Jim

I did not like the narrator at all at first, but i got used to it, she did well, It must be hard for a female to impersonate 25 different burly Russian men without sounding silly. By the end though, i felt like (especially during the narration parts) in was Rand herself reading it to me.

I had read the other three Ayn Rand book prior to this, and it helped make sense out of the other three a little more. You can totally see the roots for Fountainhead, Anthem, and Atlas in this book. I agree with the other commenter who stated that of the three main characters, only the Filthy Commie had my respect by the end. The other two really pissed me off in the third part of the book. Lastly, i suddenly now have a great interest in the plight of the everyday Russain during/after the revolution. It was fascinating learning the details about how they were forced to live, and Rand does a great job of illustrating a backwardness/hypocrisy of communism without explicitly saying it like in other works of hers.

I'll say what everyone else says first: it's too darned long! Get on with the bloody story Ayn!! I listened to this in my car (1 hour each way to work) and a few times there were literally days where "nothing" happens. Very frustrating.

Next, what not-everyone says: This book changed my life, i wont get into the philosophy and politics of it, but it sure helped set in concrete and organize the views i have had for a long time. If you read it with an open mind (meaning you cant be a total commie/leftist/socialist), you will surely get something out of it. ITS WORTH IT!

This book was great, I've listened to it a few times. At times it seems as though Mitnick is trying to still make a case for himself like he's worried the feds are going to come after him again, but it was still excellent. He gets a little too techie for me, regurgitating every god forsaken phone number or code he ever punched in, while repeatedly bragging about his penchant for remembering numbers, (we get it already!!!). I still give 5 stars though, and security IT types out there would do well to read a page (all of the actually) from Mitnick's manual.