Atlas Shrugged

By: Ayn Rand

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 62 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Peopled by larger-than-life heroes and villains, charged with towering questions of good and evil, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand’s magnum opus: a philosophical revolution told in the form of an action thriller—nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

Atlas Shrugged is the "second most influential book for Americans today" after the Bible, according to a joint survey of five thousand people conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club in 1991.

In a scrap heap within an abandoned factory, the greatest invention in history lies dormant and unused. By what fatal error of judgment has its value gone unrecognized, its brilliant inventor punished rather than rewarded for his efforts?

This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world—and did. In defense of those greatest of human qualities that have made civilization possible, he sets out to show what would happen to the world if all the heroes of innovation and industry went on strike. Is he a destroyer or a liberator? Why does he have to fight his battle not against his enemies but against those who need him most? Why does he fight his hardest battle against the woman he loves? The answers will be revealed once you discover the reason behind the baffling events that wreak havoc on the lives of the amazing men and women in this remarkable book.

Tremendous in scope and breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand's magnum opus, which launched an ideology and a movement. With the publication of this work in 1957, Rand gained an instant following and became a phenomenon. Atlas Shrugged emerged as a premier moral apologia for capitalism, a defense that had an electrifying effect on millions of readers (and now listeners) who had never heard capitalism defended in other than technical terms.

©1985 Eugene Winick, Paul Gitlin and Leonard Peikoff (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Amazing Book!

Eerily relevant to todays current political situation 65 years after being published. A cautionary story about government control vs the greatness of man’s ability to think, to choose, produce, through innovation and entrepreneurship. Strong characters with an intriguing storyline and message kept me riveted to the end!

Required reading

Anyone 25 and over should read this book. As applicants today as it was 65 years ago.

A is A

So many parallels to the world we currently live in. Let’s hope we wake up before the lights go out

A Magnum Opus

What an unparalled work of art, the speaks to the quintessential core of man's soul. A equals A and let the flame of Wyatt's touch forever burn.

Objectivism personified

This was my second read, first was a paper copy. It has been a decade, I thought I might pickup some new insights.

Atlas Shrugged is a life changing book for anyone that believes that they are the master of their future and happiness. If you have questions about why we are on this earth, read this book. If you don’t have a clear idea about your purpose, re-read it.

“This book really does contain everything”

The Angels of the disciplined main characters of this colossal world are painted with immaculate precision in order to guide us towards the extreme ideals of strict capitalism and selfishness .

I recommend listening to the audiobook at the point when you already read the physical paperback .

This book is highly influential as it shows an example and anti-example too.

9.3/10

Most important novel of past 100 years

Great book, prophetic glimpse into exactly what the world would become as we are living it today.

Wow just wow

It’s was a fantastic book. Very scary the similar events of what’s happening in the book unfolding in todays events

Returned for the Christopher Hurt narration

I read this 3 inch+ thick paperback book in the early 1990's, as fiction, and I enjoyed it. Reading it in 2023, it is amazing to see how prescient Rand was! Kinda scarily so!

I did ask for a refund for this version after listening for almost half of the book. I just couldn't take Scott Brick's narration any more! All the voices sound like they are on Prozac! They are all breathy, forlorn and hopeless-sounding. These supposed strong men and women industrialists sound like clueless wusses.

I couldn't take it any more, so I checked to see if there was another version.

I got the Christopher Hurt version. His voices are somewhat different from each other, so it is better. I just finished Herman Wouk's two books on WWII with Kevin Pariseau as the narrator, so I am totally spoiled with his way of narrating (each character sounds very different!)

Will give my review of the actual book on the Hurt version.

Concepts to be remembered forever

If we ever forget that each person must put forth their best efforts towards enlightened self interest, we will be doomed to repeat the failed concepts of communism and dictatorships.