What effect did this book have on you??

[Kim Reese]

I was able to comprehend how destructive "free rides" are, not just to the individuals but to the overall social and economic structure.

[Janet]

Even Robin Hood was a bad guy in this, say no more !!

[Aaron]

Harkening back to the original question, this book had the effect of boring me to tears, except I didn't shed actual tears. I shed cognitive tears of anguish after being bludgeoned over and over by the same philosophical orthodoxy which destroyed much of its valid edification by way of repetition.

I finished it though, like an athlete finishes her grueling set of presses in hopes that endurance through anguish itself would in some wise prove profitable on the actual playing field. And I continue to hope.

[E.M.]

Aaron wrote: "Harkening back to the original question, this book had the effect of boring me to tears, except I didn't shed actual tears. I shed cognitive tears of anguish after being bludgeoned over and over by the same philosophical orthodoxy..."

Lol!

[Janet]

Aaron wrote: "Harkening back to the original question, this book had the effect of boring me to tears, except I didn't shed actual tears. I shed cognitive tears of anguish after being bludgeoned over and over by..."

Like you I read it to the end, my reason for doing so was that my son had giveng me the book. I felt, like you, that I was being choked on her philosophy.

[Steve]

For a counter-point to this book read "Outliers," by Malcolm Gladwell. Much of our success is due to our circumstances: good luck, mentorship, environment etc. While I believe in an honest days work, you have the cart before the horse if you think that you should resent some of the "shackles" of society. If you are successful, be happy you had the right combination of natural talent and circumstances to be great, and work your damn ass off to help others achieve the same type of success. Lucky for me (and perhaps you), Gladwell said that in a few hundred tightly written pages instead of an encyclopedic monotonous work that was "Atlas Shrugged."

[Aaron]

Amen to that.

[Anthony]

What he said!

[Robert]

Atlas Shrugged didn't really have any effect on me as far as philosophy is concerned because I had already developed my political philosophy before I read the book. However, reading it did cause me to admire Rand's achievement more than before reading it.