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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Business Book Ever Written,
By
This review is from: Atlas Shrugged (Hardcover)
That's right. It is the best business book ever written. Rand believed in the value of the individual. She believed that the state, the government, should have no control over a person's work and his or her achievement. She believed that no group should try to control the individual and that no person should compromise in an attempt to blend in.
This is Ayn Rand's masterpiece. It expresses her complete philosophy in a riveting plot that takes place in the U.S. in the future. The economy is collapsing because of the strange disappearance of leading producers and industrialists. The theme is the role of the mind in man's existence. It demonstrates a new moral philosophy based on rational self-interest. In this wonderful work, Rand shows what the world would be like if the real producers, the productive individuals, would stop their work and their production. It is stunning and awesome. While the dialog is stilted and uncommon to the culture, it was Rand's unique way of crafting her fiction. Her characters lacked depth and emotion, similar to those of F. Scott Fitzgerald. While this may take away from the storytelling, it is actually merely the format for her presentation of her Objectivist philosophy. And, it is that philosophy that is the critical part of all of her work, including her fiction. According to Wikipedia, "Objectivism holds that there is a mind-independent reality; that individual persons are in contact with this reality through sensory perception; that human beings gain objective knowledge from perception by measurement and form valid concepts by measurement omission; that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or "rational self-interest"; that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual human rights, embodied in pure, consensual laissez-faire capitalism; and that the role of art in human life is to transform abstract knowledge, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form--a work of art--that one can comprehend and respond to with the whole of one's consciousness." But it can better be summed up, I think, by saying that it is the belief that a person owns his own mind and the production of his mind, i.e. his work. Furthermore, it holds that the individual has a right not to conform to the whims or desires of the collective, that he doesn't have an obligation to do his work as others wish him to and that he has a right to earn money for his work and not give any part of himself away for the benefit of others. The dramatic story in Atlas Shrugged brings this philosophy to life. An altruist would not enjoy this book. But if you read it with an open mind, you will appreciate the philosophy behind the words. You may or may not agree with the philosophy and you may not enjoy the book. But if you're in business, you should read the book. A business person who is not basically an Objectivist, is not a good business person but a slave. By the way, Alan Greenspan, famous former fed chairman, was part of Ayn Rand's inner circle when he was very young. He still considers himself a libertarian Republican. Rand's philosophy is an important one and should be read and studied by all who care about human production and human value.
33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Objectivism 101,
By A Customer
This review is from: Atlas Shrugged (Turtleback)
How do you take such heady subjects as Objectivism, rational thought and the virtues of selfishness, to an audience accustomed to the white washed, banal pablum of 1950's America? By simplification and reiteration. Atlas Shrugged is long, has some very simple, one dimensional characters, and repeats its themes often. But, it had to. It is a subtle introduction of a decidedly humanistic, secular philosophy to a puritanical, non-secular society . As many have said before, you will love it or hate it. If you subscribe to strict religious dogma and dismiss your mind as impotent and unable to "know" anything, then you will hate it. If Plato's parable of the cave is the world you live in, you will hate it. If you despise Bill Gates for his Billions; if you believe the government owes you better health care (or anything for that matter, other than a rebate on your taxes), then you will hate it. If you are excited by success (anyone's), believe in your mind and its abilities to think rationally, and laugh at new age channelers, witch doctors, snake handlers, or any other mystic who believes "A" is "non-A", then the chances are you will love it. Read it and find out who you are.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome. Life-changing. Why greed is good.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Atlas Shrugged (Hardcover)
"Greed, for the lack of a better word, is good. And greed will save the United States of America." One has to suspect that Gordon Gekko's famous speech in Wall Street was inspired in small part by Ayn Rand's masterpiece. Reading it, even a dyed-in-the-wool Communist will understand why free markets work and government intervention and planned economies do not. Rand's masterpiece is timeless and a must-read for every political-science and economics major in our colleges. Unforgettable (if somewhat one-dimensional) characters, a purposeful plot, and an unquenchable belief -- the freedom to choose one's own destiny, good or bad -- make this not just a book, but THE Book.
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