In a scrap heap within an abandoned factory, the greatest invention in history lies dormant and unused. By what fatal error of judgment has its value gone unrecognized, its brilliant inventor punished rather than rewarded for his efforts?

In defense of those greatest of human qualities that have made civilization possible, one man sets out to show what would happen to the world if all the heroes of innovation and industry went on strike. Is he a destroyer or a liberator? And why does he fight his hardest battle not against his enemies but against the woman he loves?

Tremendous in scope and breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand's magnum opus, an electrifying moral defense of capitalism and free enterprise which launched an ideological movement and gained millions of loyal fans around the world.

Listening Length

62 hours and 56 minutes
Author

Ayn Rand
Narrator

Scott Brick
Audible release date

2 December 2008
Language

English
Publisher

Blackstone Audio, Inc.
ASIN

B00NW7LQEM
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	62 hours and 56 minutes
Author	Ayn Rand
Narrator	Scott Brick
Audible.com.au Release Date	02 December 2008
Publisher	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B00NW7LQEM
Best Sellers Rank	986 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 4 in Political Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) 15 in Political Fiction (Books) 30 in Classic Literature

Customer reviews

5 star		74%
4 star		13%
3 star		6%
2 star		3%
1 star		5%

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Top reviews from Australia

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Sandra Jae Bidewell

Sex, money and socialism gone wrong

Reviewed in Australia on 10 December 2014

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Far too long. Other than that, an insightful take on the myopia of socialist policy. However much of the book was rather like a cheap romance paperback, describing a woman's sexual fantasy of having three dashing, doting lovers, all of whom continue to adore and treasure her in their hearts despite their knowledge she has moved on to a new lover. These men remain single, refraining from sexual encounters with lesser women, while she consecutively choses who she'd most like to romp with.

3 people found this helpful

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Rachel Byrne

Excellent book.

Reviewed in Australia on 15 May 2022

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Great book, small print but of course there is so much packed in this wonderful story. Highly recommend.

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Michael Chadwick

Now more than ever Rand dispenses a much needed tonic for an increasingly facile world desperate for leaders.

Reviewed in Australia on 29 July 2014

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Ayn Rand may give a pretence that hard decisions should be taken without empathy, but don't pretend our world can be fixed without hard decisions either.

'Atlas' is an epic struggle between Rand's art deco era heroes and heroines who would move heaven and earth in the pursuit of progress, without pausing to take credit for producing the life-giving off-shoots humanity enjoys as a result. Rand captures the Objectivist's struggle against the men and women making up the sclerotic bureaucracy and smotheringly conformist society who would weigh them down, like boat anchors around their necks, and yet impede them not as they forge a new world. Compelling.

2 people found this helpful

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Jeff

Hard work but worth it he effort

Reviewed in Australia on 6 March 2020

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Somewhat of a rant and hard going on places but the message is apt for today’s obsession with the public good.

2 people found this helpful

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Classic

Loquacious

Reviewed in Australia on 18 April 2021

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This could have been written in about a quarter of the length. It is very indulgent in its loquaciousness. ;-)

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Jim Lewis

The book portrays the decline of Capitalism

Reviewed in Australia on 5 September 2020

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A novel that certainly keeps you within its grips.

One person found this helpful

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Simone

Read it ages ago and still gripping even if the ...

Reviewed in Australia on 9 November 2017

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Read it ages ago and still gripping even if the ideology isn’t as appealing as it may have been as a callow teenager.

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PICarl

Excellent. Written in 1957 but shows so much about ...

Reviewed in Australia on 27 April 2015

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Excellent. Written in 1957 but shows so much about what's happening now. The current crop of useless politicians and academics could be plugged straight into the story.

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Mr. Michael Gover

easy to read, but why bother?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 June 2020

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As a novel it fails completely. The characters are cardboard and the plot so heavily signposted you could probably skip nine pages out of ten and miss nothing. It has the virtue of being written in simple language with short sentences so it is an easy read. That said, this particular edition has irritatingly heavy typeface and a cramped layout.

If you fancy yourself as a superhero just read Sun Tzu 'The Art of War' or Clausewitz 'On War' which make clear and mercifully brief arguments which could actually be useful if you were a senior army officer. Neither of them have much to say of value to anyone running a business or going into politics, although a lot of shallow people assert the contrary.

The novel is an attempt to illustrate Rand's philosophy of Objectivism, which can be discussed elsewhere if you have the inclination, though few philosophers think it worthy of the time it would take.

One could imagine businessmen brandishing this book in the same way Trump brandishes the Bible. It is seen by those who have achieved some success in business as a rationale for rejecting any and all constraints upon their behaviour.

42 people found this helpful

Lillytwoshoes

This book should be among everyone’s 100 books.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 February 2018

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This book should be among everyone’s 100 books. Ayn Rand (who I personally think was not a very pleasant woman) wrote it as a response to communism. However, some of the principles of the book could well apply today. The idea behind the book is that people should be rewarded for their intellect, especially those whi are able to design things for the betterment of mankind and these skills should not be donated for the greater good free of charge. A modern reader will bauk at some of the precedents but the ideas put forward are interesting and thought provoking. What would happen if the brains of the world went on strike.?

48 people found this helpful

Robert ‘Bob’ Macespera

Delirious - and a bad novel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 May 2020

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This is a very famous book - all for the wrong reasons. It is deemed as "influential" (and one of the most influential of the second half of the XX Century), but then again it is so flawed it can be read today as a parody of itself, almost a joke.
It meant to be a pamphlet against the "evil red empire" at the height of the Cold War, but the message is all wrong - it is not necessary to go to the extreme right to fight the extreme left. It is wrong as it is dangerous.
Leaving aside the - completely twisted - political and social "message", as a novel there's little one can say about this mammoth of a book (1,170 pages!) except that it is very badly written. The prose is pedestrian, lifeless and plagued with platitudes; the dialogues are unnecessarily long. The plot is not any better. It revolts around four main characters of whom we become tired after 200 pages (with 900 more to go). In not so many words, it is a bore.
And the sort of resolution of the plot, the conclusion that we should have been waiting for 1,000 pages is a delirious 60 (you've read correctly sixty) pages speech on the greatness of ultra-capitalism and greed.
Why the two stars then? You have to give the author a bit of credit for the effort, even if she would have put it elsewhere.

16 people found this helpful

TGJJ

A Classic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 August 2018

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Atlas Shrugged is one of those books that divides its readers. The book is extremely long and does get become unnecessarily long and repetitive at points, but is still a good read nonetheless.

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. The story is interesting and gripping, but not the main reason why people read this book.

The story is suppose to express Rand's "Objectivism" to readers in a way that is easy to understand and convincing. This world view attempts to justify extreme egoism and reject altruism. This is perhaps the only bit of Rand's Objectivisms that comes through well. Other parts such as her epistemology and metaphysics are easy to understand, but very unconvincing.

This book is a commitment to read, but one that everyone should take in their life. This book has influenced countless leaders throughout the world, and it is good to have read it to better understand their thought process.

22 people found this helpful

Walter

Read the book, don't be 'framed' by al the reviews about the deeper meanings (objectivism)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 October 2019

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Although for me not as great as the Foundtainhead, this is another great read on Ayn Rand. It might sometimes be a bit too lengthy and slow, but it is so well written that you also will pass by that parts easily.

Yes, a lot is written about the author Ayn rand and about this book in particular. All kind of people seem to have 'hijacked' the book for their own purposes, trying to label and politicise the book. What a pity. Read the book. enjoy it. Then have your own experiences, views, opinions.

16 people found this helpful

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