100 Books - ATLAS SHRUGGED

One Hundred Books. This is a short list of 100 books I have read, listed here in no particular order.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

I had to start this one several times before finding a thread of intrigue that kept me reading. But once I found the golden thread, it hooked me and kept me going, anticipating each new twist and turn.

The Novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand is a well-known and cultishly popular book among many more politically conservative minds. The book is large in scope as well as length. Focusing on the trials and tribulations of business tycoons, political leaders, and the nature of how the world works and who is in control? Who moves the world? Who is John Galt? And why is he saying all these things?

All things in the world of this novel lead to the pivotal moment where the mysterious figure of John Galt finally speaks and reveals his reasoning and philosophy. The anticipation slowly builds throughout the story, and the payoff is big. It has to be, after wading through more than 1000 pages, John Galt's famous speech is finally revealed.

Excerpt: "Ladies and Gentlemen," said a voice that came from the radio receiver -- a man's clear, calm, implacable voice, the kind of voice that had not been heard on the airwaves for years -- "Mr. Thompson will not speak to you tonight. His time is up. I have taken it over. You were to hear a report on the world crises. That is what you are going to hear."

This moment followed by gasps detailed the shocking moment in the book that we, the reader, have been waiting for. The speech continues on:

Excerpt: "For twelve years, you have been asking: Who is John Galt? This is John Galt speaking. I am the man who loves his life. I am the man who does not sacrifice his love or his values. I am the man who has deprived you of victims and thus has destroyed your world, and if you wish to know why you are perishing -- you who dread knowledge -- I am the man who will now tell you."

Excerpt: "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."

Excerpt: "Man's life as required by his nature is not the life of a mindless brute, of a looting thug or a mooching mystic, but the life of a thinking being -- not life by means of force or fraud, but life by means of achievement -- not survival at any price, since there's only one price that pays for man's survival: reason."

The character, central to the story and at the heart of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism, goes on and on for several pages in this, the ultimate point of the book. Here, Rand brings together her thoughts about life, business, social consciousness, greed, idealism, morality, religion, science, virtue, and deception. It's all here. She pours it all into this one grand speech by this one character. It is quite amazing and fulfilling after the long wait and built-up anticipation. I'll leave it here with one last quote from the famous speech of John Galt. Not his final words, but one of the major points in this revelation of Galt's and, by proxy Rand's central theme:

Excerpt: "To live, man must hold three things as the supreme and ruling values of his life: Reason --  Purpose -- Self Esteem."

Ayn Rand / John Galt continues for several more pages expanding on this theme with great detail and depth. No wonder this book has an intense following of supporters and detractors. It is a long slog of a read, but in the end, it is both entertaining and important in the ideas and the revelation of Ayn Rand's philosophy. I enjoyed it and felt exploring this classic novel was worth my time.

I'm not writing to pass judgment on Ayn Rand or her philosophy. That is not my job nor my intention in reviewing this book. Some people are puzzled by the almost fanatical group of followers of Ayn Rand. Still, they come from various thinkers, believers, and, more importantly, the curious, who want to look deeper and think more deeply about these things. Your mileage may vary.