Finished

I am going to be completely honest in this post. My journey while reading this book was comparable a roller coaster. For me, part I was the part on a roller coaster where you are traveling on a horizontal surface at the beginning. It started off really slow. I was very annoyed and did not enjoy reading part I. It did not really have a good story line and slowly dragged along. The book at this point seemed like it was taking forever to read. However, know that I know the ending of the book, looking back makes a lot more make sense. For example, I now know what the cigarette with the dolor means, the “Who is John Galt?” saying has a completely different meaning now, and the significance of including the very blunt conversations between Eddie and the random worker with in the cafeteria.

I initially thought that this book was not going to have very good story line that it ended up having. I was expecting them to talk more about the background and the business itself (although Rand included an enormous amount) of the Taggart family. Right from the beginning Rand sets up the roles of Jim and Dagny as two siblings who are partners, millionaires, and also opposites. By including the minor details that show their divide in the first section, it helped set up the next two sections of the book.

Part II of the book is comparable to the part of the roller coaster where you slowly ascend to the top of the giant drop. We start to learn more and more about each character and conflicts start to emerge. However, the main part of this section that caught my attention was the politics that was occurring. Rand made it so the reader got a true view of what the divide was. Not only did I enjoy reading this part, but it also made me understand the current political situation in the United States better. I know have a strong opinion on what should be done after viewing how going one way can end up.

            Finally, Part III of the Atlas Shrugged might be one of the most actions packed, twisted, and best sections of a book that I have ever read. It can be compared to the drop on a roller coaster. As the section progresses, Rand keeps on throwing more twists at you. I really enjoyed reading it. In my opinion, she chose a great way to make the story come together as a whole. I like how Dagny did not meet John Galt on purpose and it kind of ended up being a big coincidence.

Also, I loved the concept of the society known as Atlantis that Rand included. Having all of the great thinkers of the world in one location trying to revolutionize society in ways that people would never imagine (such as creating the motor, the shield, etc.) was a great idea. What was even better was that they kept it a secret from everyone else. I think the reason that I really enjoyed this is because of my background and passion for engineering. I truly tried to place my self in the shoes of these great innovators who are seeing others get credit for and exploit there work. This is the case for John Galt, Hank Rearden, Richard Halley and many more.

Another thing that I found very interesting that appeared throughout the book was the choice of Rand to include the personal lives of all of these characters. Wee extramarital affairs from Hank and James, we see two characters who were each others first loves, and finally, we see a situation where two best friends both are in love with the same girl. Not only did this create tension at some points n the book, but it also made it so that some of the characters really cared for one another. This ultimately affected and changed things in other spectrums such as the business spectrum. Out of love for Dagny, Hank decides to hand over rights of his prized Rearden Metal.

Overall, even though this book was EXTREEMLY LONG, when I look back on the whole book, I actually liked it. It had a great plot, which ultimately drew my attention. The conflicts that were created were fantastic and the overall theme was the icing on the cake. n my opinion, it would not be appropriate if I did not end my journey in this book with a question. Who is John Galt?