minor injuries after airplane crash) and easily overcome with willpower and force of mind. Grappling with some of these things (like, I don't know, Dagny having leukemia) wouldn't necessarily have undermined Rand's philosophy (maybe); they could have made for some nuance to the way her characters' intellects and willpowers are exerted. People DO have a debt to others around them, whether it be someone stricken with a deadly disease being helped by their friends, or a toddler who needs protection and unpaid service from a parent. Again, these don't undermine Rand's philosophy necessarily, but she leaves a big gap for others to poke holes in her grand vision by not addressing such real-world issues. With a mind like hers, her narrative could have showed us how to make these things fit into her vision and philosophy, gave us some hint at an answer for how to deal with these things in a responsible way. She offers solutions to many things and maybe you can extrapolate some more... But for me, I don't see an answer to who will care for Dagny when she is old and feeble but still wants to be useful rather than shuttered, or who will clean toilets when everyone is trying to be a a fountain of intellect and creativity, or how the retarded and the simply dumb will find use for themselves in a world where everyone else is too busy pouring steel and being productive to notice. I wanted the book to provide some sense of these nuances, or at least express awareness that such nuance exists in real life, rather than just being a rally call to an absolute philosophy.

    Regardless, this is a grand book filled with things worth thinking about, whether you come to Rand's conclusions or not. I am not a libertarian or a conservative at all (and definitely didn't walk away thinking anything crazy like, "down with government! let the capitalists govern indirectly through their brilliance! Taxes are evil!"). Yet I still found much to admire and emulate in her characters, much to celebrate about the drive and power of people doing the things they are good at with conscious and determined effort. Many of us could learn a lot about how to work hard to best use our personal talents for our own good, and in so doing benefit everyone; many of us could learn a lot about the joy of working hard and being responsible for our own destinies. Don't read this book as a libertarian bible (a terrible misreading, I think), but instead...... Take it as a rally call for each of us to demand as little of one another as possible and instead demand as much from ourselves as possible, and have love for your own ability to do both of those things consciously. It's a powerful novel and I enjoyed even the parts that I consciously knew were attacks on societal systems I support in the real world.

    Come with an open mind and see the world from an absolute and infinitely self-assured perspective. I think you'll learn some good values even if Atlas Shrugged doesn't change your view of how to implement those values in your own life or society.
    25 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2010
    I titled my review in this way to try and provide a view point that someone interested in business would be attracted to. There's a lot of rattle on about Ayn Rand's philosophy and it's all relevant but, if you simply understand that she has a philosophy she expresses through her characters and the plot of this story, but the story takes front and center stage, not the philosophy, which is easy to make an issue of.

    The book is beautifully written in a way that books are seldom done anymore. It develops characters and lets them develop further as the story continues, their thinking, feelings and actions so beautifully expressed. The "hero" of this book is a woman, Dagny Taggart, and the focus remains on her for most of the story. Her passion and drive are envious, her intellect even more so. She is all too human as the story shows, yet the pride of singularity and powerful self esteem are inspiring. The men that surround her; Hank Reardon and Francisco d'Anconia are male versions of her blue print in ambition, drive, intelligence and vision but coming from a different place with different baggage. The love affairs she has with these men, both physical and emotional are so magnificently described they seem almost unreal. The characters are perfect, the stage is set, the world is revolving and all is well until one day... it's not.

    That's when the story really begins, when people, trust and love are tested. In each case, the choice of Rand's words, the description of a thought (which might take pages to describe) are so beautifully crafted you wonder how a single person created this masterpiece work. I urge you to read it, for the love of words, for the depth of story for the escapism and for the philosophy, it's blended together in a way I have never experienced before in a single volume.

    You will identify with someone in this book, Me? I think I was more Hank than Francisco or Eddie. The clarity of purpose is inspiring and even possible for a while but where the "flaws" start to become evident is that it's only a story and it's called Science Fiction by most. In reality it's a love story and a capitalist dream. It's a political manifesto and a revolutionary's cook book. It's a way to think about your work life and your life in your country as a citizen. I inspired me and solidified many of my assumptions about my role in society and it made me feel damn good about my own life's accomplishments.

    As you read, immerse yourself and go along for the ride without judging until the end. Who is John Galt? It's every one of us who has a dream and will go to any extreme to make it real.

    Enjoy.
    9 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Pedro Paulo
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ótima edição.
    Reviewed in Brazil on November 15, 2024
    Ótima edição, Ayn Rand a melhor no segmento. Vale a pena a compra.
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    Pedro Paulo
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ótima edição.
    Reviewed in Brazil on November 15, 2024
    Ótima edição, Ayn Rand a melhor no segmento. Vale a pena a compra.
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  • Cliente de Kindle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Hermoso
    Reviewed in Mexico on August 23, 2024
    Justo lo que quería y más. No dudes en comprarlo.
  • Locke55
    5.0 out of 5 stars Still a major work with a vital message.
    Reviewed in Canada on February 13, 2022
    I forget what specifically prompted me to revisit Atlas Shrugged after 40 years - no doubt a post somewhere. Ayn Rand's message and philosophy resonates as strongly as ever, and is more important than ever as our world comes dangerously close to sinking into a realm of woke insanity and chaos. Even she could not have envisaged our situation in writing her dystopic tale of the collapse and resurrection of western capitalism and individual rights.

    Stylistically, the work has aged pretty well, a bit 1940's/50's "Marlow" noir in flavor, although some sections come across as overly melodramatic, especially the romantic interactions. There are a number of brilliant set pieces, but also sections where you really wish for a bit more editing. And of course there is the famous grand philosophical monologue towards the end that takes a few sittings to get through!

    These are nit-picks in the grand scheme of things. In our society as it is, the message - especially to the young - of individual self-worth and achievement in the face of a society that damns it implicitly and explicitly is so important.

    The book remains a master-work, and as most know, is an exposition of her "Objectivist" school of philosophy. Is the world ultimately more complex? Sure - but this book takes a clean cut across the rubic cube of life providing a vital perspective to integrate into the whole.
  • Antony Guss
    2.0 out of 5 stars Font Size
    Reviewed in the United Arab Emirates on December 25, 2024
    Fabulous Book However this copy font too small
  • Amazing to know what he has done so far with more than 6 compagnies. He has revolutionized the world.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Who is John Galt
    Reviewed in France on September 14, 2024
    The most chapter that captivate me was when John Galt spoke. He tells us that we are people on a mission. "Happiness is the successful state of life, pain is an agent of death" "to exist is to be something" 🙏🏾

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