It only takes a few dozen pages of this 1168 page novel to instantly make comparisons between the socialism run amok dystopian world depicted by Ayn Rand in 1957 and the socialism run amok present world in which we all live today. In Rand’s world producers and visionaries are looted by those who do not understand why they who produce nothing shouldn’t share the wealth. This space is so compatible with our own that at times I would read a passage of conversation and the words and arguments would have mirrored exactly those I had hours before in my own life or had heard discussed by talking heads on television that day.

To say Atlas Shrugged is an amazing work of fiction is to say The Matrix is a movie that is built around dialogue. I will readily admit that the first third of the book was absolutely captivating as a story and the characters of Henry Rearden and Dagny Taggert become living, breathing, individuals whose stories keep you turning pages wondering where their lives will take them.

The same can not be said, in my all too humble opinion, of the second third. I found it long, tedious and lacking the same depth of character that the first third produced. It is in this part that you uncover what Rand is trying to say, that this is a work of her philosophy of Objectivism and there is more going on in this book than just a story.

The problem? Any thoughtful reader knows this and any reader less than thoughtful most likely will not suffer through well over a thousand pages to try and figure it out. I often found myself saying aloud “get to the point” or “we get it already move on” throughout this second half. I would skim more often than not and also turned to the audiobook version, set at 2X speed, in order to blow through without losing any of the small nuggets of story or character development Rand left in.

(((SPOILER ALERT FROM HERE ON IF YOU WANT TO READ THE BOOK)))

I mention the Matrix because this is what the second part seemed to be when it came to that movies dialogue. It moved the philosophy forward, clued you in to the notion that someone was producing an idea larger than the characters or the fight scenes, after awhile the dialogue is less than stellar. “We get it,” is the idea “now get onto the fight scenes” or in Shrugged’s case, let us figure out what will actually happen once John Galt is revealed to society. We know he has a philosophy, let’s see how changes the world.

The final third picks back up as the story shows the downfall of Jim Taggert, the rise of John Galt and tuff choices for Dagny. The problem is, once again, the philosophy is somewhat better than the story. The ending is unsatisfying and getting there is often a drag. The problem is that John Galt’s speech is one of the most important passages of the book. I would argue Henry Rearden’s speech on money is the other and in some ways more powerful. To get to Galt’s speech though, you have to get toward the end.

If a reader simply wanted to find out what Objectivism is these two speeches with a few scenes from the book, including Rearden’s dinners with his family, Dagny’s construction of the John Galt Line and Jim Taggert’s failed marriage would provide a wealth of understanding. To be blunt, many of the other pages between are unnecessary to such an endeavor and don’t provide too much in the way of interesting drama either.

As a novel Shrugged is interesting and worth the read, though not the kind of book I would ever find myself picking up year after year or even decade after decade to rekindle my love of the story. As a work of intellectual thought the book is absolutely astounding and prescient in its depiction of a world where the pursuit of altruism at the cost of self is central. Unlike other dystopian worlds depicted in books like 1984, Rand creates a near future that can very easily be adapted to our present without the need for technology or distant monstrous forces.

The monsters are human and dark not out of their vengeance but a warped perception of what is good. Their work is the ultimate example of the old phrase, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” and conservatives are today surrounded by these do-gooders who inflict harm each and every day and plummet our economy and the desire of the masses to labor. In this, technology is a tool of salvation but the human machinery, lacking in the spark of industriousness, allows for its decay.

One addition to my own experience reading is the very real parallels to great minds sprinkled throughout this work. Specifically I found myself conversing with my friend at Randomly Candice about a conclusion we reached separately while reading in parallel. On many pages as Rand discusses Galt’s engine, we found ourselves thinking entirely of Nikola Tesla’s life story. In fact these thoughts instantly cemented that the book, Electric Universe: The Shocking True Story of Electricity. It was also interesting as it came after my read of, The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America, which chronicled the 1983 Chicago World’s Fair where Tesla’s alternating current system introduced many to electric power and helped begin the electric revolution.

This leads me to the finale and the under-arching story that is weaved throughout the entire book. In Rand’s world, those who are looted are tired. As the notions of “from each according to their ability to each according to their needs” takes hold and as the laborers let go of innovative fire and a lust to achieve, those who hold up society go on strike. They see that playing within the system and giving power to those whose needs are great but ability is miniscule, is a zero sum game. They let go of their bonds and as they do, the machinery of society breaks down.

All I will say to that is, what a wonderful and yet apocalyptic dream. As our own world seems heading for rampant decay at the hands of looters, it is hard not to wonder if there is a hidden island or valley or mountaintop where the best of our nation have gone to escape the looting. With jobs gone, economic turmoil, the destruction of our auto industry, near collapse of the airlines just a few short years ago, stimulus and bailouts with every increasing taxation and limitation to come, are the great minds of our generation heading for strike or can we who believe in the objectivism Rand preaches in this book rise up and fight this trend?

Only time will tell for us but if Atlas Shrugged is a roadmap or simply an “I told you so” may be seen sooner rather than later in America.

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