About atlas shrugged cliffsnotes study guides book. One of the most prominent is the notion that selfishness is evil and selfsacrifice is good. The 23 most expensive books sold in 2016 businessinsider. Atlas shrugged challenges many conventional notions about good and evil. Atlas shrugged is a huge sprawling dystopian novel that combines economics, science fiction, philosophy, and intrique. Atlas shrugged has sold around 7 million copies since it was published, which puts it at around half as many copies as the hitchhikers guide. It tells the story of what would happen if industrial leaders went on.
First published in 1957, atlas shrugged continues to draw media attention, including a recent episode of stossel on fox business network dedicated to the novel. There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteenyearolds life. My local used bookstore has so many copies they wont accept any more. Rands fourth and final novel, it was also her longest, and the one she considered to be her magnum opus in the realm of fiction writing. Next in line is badenpowells boy scouts book and then lord of the rings. Atlas shrugged no longer ranks among americans top ten. Atlas shrugged, a modern classic and rands most extensive statement of objectivismher groundbreaking philosophyoffers the reader the spectacle of human greatness, depicted with all the poetry and power of one of the twentieth centurys leading artists. Probably the most difficult part of reading this book is its length.
But to understand the authors sense of urgency, we must have an idea of the context in which the book was written. Ayn rands atlas shrugged places in the top 20 on the. Atlas shrugged by ayn rand 1957, hardcover for sale. Atlas shrugged has sold around 7 million copies since it was published, which puts it at around half as many copies as the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. For decades, at scores of college campuses around the country, students have formed clubs to. Is atlas shrugged the second most popular book next to the. Atlas shrugged by ayn rand audio book simply audiobooks. I believe that claim is a reference to a 1991 survey conducted by the library of congress of 2,000 book of the month readers, so take that as you will. Atlas shrugged by ayn rand the 203rd greatest fiction.
Ayn rands literature of capitalism the new york times. Institute estimates that more than 6 million copies of atlas shrugged have been sold, so it doesnt come close to. Atlas shrugged is a hugely popular book among american conservatives and libertarians who see it as a symbol of resistance to government tyranny. Ayn rands atlas shrugged places in the top 20 on the great. Atlas was a figure in greek mythology who was punished by zeus to bear the entire world on his shoulders. Rand wrote atlas shrugged in opposition to these views. Henry known as hank rearden is one of the central characters in atlas shrugged. Rands atlas shrugged was the second most popular choice, after the bible. More than 7,000,000 copies of atlas shrugged have been sold since it was first published. Latest figures list sales of atlas shrugged at well over seven million copies including a boost during the beginning of the recent great recession that started in 2007.
One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. Atlas shrugged includes elements of science fiction, mystery, and romance, and it contains rands most extensive statement of objectivism in any of her works of fiction the book depicts a dystopian united states. According to brook, atlas shrugged, her most famous novel, has sold more copies in the first four months of 2009 than it did for all of 2008 and in 2008, it sold 200,000 copies. Atlas shrugged has sold somewhere between 7 million and 8 million copies in the united states. Atlas shrugged provides those answers, and many more. Atlas shrugged is a ridiculous book whistling in the wind. All the villains the looters, in rands terminology are rotund. Atlas shrugged is one of those books that divides its readers. As a kid, i read atlas shrugged three or four times, starting in sixth or seventh grade, all while attending catholic schools in orange county, california. She explores the ramifications of her radical thinking in a world that penalizes human intelligence and integrity. Yes, almost 9 million copies of atlas shrugged have been sold. Dagny quits over the new directive and retreats to a mountain lodge. My ayn rand craze was in the late seventies when i was a professor of biblical studies at bethel college.
He owns the most important steel company in the united states, and invents rearden metal, an alloy stronger than steel with similar properties to stainless steel. The book is extremely long and does get become unnecessarily long and repetitive at points, but is still a good read nonetheless. The main difference from atlas shrugged as written many years later was that while in russia, rand idealized america as a capitalist. There is a very good reason why there are always piles of six to ten copies of atlas shrugged in every thrift store and used book store in the country. More than twice this many copies of atlas shrugged have been sold. So if you think, as the economist suggests, that sales of atlas shrugged in the united states were pushed up by the british bailout of northern rock and the u.
