Atlas Shrugged
101. Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
In Rand’s dystopian vision of mid-twentieth-century America, the government has begun taking over the economy of the United States. In the name of altruism and the public welfare, political officials have decided to take the profits earned by rich industrialists and distribute them throughout the country according to need. Most of the country accepts the government’s actions, believing that to work for profit is immoral. However, a few individuals vehemently reject this premise, and they continue to work hard and amass profits. But eventually they begin to realize that their hard work is only benefiting the people who wish to take away their property - and then one man inspires them to go on strike against the world that rejects them.
Ayn Rand is somewhat notorious for her unique political views, which certainly play a big part in this book! The novel is “preachy” and unapologetically so; for Rand, fiction is the natural outlet for moral and political principles. Because of this, it’s hard for me to separate the artistic merits of the novel from its didactic merits - assuming that they ought to be separated at all, that is! I did find the plot of this book very interesting, and there are several mysteries whose outcomes I really wanted to know. The book certainly is long, though, and I think Rand could have gotten her message across a lot more concisely - the 60-page monologue of one character near the end of the book is a case in point. Many of the characters didn’t ring true to me, and they tended to be split too obviously into the good guys and the bad guys. As for the ideological content of the book, I will only say that I think Rand was quite right about some things and horribly wrong about others. I did appreciate a book that made me think about my own principles, though, and I’m not sorry I read it. If you’re willing to engage with the philosophical material, I’d recommend this book, but I can see how it would be frustrating to many readers!