Rand was overly verbose -- the book could easily have been one-third its size and just as effective -- and I don't agree with her moral/irreligious points of view. But her depiction of the actions of a corrupt state -- with the willing accomplices of weak-spined politician collaborators and an indifferent, sheeplike public -- are frighteningly accurate and deadly.
Exactly right.
On a personal level, Rand was deeply conflicted. I always thought of her as the tall, blond and beautiful Dagney Taggart trapped in the short, dark and unattractive body of Ayn.
But on the workings of Communism and how it takes over a country, she was there - growing up in Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution. She saw it, lived, suffered it. And with her brilliant mind, she 'trapped' it all and was able to lay it out for us.
Pray we listen. It's almost too late.
For people who read it today, they should remember that when she wrote it 51 years ago, it was prophetic - now it has happened.
Again...pray we're not to late. It took the Russian people 80 years to regain any semblance of personal freedom.