Rand set out to explain her personal philosophy in this book, which follows a group of pioneering industrialists who go on strike against a corrupt government and a judgmental society. The book explores a number of philosophical themes that rand would subsequently develop into the philosophy of objectivism. Since it was published in 1957, atlas shrugged has sold millions of copies and occupied a singular position in american politics, a field not generally known for its attention to novels. Rand follows the lives of societys movers and shakers firsthanders, in her words, and business men, scientists, inventors, and artists in her novel as they resist the societal pull to become. Dagny taggart, vice president in charge of operations for taggart transcontinental railroad, seeks to rebuild the crumbling track of the rio norte line that serves ellis wyatts oil fields and the booming industrial areas of colorado. Part mystery, part thriller, part philosophical inquiry, part volatile love affair, atlas shrugged is the book that confirmed ayn rand as one of the most popular novelist and. When she learns of a massive accident at the taggart tunnel, she returns to her job. Rands unique philosophy, objectivism, has gained a worldwide audience. The atlas shrugged book club begins, polarized but polite. In one survey from 16 years ago, atlas shrugged was ranked second only to the bible as the book that influenced people most. Atlas shrugged is structured in three major parts, each of which consists of ten chapters. In 1991 the book of the month club and library of congress asked readers to name the most influential book in their lives. Irvine, ca ayn rands atlas shrugged sold more than 500,000 copies in 2009, more than. The book sold 445,000 copies in 2011, the secondstrongest sales year in the novels history.
Atlas shrugged first edition ayn rand bauman rare books. Atlas shrugged by ayn rand best 100 novels top 100. The novel is written in a modern popular style and is mostly highly readable. Ayn rand atlas shrugged paperback book libertarian country. One of the most influential business books ever written is a 1,200page novel published 50 years ago, on oct.
It was with the publication of the fountainhead 1943 and atlas shrugged 1957 that she achieved her spectacular success. She receives a letter from the scientist she had hired to help rebuild the motor, and fears he will be the next target of the destroyer. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, atlas shrugged stretches the boundaries further than any book you have ever read. Atlas shrugged is the astounding story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the worldand did. This book should be required reading for everybody for a book published over half a century ago it it. In a recent library of congressbook of the month club survey, american readers ranked atlas shruggedher masterworkas second only to the bible in its influence on their lives. Atlas shrugged is an impassioned defense of the freedom of mans mind. Buy atlas shrugged book online at low prices in india. It is a long book, but i would recommend it to serious readers. After reading the fountainhead and atlas shrugged by ayn rand in 20052006, my life has been changed for the better.
Born february 2, 1905, ayn rand published her first novel, we the living, in 1936. Book summary the story of atlas shrugged takes place in the united states at an unspecified future time. The parts and chapters are named, and the titles typically suggest multiple layers of meaning and implication. By 1984 more than five million copies of atlas shrugged had been sold, and in a 1991 library of congress survey americans named it second only to the bible as the book that had most influenced their lives. Atlas shrugged by ayn rand, first edition abebooks. This is surprisingly because it is a horrendous book containing cardboard characters, over necessarily long speeches, absurd plot lines and at least 500 pages more than it needs. Atlas shrugged by ayn rand meet your next favorite book. The first and most important we learn from atlas shrugged is that you can tell good and bad people apart at a glance. Atlas shrugged no longer ranks among americans top ten favorite books. This being the case, turning to atlas shrugged because you dont like the way things are going is the equivalent of diving for the centre of the fire because the frying pan got too hot.
Ayn rands analogy specifically referenced in the books are that the industrialists and geniuses of the world essentially carry the entire. In atlas shrugged, she shows that without the independent mind, our society would collapse into primitive savagery. Atlas shrugged and the fountainhead were number 1 and 2 respectively on the modern. Published in 1957, atlas shrugged was ayn rands last and most ambitious novel. Rands books continue to be widely sold and read, with over 29 million copies sold as of 20 with about 10% of that total purchased for free distribution to schools by the ayn rand institute. As a student of american capitalism, rand believed that unfettered economic freedom was the factor most responsible for the major achievements of american inventors and businessmen during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Atlas shrugged has sold around 7 million copies since it was published, which puts it at around half as. Is atlas shrugged the second most popular book next to the bible. The story is set many decades in the past and focuses on a rail executive who finds herself in a world where business leaders are disappearing. Atlas shrugged is the second most influential book for americans today after the bible, according to a joint survey conducted by the library of congress and the book of the month club. In 2009, the first year of the tea party, it sold around 500,000 copies.
So why is ayn rand and her most famous work, atlas shrugged, so. A book of two mysteries, with the stories closely related, readers follow the journey of a steel magnate and railroad executive, as they attempt to solve both the mysteries in the collapse of an increasingly collectivist and irrational world. How many americans have read the mostbeloved novel in. The fundamentals of her philosophy are put forth in three nonfiction books, introduction to. This revised edition of atlas shrugged was published on 1 september 1996 and is available in paperback. I read most of what she wrote both fiction and nonfiction. Published in 1957, atlas shrugged was ayn rands greatest achievement. Atlas shrugged is absurd but strangely compelling books. He lives in philadelphia with his wife lillian, his brother philip, and his elderly mother. I am reading the entire book to compare the movie to the book.