Customer Reviews

Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This collection of 22 essays covers aspects of "Atlas Shrugged" from the most general to the most applied. For people who want to understand the underlying causes explaining why "Atlas Shrugged" exerts a tremendous impact on the thinking of people who change American culture, this book explains it. The collection begins with a refresher course on the events of "Atlas Shrugged" (I advise readers of these essays to have already read "Atlas Shrugged," even if years ago), then proceeds to previously-unreported facts about character developments that Ayn Rand made during the writing, and in the collection's later chapters the essayists elucidate through comprehensive non-fiction prose many of the ideas on law and business ethics that the novel presents through its characters' actions and in brief dialogue scattered through the novel.

Previously-published explorations on "Atlas Shrugged" didn't indicate how Ayn Rand's conception of her major character Francisco d'Anconia went through a significant transition. You get to read in this collection many quotations from Ayn Rand's manuscripts that show how d'Anconia changed from manuscript draft to manuscript draft to the final book. The early version of d'Anconia is intriguing, but it's easy to see why Ayn Rand realized that the story and the character needed the ruthless yet furtive honesty he has in the final incarnation. Not every aspect of the changes that "Atlas Shrugged" went through is here; for a comprehensive examination, "Essays on Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged'" should be read along with "Journal of Ayn Rand," published in 1997. Although some might want "Essays on 'Atlas Shrugged'" to cover it all, as it is it already fills 465 with its essays before going on to 41 pages of appendices (not counting the index), so the editor can be excused for not trying to give an overview of what people will find in "Journals of Ayn Rand" on pages 389 to 664. "Journals of Ayn Rand" is great for seeing how the overall structure of "Atlas Shrugged" was tweaked several times during the writing, and "Journals" shows what Ayn Rand wrote to herself to clarify her thinking -- but it doesn't reproduce manuscript originally intended for the novel and then superceded. "Essays on 'Atlas Shrugged'" fills in that gap, along with analyses of the significance of those changes, changes that were not hinted at by the notes that Miss Rand wrote for herself.

There's more:

* Had you noticed (or merely suspected without having the words to name it) that the emphasis in "The Fountainhead" (Ayn Rand's novel immediately prior to "Atlas Shrugged") was on the importance of *independence* to self-fulfillment (and human achievement) whereas in "Atlas Shrugged" there's a stress on *rationality*? Essayist Darryl Wright noticed, and he writes in detail that let's us follow how Ayn Rand elaborated on her understanding of the issues involved until she reached her last conclusions on which of those two virtues is paramount;

* Have you wanted to carry away in your mind single-word descriptions that nail down just what mistaken thinking styles are held by the characters in the book, so that you can better identify these wrong habits when you see others using them? In the essays, you'll find Mr. Thompson identified as a pragmatist, Dr. Stadler as a Platonist ("a Scientist King"), etc. In each case, the reasons for the label are given.

* Do you want to know why a film or TV version of "Atlas Shrugged" has yet to happen? One chapter details the efforts (and contracts) that didn't end with any filming during Ayn Rand's lifetime (she lived another 25 years after publication).

* Have you wanted to better understand the speech that Galt makes to explain the ruination of the economy and culture? Inasmuch as the text of "Atlas Shrugged" does not divide that speech into sections, you may have been fazed or overwhelmed by such an undertaking. Three of the essayists undertook thorough examinations and present their findings here. (One of the three -- Allan Gotthelf -- knew Ayn Rand, showed his outline to her, and listened as she told him that his understanding is correct.) For people who take "Atlas Shrugged" seriously, this can be a fantastic time-saver, because great analyses are presented in prose and in an outline published as an appendix. (What's more, I had to acknowledge that the outline here is better than the one I created on my own before this book was available.)

If you are at all serious about studying "Atlas Shrugged" "under the hood," this should be your first source. Some of the contributors knew Ayn Rand; the others studied her philosopher under those who knew Ayn Rand, and through the auspices of the Institute co-founded by her heir and thirty-year "pupil." You won't go wrong learning about Ayn Rand and "Atlas Shrugged" from this book.

This eagerly-awaited book promises to be just as valuable as the three previous volumes, on "We the Living," "Anthem" and "The Fountainhead," with essays by noted scholars:

"This is the first scholarly study of Atlas Shrugged, covering in detail the historical, literary, and philosophical aspects of Ayn Rand's magnum opus. Topics explored in depth include the history behind the novel's creation, publication, and reception; its nature as a romantic novel; and its presentation of a radical new philosophy.

