Atlas Shrugged

I loved this book written by Ayn Rand. In a fictional, dystopian America, three important entrepreneurs in railroads, steel, and copper, are trying to expand their businesses while the government continues to add more severe restrictions to their production. As time goes by several business leaders decide to go on strike and abandon their business, because they are tired of their creative works being destroyed. Society slowly collapses as the workers become dissatisfied and lazy and rebel against the repressive policies.

The novel makes some good points about liberty and economics, but I think the political significance is overrated. If you understand basic economics and the history of philosophy and what systems have actually been successful, her ideas are obvious. However, the fictional story is very enjoyable and well written. The main complaints I have are the length of the book and the multitude of minor characters and there were a few parts about John Galt’s speech that I didn’t agree with. Depending on the criteria used, this is either in the top 10 or 15 of the longest novels ever written. In high school I read her short novel Anthem, which is also about a repressive government.

The time setting is never mentioned, but there are references to both the 19th and 20th centuries. Upon release, most Americans were shifting to driving cars instead of using railroads. The book is divided into three sections with the parts titled based on Aristotle's laws of logic. The book was published in 1957 and initially received negative reviews, but later went on to gain wider support. On January 13, 2009 (one week before President Obama was inaugurated), the book was ranked 33rd on Amazon.com.

Ayn Rand was born in Russia in 1905 and died at the age of 77 in 1982. In 1926 she came to America to visit relatives and vowed to never return to the Soviet Union. In 1929 she married actor and painter Frank O'Connor and they remained together for 50 years until his death in 1979. They did not have any children. She also had an affair with Nathaniel Branden, who was 25 years younger than her. This story is a philosophical novel and it was her fourth and final book. She considered it her magnum opus.