Atlas Shrugged: A Review

April 15, 2011 marks the day Part 1 of the movie "Atlas Shrugged" enters theatres . This leads to some questions, like "who is John Gault?" and "What makes this movie so important?" This reviewer had never read the book "Atlas Shrugged" so I immediately acquired a copy to determine what the fuss was about and to find out why we should watch this upcoming 2-part film.

"Atlas Shrugged" was written by Ayn Rand after receiving numerous questions about her ideology in "The Fountainhead." It is a fiction novel of some length (over 1,000 pages) written to help clarify her beliefs and answer questions.

This book has been credited with changing lives among those who have managed to wade through its numerous pages; its links to the philosophy of Objectivism are very well known.

I found the text to be awkward at times and found myself wondering why Ayn Rand was considered to be such a great writer. Some paragraphs were over a page long, making the words blend into each other and the dialog was written in such a way that I had trouble determining who was speaking to whom on multiple occasions.

Near the end of the book Ayn places an incredibly long speech which reiterates what she had been saying throughout the whole book; it was considered to be overkill so I ended up speed reading the text thinking "sheesh, what a windbag!"

Even with these faults I found myself engrossed. The story is similar to one we find ourselves living in today: workers signing up for Social Security and welfare because they can't find jobs that pay "enough;" taxes placed on those who work to support food stamps, welfare and other social benefit programs--the accomplishments of the achievers being taken away and given to those who haven't done anything to deserve it.

One sentence in particular spoke loudly in the light of the incredible numbers on unemployment: "There's no such thing as a lousy job--only lousy men who don't care to do it." This was spoken by the character of oil tycoon Ellis Wyatt sometime after he had been pushed beyond his limits, left his oil fields burning and walked away. I am reminded of the people I know who refuse to look at certain jobs because their "unemployment pays more" than the wages they would earn actually working, or the ones who refuse to look for work they could do because they may lose their social security or public housing allotment.

In light of current unemployment numbers I would not be surprised if this movie were being supported by our overburdened government in an attempt to get people off their butts and start working!

The world painted on these pages is dark and sad. Those who actually succeed in the world, who are actually in power are those who are considered neediest. They reminded me of applying for food stamps in years gone past, where you have to show how pitiful and poor you are in order to qualify for financial support.

I was reminded of friends who spend their days sitting in government offices and charity houses, getting checks, food stamps, utility assistance, rent assistance--who can rattle off their need like a laundry list of ailments.

I was reminded of the times I have been scolded for not spending my days doing the same.

While it is my hope that they sincerely condense Ayn Rand's creation to make it more digestible, I recommend this work to anyone who wants to open their eyes to the world around them. Despite the sex in the book (which is much tamer than public television actually) I feel that this book should be recommended reading to every high school student in the nation with in-depth discussions on the material within. Perhaps it would help to counter the attitude of entitlement that I see so rampant in modern society.

This book was windy and at times hard to read, but it has given me much to think about. It is a gripping story that is so similar to our nation today that I feel everyone needs exposure to this tale. Hopefully the creators of the upcoming movie have managed to paint with the same vivid strokes as the original, for this is a story all should be exposed to; if you don't want to read the book definitely go watch the movie. It will change your life.