I just finshed reading Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. This book has been recommended to me several times over the past eight or so years but I tend not to take much time to read many books other than technical references, although I have taken the time to read things like the Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl series, and even re-read some of Issac Asimov’s works. But I should have read Atlas Shrugged earlier.
The book is extremely powerful but very difficult to penetrate so you really have to WANT to read it. I read quite slowly so this 1000+ page volume has taken me a few months to get through with casual reading. The book really has layers, one layer is pure story with characters, plot, love and war – the other layer is a manifesto for life.
The funny thing is that I don’t think anyone would enjoy both layers at the same time (I could be wrong but thats what I felt). I was most interested in the philosophical aspects of the book because it is helping me deal with some issues that I am trying deal with at the moment. It certainly helps put things into perspective.