Hi Folks,
It?s been a long time back I read this book. Today I got time so here I am with my review on Atlas Shrugged.
Ayn’s philosophy is called Objectivism and it may not be so true for everyone and actually it can’t be applied to all parts of life too.
I consider her as one of the best writers that I have read till date as I had read two of her famous books Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead.
Her style of writing is simply superb. The way she captures the small think from a big picture and relates everything to it is simply awesome. Actually this book has helped me a lot in changing my perception of things around us.
Coming to Atlas Shrugged as most of the people as I see till date 32 have written about the storyline I wont be going in great details as far as the storyline is concerned.
This is as I had said is a perfect peace of writing. Two main parts of the book are objectivism and romanticism.
Each and every character is presented as its like a leaving book for me its not just a book but when you read it you can feel that.
Dagny Tagart- She is my hero of the whole story. She is the lead protagonist of the whole story.
Francisco D’Anconiao is a big business man who has a different way of doing things then our male protagonist.
John Galt- He is the lead of the story and he is the one of is against the whole illogical world and he is the one is leading the battle against the whole world.
He is the one who is destroying the whole illogical world and Dagny Tagart is the one who is accompanying him in her own way.
Not to forget Hank Rearden a Genius in his own a great businessman.
All the characters are created and linked to each other in such a manner that you never feel that you are reading any other common fiction.
The whole funda behind this great masterpiece is Objectivism. It?s like having a purpose in this life. It?s like having something to live for it?s like having a mission on earth.
In the pursuit of this mission we my see the ill ones the politically correct ones and the so called humanitarians who make people idle and who create the poor and in turn rich become rich and poor become more poor.
I think that the book is a must read for all those people who think that there is some purpose to be achieved in this life.
According to me the best part I enjoy in the books of AYN is her characterization. Which is so strong that after reading many so called classics and best sellers I feel they are just a piece of crack. I wont name of the books that I started having read some great reviews and ended up disappointed like The Alchemist, To kill a mocking bird.
The two books I stated above definitely are good ones but incomparable to this masterpiece.
Another best of part Atlas shrugged is like when u see a character like Dagny Tagart your respect for the women increases. When you see people like Dagny Tagart (Atlas shrugged) or Dominique Francon (Fountainhead) you have a different perspective then the world around us. You can immediately check out the commonality of the things around us and you try to seek the Howard Roark (Fountainhead) or John Galt (Atlas Shrugged) within you.
Again coming back to the book I find the romance between John Galt and Dagny Tagart one of the best I have ever read after the one that is in Fountainhead. It?s not a usual romance or any other story of meetings and having sex. The reason why they are in love is the pinnacle of whole objectivism. After reading characters like Dagny or Dominique you certainly start looking for people like them.
You can feel the whole world around you and you can easily analyze the kind of people you are living with and most importantly you understand the person called ’You’.
I have written very less about the book in the whole review which I feel lack of words when writing about book like this. One thing that I feel is the bad part of the book is its length. Most of the people feel that the John Galt speaking part of the book is the best part of the whole book. But according to me it?s not the best part of the book. A whatever he states is indirectly stated in each words of the whole book.
According to me the best parts are the conversations between Dagny & Hank. Dagny & John and John And Francisco.
As I have stated about objectivism you might feel that it will be all about logic and reason.
But the conversations are so superb that you don?t feel the need of reasons or logic behind the acts of the lead characters. You certainly fall in love with the characters.
If you haven’t read this book or Fountainhead then I would suggest you to go with Fountainhead, which is just too fabulous and according to me is simply errorless and fiction at its best.
Kudos to Ayn for such a fabulous piece of work. Hi to Dagny, John Galt & Hank living within us.
Books like this are the reason why I am so much addicted to reading books like this and which has changed lives of many people in this world.
One thing that comes to mind and analyzing the whole objectivism theory is in today’s Competitive world one cant live on standards depicted in this book. I would definitely agree with this, as this theory can’t be applied to all parts of life, as you are part of a family, which you can’t just deprive on the basis of logic. There is also a thing called emotion.
But you can definitely apply this theory to your work life and it can enrich your journey to your destination.
Still after 1 year of finishing this book I feel the change in me and I now see the people with a different perspective.
Regards
Kunal Shah