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Atlas Shrugged

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Atlas Shrugged

By: Ayn Rand
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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About this listen

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—nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

Atlas Shrugged is the "second most influential book for Americans today" after the Bible, according to a joint survey of five thousand people conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club in 1991.

In a scrap heap within an abandoned factory, the greatest invention in history lies dormant and unused. By what fatal error of judgment has its value gone unrecognized, its brilliant inventor punished rather than rewarded for his efforts?

This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world—and did. In defense of those greatest of human qualities that have made civilization possible, he sets out to show what would happen to the world if all the heroes of innovation and industry went on strike. Is he a destroyer or a liberator? Why does he have to fight his battle not against his enemies but against those who need him most? Why does he fight his hardest battle against the woman he loves? The answers will be revealed once you discover the reason behind the baffling events that wreak havoc on the lives of the amazing men and women in this remarkable book.

Tremendous in scope and breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand's magnum opus, which launched an ideology and a movement. With the publication of this work in 1957, Rand gained an instant following and became a phenomenon. Atlas Shrugged emerged as a premier moral apologia for capitalism, a defense that had an electrifying effect on millions of readers (and now listeners) who had never heard capitalism defended in other than technical terms.

©1985 Eugene Winick, Paul Gitlin and Leonard Peikoff (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Classics Fiction Political Thought-Provoking Science Fiction
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What listeners say about Atlas Shrugged

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Must read, for high tax payers despised by society

How much value do different people generate? How much do they deserve in return for generating it? How much right does society and the common good have to the success of those individuals? Why are the wealthy so often regarded as undeserving and disliked for being so? This book answers these questions with a brilliant narrative.

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7 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Industrialists turn the tables.

Would you listen to Atlas Shrugged again? Why?

Very unlikely - simply because of its length.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Less self indulgent material about how wonderful the female protagonist is.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The inaugural train journey - it was breathtaking - very fast paced - and constantly interesting.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Only in America.

Any additional comments?

This book took Ayn Rand 10 years to write. She researched her subjects diligently and wrote clearly and often excitingly. She gives her characters very long speeches, these are set pieces that are designed to express her philosophy. This is a book of ideas, not a simple story. Her basic concept is that work is virtuous and that wealth is the inevitable reward. Her heroes are hard working industrialists with a hands on approach. She is also unflinching about the moral necessity of owning ones own motivation.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Challenges your beliefs and makes you think deeply

I enjoyed this book very much. Althought its length may be off putting to some, it is a worthwhile journey where you are introduced to very interesting ideas.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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First audiobook experience

Seriously thought-provoking. Would listen again. Excellent narration kept the characters distinct and listening pleasent overall.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Golly what a marathon! !

I am not sure I would have finished this book if I had not been listening to it. A lot of rant which did at times become tedious. But on the good side thought provoking and over all a good tale of how things could come to pass if philosophies are taken to extremes. Certainly a book of its time!!

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Great story.

Best story Iv read in a long time. I think it should be in school curriculum.

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best novel I've ever read / heard

the best novel I've ever read and very fitting for current times. I highly recommend it.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Incredible voyage to the core problem of society

Great book with even better narration, where reader can (through good storyline) reach the "unwanted" answers to the questions that everyone is aware of but nobody wants to ask. In a better society, this would be a mandatory school book.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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epic novel

complicated plot line, but all the strands melted together in the end. suprise ending!

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Thought Provoking and Surprisingly Brilliant

I am writing this as a British socialist - expecting Republican Tea Party Propaganda from the text - instead I was shocked by the many (long) Shakespeareanesque soliloquys through the speeches of several inspirational characters - expounding views that challenged my own political dogma of altruism and utilitarianism.
In particular the polemic "from each their ability, to each their need"; was both criticized and discredited. I also realised that the author's passionate belief that this simply negates human autonomy and creativity and replaces it with an emasculated, feckless and dependent societal mass, prey to an unscrupulous dictatorship and centralist control may very sadly be true!

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2 people found this helpful