This is the hands down, the scariest book I have ever read.
It is the #1 book I tell people they should read, if they have the stomach for a true horror story.
It requires a full three days for a voracious speed-reader to consume, because one must walk away from it for small periods of time.
For most “normal” people, who do not habitually read a book a day, it might take three or four weeks to get through.
I would not support making it required reading at the High School level, but it should be a requirement for an Associates Degree.
Goes to show the loss of the educational system in the USofA. 35 years ago our required reading for senior year was Atlas Shrugged and Gulag Archipelago among others. Of course we also took Calc, Trig, Russian/German/French, and had a hell of a football team.
While perusing the various posts I came across yours, and you hit it squarely. Atlas Shrugged is just that... a horror novel. It’s what happens when the power hungry ignoratii of the fascist nanny-state leverage themselves into power. Learn it from a fictional novel, or live it first hand, your choice. Spot freakin on.