Contents:


Preface
Chapter 1. The Part and Chapter Headings of Atlas Shrugged
Onkar Ghate
Chapter 2. Who Was John Galt? The Creation of Ayn Rand's Ultimate Ideal Man
Shoshana Milgram
Chapter 3. The Spirit of Francisco d'Anconia: The Development of His Characterization
Shoshana Milgram
Chapter 4. A Note on Francisco's Ancestry
Tore Boeckmann
Chapter 5. Working for Ayn Rand: Selections from Facets of Ayn Rand
Mary Ann Sures
Chapter 6 Publishing Atlas Shrugged
Richard Ralston
Chapter 7. The Atlas Shrugged Reviews
Michael S. Berliner
Chapter 8. Reply to Whittaker Chambers
Leonard Peikoff
Chapter 9. Atlas Shrugged and the Metaphysics of Values
Tore Boeckmann
Chapter 10. Atlas Shrugged as the Culmination of the Romantic Novel
Andrew Bernstein
Chapter 11. A Tale of Two Novels
Harry Binswanger
Chapter 12. Adapting Atlas Shrugged to Film
Jeff Britting
Chapter 13. Atlas Shrugged on the Role of the Mind in Man's Existence
Gregory Salmieri
Chapter 14. Ayn Rand's Ethics: From The Fountainhead to Atlas Shrugged
Darryl Wright
Chapter 15. No Tributes to Caesar: Good or Evil in Atlas Shrugged
Tara Smith
Chapter 16. The Businessmen's Crucial Role: Material Men of the Mind
Debi Ghate
Chapter 17. The Traits of Business Heroes in Atlas Shrugged
Edwin A. Locke
Chapter 18. "Humanity's Darkest Evil": The Lethal Destructiveness of Non-Objective Law
Tara Smith
Chapter 19. The Role of Galt's Speech in Atlas Shrugged
Onkar Ghate
Chapter 20. Galt's Speech in Five Sentences (and Forty Questions)
Allan Gotthelf
Chapter 21. Discovering Atlantis: Atlas Shrugged's Demonstration of a New Moral Philosophy
Gregory Salmieri
Chapter 22. A Note on Dagny's "Final Choice"
Allan Gotthelf
Appendix A: Outline of Atlas Shrugged
Gregory Salmieri
Appendix B: Outline of Galt's Speech
Gregory Salmieri
(Softcover; 536 pages)"



Make no mistake: "Atlas Shrugged" has outlived its critics, to win an even wider audience than ever before. It is timely and timeless. In an America whose alleged thinkers are taking it down the same Marxist path followed by Venezuela and Cuba, Ayn Rand raises the proud banner of individualism:

"For centuries, the battle of morality was fought between those who claimed that your life belongs to God and those who claimed that it belongs to your neighbors--between those who preached that the good is self-sacrifice for the sake of ghosts in heaven and those who preached that the good is self-sacrifice for the sake of incompetents on earth. And no one came to say that YOUR LIFE BELONGS TO YOU AND THAT THE GOOD IS TO LIVE IT."


Note: though this book is written for both scholarly and popular audiences, you should be sure to read "Atlas Shrugged" first!

Atlas Shrugged is the most complete artistic expression of Ayn Rand's philosophy, Objectivism, which she called "a philosophy for living on earth" and described as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." This collection of essays in turn is the most complete, scholarly, and philosophical analysis of Atlas Shrugged. Every essay in the book revealed to me new insights on the means and justification of living a full, happy life. As with his earlier collections such as Essays on Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, Dr Mayhew has placed a feast in front of us.

I've loved hosting an informal study group on this text! We agree on one or two chapters and then meet once a month to discuss intriguing points from the essays. Each person brings at least one point that they want to discuss. The book offers so many insights into a novel which is always surprising me with more delightful points to learn. I highly recommend it for growth as a personal pleasure or one to share with other fans.

If you enjoyed Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and you want see how the author combined characters, action and themes together in this book which clearly reveals Ayn Rand as a moralist and lover of life on Earth, you are in for a treat between the covers of Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.
Robert Mayhew has published in one place the insights of some of the best writers on Rand's Atlas and offered them to you for at least a month's worth of enjoyable reading.
The essay by Onkar Ghate, "The Part and Chapter Headings of Atlas Shrugged" is worth the price of the entire book on its own. He shows you the connections of the characters and the novel's action, as they develop through the plot of the novel, in such rich detail that you wonder how anyone could add any more insight on the novel. But, every writer collected here does that.
You get two explorations of the hidden conspirator, Galt. You get a romantic reflection on the cheerful energy of the very deliberate Francisco. Greg Salmieri's "Discovering Atlantis" reveals the moral theme of Atlas by showing, step by step, how the events in the novel and the thinking of Dagny Taggart and Hank Rearden lead them from stages of not knowing the value of their lives and work, gradually, to complete understanding and their final choice to join Galt's conspiracy. What you see here is Ayn Rand's mind at work, understanding what the elements of the moral life are and in creating events that give the characters the chance to learn those elements. That is novel-plotting, characterization and moral thinking on a dimension that has no equal in human literature before Atlas. High praise? Well, read Atlas and Salmieri's essay and see for yourself.
The briefest piece is offered by Dr. Harry Binswanger who compares the writing style of Rand's Atlas and James Joyce's Ulysses. He says, "Clearly, one of these novels is a stylistic masterpiece, and the other is trash." The fight over which is which reveals much about the culture and souls of those who care about the matter.
Darryl Wright provides "Ayn Rand's Ethics: From The Fountainhead to Atlas Shrugged". Here we get to see Ayn Rand, the intellectual, putting herself through the merciless examination of her earlier theme "the independent mind", until she works out the basis for a full-fledged moral theory with its actual roots in reason and the nature of life. Few presentations enable you, the reader, to see an author's, a philosopher's, mind doing its inner thinking. Rand was a hero who did not let easy generalizations block her way to the truth.
My favorites in this book are the fighting essays of Dr. Tara Smith "No Tributes to Caesar: Good or Evil in Atlas Shrugged" and "'Humanity's Darkest Evil': The Lethal Destructiveness of Non-Objective Law". Here is the application of Rand's ethics to issues of danger to the civilization in which you and I live today. There is a boldness in her words that tells you she is serious about protecting the values that preserve your life in our world. And, Smith is not alone as one of the New Moralists you'll read in these pages.
Atlas Shrugged has one of the most original plots of any novel you'll find and it is the kind of adventure story that will make you re-think every idea you have ever heard or lived your life by. The writers in Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged help you see how the author grappled with those very ideas. Hours of happy mental grappling here for you, too.

