Atlas Shrugged

By: Ayn Rand

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 62 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Peopled by larger-than-life heroes and villains, charged with towering questions of good and evil, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand’s magnum opus: a philosophical revolution told in the form of an action thriller—nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

Atlas Shrugged is the "second most influential book for Americans today" after the Bible, according to a joint survey of five thousand people conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club in 1991.

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?

This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world—and did. In defense of those greatest of human qualities that have made civilization possible, he 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? Why does he have to fight his battle not against his enemies but against those who need him most? Why does he fight his hardest battle against the woman he loves? The answers will be revealed once you discover the reason behind the baffling events that wreak havoc on the lives of the amazing men and women in this remarkable book.

Tremendous in scope and breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand's magnum opus, which launched an ideology and a movement. With the publication of this work in 1957, Rand gained an instant following and became a phenomenon. Atlas Shrugged emerged as a premier moral apologia for capitalism, a defense that had an electrifying effect on millions of readers (and now listeners) who had never heard capitalism defended in other than technical terms.

©1985 Eugene Winick, Paul Gitlin and Leonard Peikoff (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Atlas Shrugged

Must read for ever American! An excellent piece that sites and subtlety compares ,( within the story line) the effects and of folly socialism and the difficulty maintaining a Capitalistic society. I loved this book. I was constantly writing down quotes and comparing this to our society today. This book will never go out of style. It’s a constant reminder of the frailty of our society. It’s long and drawn out in some places but totally worth the read

Amazing

Many philosophical points made in an artful way. Much respect to Rand for this masterpiece. The biggest critics of this novel most likely find their categorization with the antagonists Dagny faces. Brilliant.

What an incredible audio book

If you want a real treat - download this unabridged recording.

I have been meaning to listen to Atlas Shrugged for years, but I have been put somewhat off by its length.

When I discovered that a new recording had been made with no other than THE narrator Scott Brick the case was settled.

Atlas Shrugged is a story that will stick with you and make you reflect on The World, your life and the future.

It is set in The US and describes what would happen if you took away the initiative of the individual and deprived all of the intellectuals of their rights.

While I understand why many people will find the story political, controversial and even disturbing - it cannot help you appreciate how lucky we are living in democracies.

Download this recording, listen to Scott's mellow voice for 62 hours and prepare yourself for utter joy.

Wow.

Great Book and Scott Brick

I tried listening to this book before and did not make it but a few hours. When it came out with Scott Brick as the reader I gave it another try. Not only it is a great Book it has a great reader.

Give it a listen, the writing is incredible and the listening just as good.

Wonderful experience

Great book. Excellently narrated. This book is long and a little daunting to begin. I was eager to get back to it from the first hour. Time very well spent.

Atlas Shrugged (Unabridged)

In a word - AMAZING. Ayn Rand is on the money and scarily enough it seems to be happening today. Very timely reading for a book written in the 50s. Scott Brick narrated the book perfectly. I never tired of his voice, and this was a LONG audiobook.

Prescient

This novel was so indicative of what is happening after the election of 2008....that it's scary! The measures she suggests the government takes to maintain control is certainly what the Obama administration is trying to do!

Powerful and immersive

What made the experience of listening to Atlas Shrugged the most enjoyable?

What I most enjoyed about this book was the broad scope and depth of the story used by Rand to present her philosophical theories. The writing and story created an immersive experience touching on both intellectual and emotional centers. I listened to the book during my long morning commute which allowed time for it to have its effect upon me; drawing me in to such an extent that I actually found my mood impacted by ideas and emotions generated during the reading. Unfortunately, these often consisted of a sense of frustration and depression resulting from the world that Rand paints to highlight the principles she seeks to illuminate; at times I found it a struggle to shake off the moods this book would generate. While this sounds somewhat dark, from the perspective of enjoying a book, I think this level of impact reflects the power of the book and indicates it is more than just a casual read – this book makes you think and even struggle with the ideas it contains. Regardless of which side of the philosophy you stand, if you enjoy being challenged by ideas you should enjoy this book.

What other book might you compare Atlas Shrugged to and why?

