|
Quote of the Moment:
|
Peace is not the absence of war, but a virtue based on strength of character.
— Spinoza |
|
|
XML / RSS Feeds: |
 
|
|
|
Book Review: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Posted on Sunday 16 December @ 10:34:11
|
Every week HGLEE.COM will make a book recommendation. Each book will have a brief review and a quick link to Amazon, should you decide to pick up a copy for yourself. This week's selection: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
This is Rand's magnum opus, and it is, quite simply, the greatest novel ever written. Its scope and grandiloquence are utterly breathtaking.
The story details a man of singular genius who said that he would stop the motor of the world...and did. As the world of modern man becomes mired in altruistic bromides, the men of ability become more and more burdened with the selfless sustenance of other men—and with the neglect of their own happiness.
What would happen if the men of the mind chose not to participate in their own destruction? What would happen if those of ability and competence were to remove their sanction from the moral code that drives looters and freeloaders?
Atlas Shrugged details the outcome of just those scenarios. It shows the reader—in unmistakable elegance and typical Randian eloquence—how the world would collapse if the victims who run it suddenly removed their sanction.
If you are new to Ayn Rand, you may want to read Fountainhead first. It offers a similarly driven protagonist, but its scope is much more digestable as an introduction. In this work, Rand's masterpiece, the reader will make a real investment in time (as the book is close to 1200 pages), but the investment just may change your life (as it has for countless others since its publication in 1957).
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is the only work that I have recommended as a "must-read" piece of fiction. Despite its size, I set aside some time every two years or so to re-read this milestone in human thought. Do yourself the same favor...you'll never be able to thank the person who referred you enough!
Purchase:
See all HGLEE.COM reviews.
|
|
|
