Let me just say that while I knew what I was getting into
regarding the length of this book, I had
very little clue as to what the book was actually about. I knew about the
“immortal query” of “Who is John Galt?” and that someone had said he would
“stop the motor of the world”—but to be completely honest, I kind of thought
that this was going to be some sort of weird science fiction novel where
someone actually stopped the world from spinning and everyone floated off into space. Or something
like that.
Happily, I was wrong.
Atlas Shrugged
follows Dagny Taggart, the Operating Vice President of Taggart
Transcontinental. She is intelligent, businesslike and absolutely ruthless when
it comes to her railroad, which was founded by her grandfather, Nat Taggart.
Her brother, Jim Taggart, is the president of the railroad—but, unlike Dagny,
he is unwilling to take any responsibility for the necessary but difficult
decisions regarding keeping the railroad afloat in difficult economic times.
Dagny, therefore, runs the railroad behind the scenes while Jim schmoozes with
his “friends in Washington.”
Often, Dagny’s personal policies—like preferring to buy
steel from Hank Rearden rather than Orren Boyle, who has continually delayed
delivery of steel rails—conflict with Jim’s ideals; Jim, who has always done business with Orren Boyle, refuses to order
from Rearden (even though Dagny orders from him anyway). Here, we find one of
the first major themes of Atlas Shrugged: fear of the new and unknown. Because Rearden is a new steel
manufacturer, and in fact something of an overnight success, many of the
established industrialists refuse to buy from him, even when it becomes clear
he is the best manufacturer.
Soon, Rearden creates a new alloy, called Rearden Metal,
that is lighter, stronger, and cheaper to make than steel. However, when he
chooses to keep its blueprints a secret, he not only sparks jealousy and
outrage among his competitors, but also prompts those competitors to spread
unfounded rumors about the unreliability of Rearden Metal—rumors which are
backed by the increasingly collectivist government. Dagny, who does not know
Hank Rearden personally but is aware of and trusts his morality and integrity
as an industrialist, is the only one who is willing to purchase Rearden Metal,
and does so to construct new rails. Meanwhile, Dagny also struggles with
personal despair: her only childhood friend and first lover, Francisco
d’Antonia, heir to the d’Antonia copper mines, has become quite the worthless
playboy and seems bent on destroying his own company.
As the novel progresses, the best industrialists go out of
business and disappear, one by one, until only Dagny and Rearden remain. With
the world’s economy crumbling, Dagny becomes increasingly desperate until she
stumbles upon the life-changing secret of the vanished industrialists—and her
world will never be the same.
Okay, sorry for the long summary, but the book is over 1,000 pages long, after all. No way to just
summarize it in a paragraph without copying the blurb on the back of the
book—which, clearly, did not give me a very good idea of what the book was
actually about. You guys are probably smarter, but still.
Anyway, this book was wonderful. Hard to get through at times, and I will admit that
there is an approximately 50-page-long speech towards the very end that I
skimmed (because really, he was basically saying the same thing over and over)
but for the most part it is entirely worth it. It is beautifully written,
perfectly capturing Ayn Rand’s deliberate style—you’re never really left
guessing about whose side she’s on. If you’re not in at least partial agreement
with her, you’ll probably feel as though she’s hitting you over the head
sometimes, but that’s okay because it’s enjoyable (at least, I thought it was).
But then again, I agree with a lot of what she was saying. I
don’t necessarily have such a grim view of the future of our country, but I do
think welfare efforts can go overboard sometimes. Don’t get me wrong; I work in
the non-profit industry. I whole-heartedly believe in doing what we can for
those who are less fortunate than we are. But I also believe that many of the
efforts this country makes can be misguided, and there are many who take
advantage of the system. And I was also taught growing up that you earn what
you deserve. If you work hard at school/work/sports/whatever, you will
generally earn good grades/a good salary/a good score/whatever. If you don’t
put in the effort, you don’t earn the rewards. That was the biggest thing that
drew me into Atlas Shrugged: all these
wonderful, intelligent, talented people were being totally taken advantage of
and in fact being punished for
their success, and that was heartbreaking. I knew it was fiction but at the
same time it seemed so plausible that I couldn’t help but be outraged for them.
Still, there were a few things I didn’t agree with. Like I
alluded to earlier, I don’t believe as strongly as Rand apparently did that we
shouldn’t provide any welfare services.
I just think that we go a little overboard—not nearly as much as they did in Atlas
Shrugged, though. I also didn’t agree with
the demonstrable lack of belief in a higher being. I’m certainly not the most
religious person, but I do believe in God, and Catholicism has been a pretty
important part of my life. But religion is not for everyone, and I understand
that it didn’t have a place in Rand’s philosophy. It’s just a part of her
philosophy I don’t personally agree with.
Seriously, though, it was a terrific book, and you should
read it. It’ll take a while, but it’s so worth it. I promise.
5 stars
This review was originally posted on my personal blog.
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