Atlas Shrugged

I understand that some people are intimidated by fat books. I love fat books. I sometimes look for books that have more than 500 pages. I am currently rereading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I absolutely love this book. My copy has 1084 pages. The pages are very thin and are filled with tiny print. I bought this book for $3.00 at a garage sale or used book sale or someplace like that. The pages are yellowed and have that moldering older book smell.
Atlas Shrugged is a highly philosophical book full of long speeches on right and wrong and an individuals responsibility to others or to themselves. The phrase summing up the ideas in the novel is "Who is John Galt?" The story line revolves around industry: building railroads, producing metals, building things and a lot of things that I have no knowledge of. However, I love the ideas that the book is built around and the way the characters react to different things. The heroes of the book are strong characters with very decisive opinions. They are described in almost harsh language. The villains are some of the weakest characters I have ever come across. They have no opinions, they don't want to cause harm to anyone or anything, they don't take stands on anything, everything is relative. These weak characters are able to wear down and systematically destroy the heroes. It is one of the few books I have read that doesn't try to match the hero and villain with almost equal strengths.
Atlas Shrugged was written in 1957. The frightening part of this book is seeing how close our society is to some parts of this story. Although I don't agree with all of the principles in this book, much of it is quite valid. Ayn Rand is unlike any other author I have read. Her writing style and stories are challenging and thought provoking. I recommend this book or any others that she has written to anyone. If you don't think you can make it through the long version, find an abridged one. I think it is well worth your time.