I would compare this book to almost any of Dostoevsky's works, especially The Brothers Karamazov. The similarities being that both are powerfully immersive, affecting a reader at an emotional and almost even physical level. I recall when reading The Brothers years ago I could feel the cold and dreariness of the setting as I was reading and having a similar empathetic response to the mood and events of the story. More significantly, I believe that like The Brothers Karamazov, Atlas Shrugged will leave a reader with thought provoking ideas and philosophical imagery which will endure for years to come.

What three words best describe Scott Brick’s voice?

(1)Slow - as soon as I started listening, the slow pace of his reading became frustrating. I had to play the book at 1.25 x normal speed to try and achieve a more acceptable rate. (2)Breathy - This is hard to explain, but he often seemed to talk in a breathy or whispered voice which was unrelated to the context of the reading. This was accentuated by the slowness of his reading. The speeding up of the playback helped a bit with this, but not entirely. When speaking in character, this sometimes had odd effects; making the person seem almost disconnected from what should have been a dramatic situation. (3)Inexpressive - or maybe just incorrectly expressive. This ties in to the breathy aspect, but in addition, when reading conversations between characters, he at times made it difficult to recognize which character he was representing. In some cases, his voice did not change at all with character; at other when he did modify his voice for characters, he seemed to lose track of how he spoke each role so that his characterization seemed to drift from one character to the next, so for example Dagny's voice would migrate over to Eddie Willers and I would have to actually replay a segment because of losing the flow of the conversation. So, my three words really seem to have stretched out here. However, despite all these comments, it seemed that either Brick settled down after the first six hours or so, or I became more accustomed to his style. In the end, his style became less of an impediment to enjoying the book because the book was simply too good not to enjoy.

Revisited

I read Atlas Shrugged about forty years ago as a young man. Just finishing it again, I realized what a profound effect it had had on my values. It seems even more pertinent to our current stage of cultural evolvement. A great read on many levels.

Long winded and strongly written

As a liberal leaning individual i tend not to ascribe to a lot of the idealism in this book. The Fountainhead is my favorite book of Rand's and i looked forward to this book. i was not disappointed.

the narration was mindblowingly well done. From the firm yet feminine Dagney Taggart, the self assured sly Mrs. Reardon, to the powerful and direct John Galt, all done in one male voice, i was floored with how flawlessly it was executed.

The story itself was engaging, edge of your seat, and suspenseful as i was taken along for the socialistic demise of yester-year America and the world at large. i found myself rooting for the protagonists (i had a gripe with how handsome and godlike they tended to be but its a fantasy written as philosophical prose so im not too stern on this nor the inherent ugliness and purile nature of the antagonists) and i cringed at every choice made by the government that mirrored today's world.

That being said, I reccomend this book, however... I'm gonna warn you on on thing and one thing only.

John. Freaking. Galt.

This God like, Adonis, super genius, freak of nature who reveals so little about the ideology of the book yet purports to have created it, is my least favorite character by far. Even Eddie had more of a character arc and development. Every woman loves him, every man wants to step aside for him, every human MUST worship the messiah that is John Galt, the inventor upon whose name they all take in vain and in despair.

What a crock of -

i did it. i did it during work, or while driving when i KNEW i wouldn't fall asleep but that 3 hour stint at the end. A merciless, uninterrupted, howling diatribe against all things socialist, communist, charitable, and herd minded, against every person who is not a genius or among the means to make themselves rich and for the righteous right we have to even exist thanks to capitalists and business men borders on that of a mouth frothing, ring around the collar, pit stained, disheveled, sweating screeching of a pop up tent evangelist minister and spoken with the same deriding attitude depicting fire and brimstone of those that are not of his exact mindset or handpicked for his special millionaires club in the rockies. I hate to say it but i did it. I listened through every word of that horses**t and then as if this were the true climax of the book, i was consoled by a rushed and tidy "action" ending of the book for my trouble.

Dont get me wrong. i love Ayn Rands writing and this book is most definitely worth the read if you have the time as it is long. Just uhm... maybe fast forward or skip forward a bit when Johnny comes onto the radio yeah?