Atlas Shrugged

The title of Ayn Rand's famous novel is taken from the legend of Atlas, the primordial Titan of Greek mythology, who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. In the novel Ayn Rand asks what would have happened if Atlas shrugged?

Sometime in 2008 I began reading "1984" by George Orwell. It took me about a week to finish it. Not long after I picked up "Animal Farm" and read in two days. I suddenly found myself interested in modern classical literature that have stood the test of time. These include "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, Slaughterhouse 5" by Kurt Vonnegut, several H.P. Lovecraft short stories and many more.

Sometime before Christmas I began reading "Atlas Shrugged". "Atlas Shrugged" is the magnum opus of famed author and philosopher Ayn Rand. The novel sparked both praise and criticism when it was released, in 1957, and continues to do so. The novel is often seen as the bible of the "hardcore-capitalist" reflecting Rand's ideals of a minimal state and a free market. Rand puts her philosophy to good use in her plot set in a pseudo-collectivist United States ca. somewhere in the future after 1957.

The plot takes place in "dystopian" version of the United States in a huge recession. The financial crisis has brought America to it's knees and the government has nationalized several of the nation's leading companies. Taggart Transcontinental is one of the few railroads still running, on fumes, and oil-prices are at an all time high. Dagny is seemingly the only on in her company who realizes that the empire is crumbling and sets out to save it. We follow Dagny in her struggles against the state, sexism, her own brother, the "looters" and everyone else, seriously EVERYONE! Her only ally is Henry "Hank" Rearden owner of Rearden Steel, who is otherwise totally unlikeable, and later a mysterious "jack-of-all-trades, master of all" John Galt, who is kind of a douche.

After a number of nationalizations and ratification of new laws making it impossible for large companies to operate in the states, their executives disappear one by one. They have basically gone on strike and it doesn't take long until the country notices how important skilled business men are to keeping the economy floating.

The plot is interesting, but it is too bad doesn't really kick off until part two of the novel, in other words the first 339 pages meanders through pointless plot-points, a train ride and numerous flashbacks. Rand's language is also polarizing. It is written in poetic way and feels very staged. There is no spontaneous conversations, but carefully rehearsed scenes. As a result the characters doesn't feel real. The reader has no emotional contact with Dagny or Hank. You will often ask yourself why they are the ones you're supposed to root for. On the other side the antagonists or "looters" are even more unlikeable so you won't sympathize with them either.

And that is a problem. Rand tries with "Atlas Shrugged" to teach her philosophy to the reader, and at the same time answering to criticism, asking herself critical questions. She does this with discussions between characters, but the characters are so far left- or right-winged that there is no room for a middle ground. In Rand's America you're either a good guy or a commie.


Being the 7th longest novel written in English with it's 565,223 words on 1170 pages the novel feels like a waist of potential. Rand has a story to tell and a philosophy to preach, but it's a shame she can't deliver.