I have enjoyed reading this book. The essays cover a broad range of topics surrounding the characters, the events surrounding the release, an exploration of the writing as a whole, and much on Ayn Rand's thoughts on these things.

When I was a teenager I was eager to join the real world where I would find competence, achievement and joy from all of the capable people I would find there. Little did I know it would take 30 years to find such a world in the writings and philosophy of Ayn Rand. But even after reading and absorbing the ideas in all of her novels and non-fiction over the last 13 years I discover there are even more insights to be gleaned from this 'once in a millenium' genius. Thanks to Robert Mayhew and the Objectivist scholars and intellectuals who wrote this incredible collection of essays for making Ayn Rand's sunlit universe even more intelligible, and hopefully hastening the day when such a world will be the reality we are all living in.

An engaging panegyric devoted to Ayn Rand's magnum opus, this volume is a collection of essays by Rand devotees, and thus lacks any of what Bertrand Russell would call evidence against interest. The only criticism the reader will find is in the essay on the reviews of Atlas Shrugged, which the author dispatches with ease, focusing on the silly (yet vile) National Review article by Whittaker Chambers. There are enlightening new perspectives to be found, a brief essay by Tore Boeckmann on the ancestry of Francisco D'Anconia was fascinating if speculative, and Darryl Wright's essay on the development of Rand's ethics between The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged was stimulating and fresh. However, long time fans familiar with Who is Ayn Rand?, and it's essays (by Nathaniel Branden) Moral Revolution in Atlas Shrugged and The Literary Method of Ayn Rand will find the insights there repeated, even expanded, but hardly improved on here.
Some new historical material makes its first appearance in this volume: Leonard Peikoff's unpublished letter to National Review replying to the Chambers review, and Rand's miniseries screenplay in progress. The one misfire is Harry Binswanger's embarrassing (and thankfully brief) piece comparing Atlas Shrugged to James Joyce's Ulysses, naturally to the latter's severe detriment. The attitude and approach of this kind of piece is what still consigns Ayn Rand to an intellectual ghetto.
Note: the product description, claiming that this is the "first scholarly study" is false, as noted by other reviewers. It is also typical of the hermetically sealed ingroup approach of its authorship, to flatly deny the existence of competition, with heads buried in sand. This is how these contemporary Objectivists practice the primacy of consciousness.

This is fourth, and apparently final, collection of essays on Ayn Rand's major works of fiction edited by Robert Mayhew. As with the other volumes in the Mahyew series, Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is a valuable, if not very critical, collection of essays. All the contributors are (or were -- for all I know one or two have been excommunicated since its publication) associated with Leonard Peikoff's Ayn Rand Institute. But having access to the ARI's archives is a great advantage.

As with the previous volumes, Shoshana Milgram's essays are among the best. Philosophers Greg Salmier's and Darryl Wright's pieces are excellent as well.

I also recommend Ed Younkins' collection of essays on Atlas Shrugged. These essays are more creative but often not as polished.

Robert Mayhew's book Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged approaches its subject matter with a sophistication and comprehensiveness unmatched by any previous treatment, and it in effect inaugurates the study of Ayn Rand's greatest novel as a scholarly field.

However, Professor Douglas Rasmussen, in a review below, quotes the following from the Amazon Product Description--"This is the first scholarly study of Atlas Shrugged"--and replies: "This is false." Dr. Rasmussen specifically cites Edward Younkins' collection of essays as an example of Ayn Rand scholarship. But in fact, the publishers had to recall the first printing of that book because of the editor's breaches of scholarly standards.

The inquiring reader is better off with Mayhew. I am proud to have contributed two essays to his book.