So I'm finally getting around to reading (read "listening to") Ayn (Pronounced "Ine") Rand's Atlas Shrugged.  I'm only about a couple hundred pages into the 1,100 page opus and I can already say that it is fantastically written.  I love the characters, their stories, and their conflict.  Rand really has a talent for putting you into the heads of even the characters that you loathe and bringing you to an understanding of their lives and their motivations.  At this point in the novel, I find it exquisitly attractive that I can't really decide who I'm "supposed to" like or admire.  If anything, this level of confusion really tells you something about yourself.  Who do you admire the most?  Whose philosophy is closest to your own?  Whose motivations are "pure" and what is a "pure motivation" in the first place?  Excellent.

 

Though the scenes are extremely drawn out in most cases, they are never tedious and always so eloquently put to pen that even those moments when you lose interest are enjoyable simply for her mastery of the language.

 

Though I've only grazed the surface, I already recommend it.  I'll post again when I've finished it.

 

Side note:  There has been a film adaptation "in production" for more than two years--at least--though I don't expect to see it any time soon.  Chances are it was or will be temporarily scrapped.  The story seems far more suited for stage than screen if you ask me, like say "Death of a Salesman."