Atlas Shrugged
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| Atlas Shrugged | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ayn Rand |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Philosophical novel, science fiction |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Release date | October 10, 1957 |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 1368 (depending on edition) |
| ISBN |
ISBN 0-394-41576-0 (hardback edition) ISBN 0-452-01187-8 (paperback edition) |
| OCLC Number | 412355486 |
Atlas Shrugged is a book by the Russian-American philosopher Ayn Rand. It was first published in 1957 in the United States. It was Rand's lengthiest and final fiction book she wrote began writing non-fiction. She considered it to be a magnum opus of fictional writing.
[change] Plot
The story's main protagonist is Dagny Taggart, a young woman who actually (although not in name) runs the country's transcontinental railroad. The story takes place in a time when trains were the main means of interstate commerce and travel.
Dagny becomes alarmed to find that the country's great minds are disappearing. The men who are the giants of industry and science are abandoning their fields and physically vanishing. She sets out to find out who "the Destroyer" is, the man she believes is seducing them away from their work. She begins searching for him.
During her search, the state of the country and of the world declines greatly. Without the men of genius, industries grind to a halt. The economy falters and recedes.
Finally Dagny finds the man who she had termed the Destroyer. In reality he is a man of high integrity and principle. He lured the industrialists and scientists away from their work by convincing them that working for a world which despises them, and which takes their efforts without adequate compensation, is not only counter-productive but immoral as well. He has formed a secret community with them, in a hidden valley.
In the end, Dagny is won over to this view. She joins this man (his name is John Galt) both philosophically and romantically. Their goal is to bring down society as it exists, so that a new society can be reborn which truly respects genius, hard work, and integrity. Signs are seen at the end of the novel that people are slowly realizing, as the old world crumbles around them, the virtue of living a life of responsibility and respect for the ideas and hard work of others.
[change] Other websites
- Website dedicated to Ayn Rand's novels
- Timeline of major events in the novel
- Cast of characters in the novel
- Excerpt from Atlas Shrugged at the ARI
