[robga]

Atlas Shrugged had a profound influence on me, too.

It is a treatise on selfishness. A stench of arrogance leaks out from every paragraph. It showed me the worst of the worst. What not to be. I like to think reading it made me a more empathetic, social, caring person. It also awakened my antenna to the vileness in people that may lie just below the skin.

That is was excruciatingly badly written was a bonus. It showed me that dangerous ideologies are persistent enough to survive laughably poor communication.

[bwb]

It had a profound influence on me as well, I read it as a celebration of creativity and the human spirit. I never got the weird cult stuff that has emerged from it.

I thought it was well written though. She just has a weird style; I kinda dug it. I would call it writing Brutalism, and it was very clear and to the point.

[maxilevi]

What did you think about the Fountainhead?

[JohnnyHerz]

Fountainhead is just as good and a much easier read.

I used Fountainhead to introduce my kids to Ayn Rand and as a warm up to Atlas Shrugged.