Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Randby Ayn Rand
Ranked 5 of 122 novels by recommenders
Recommended for its big ideas and influence on thinking, though many find the prose slow, long, and badly written.
Recommended for its big ideas and influence on thinking, though many find the prose slow, long, and badly written.
54 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 23
- criticize it
- 31
- approval share
- 43%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 23 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Ideas seen as brilliant or important
“Atlas Shrugged is a bit of a slog, but the ideas are brilliant.”
Comment from 22 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models” “But it’s ideas seem generally right, the subject matter important, and under discussed.”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “Atlas Shrugged (2024)” “It has some issues, sure, but it should be mandatory reading.”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models” - Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Slow, long, and badly written
“Atlas Shrugged is a bit of a slog, but the ideas are brilliant.”
Comment from 22 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models” “Atlas Shrugged is definitely not a good novel by any means”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “Spain train crash: 'At least 10 dead' in high-speed collision” “I found AS too long and preferred The Fountainhead”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “Spain train crash: 'At least 10 dead' in high-speed collision” - Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “Atlas Shrugged (2024)”
- Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “I wasted years of my life in crypto”
- Comment from 17 Apr 2026 in “George Orwell Predicted the Rise of "AI Slop" in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)”
- Comment from 22 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models”
Romanticizes greed and dangerous ideology
“his practically religious belief in Randian ideology led to the most severe global economic downturn since the Great Depression”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Mullvad founder gave millions to extremist far right party” “1000+ pages to say greed is good, a realization most people make by fifth grade.”
Comment from 22 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models” “the "heroes" of Atlas Shrugged are, in fact, the villains of our modern world.”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “Atlas Shrugged (2024)” - Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “George Orwell Predicted the Rise of "AI Slop" in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)”
Other novels people recommend
The four most recommended other novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime and Punishmentby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 39 | 9 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The Brothers Karamazovby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 28 | 8 | 78% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Infinite Jestby David Foster Wallace | 26 | 5 | 84% | 9 | 10 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald | 24 | 9 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Atlas Shruggedby Ayn RandThis page | 23 | 31 | 43% | 7 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 63 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“her description of how the United States slowly falls apart due to culturally-reinforced incompetence is worth appreciating”
“I found AS too long and preferred The Fountainhead”
“The Library of Congress rated it the second most influential book of all time, after the Bible.”
“Atlas Shrugged is definitely not a good novel by any means”
“It's an interesting story even if you don't care about the allegories, I'm really enjoying it so far.”
“novels with such big pay-offs that they are worth 100s of pages of setup to me”
“it is fun to get a reminder not regretting being obsessed with Ayn at 18”
“Atlas Shrugged being in the top 10 of hacker recommended says more than I ever could”
“his practically religious belief in Randian ideology led to the most severe global economic downturn since the Great Depression”
“better plotted and written than much successful romantasy today”
“John Galt's big speech which seemed childishly self-indulgent and then after that it goes to hell”
“if atlas is too complicated for the brains”
“If you start with "bad" books, your concept of quality and what's possible is constrained. (Like when teenage boys read Atlas Shrugged.)”
“the book in its whole is basically a manifesto for Rand's Objectivism”
“seemed to me to be about the dangers of putting "the needs of the many" over individual rights”
“every emotional appeal used in the novel is supported by argument, sooner or later”
“the book portrays Galt's Gulch as both a good thing and as something that would actually function”
“I don't understand the beef with shrugged.”
“I do not want to enact the morality of Atlas Shrugged, but its also wildly misunderstood by almost everyone for some reason.”
“it's a book of incredible hypocrisy which also disrespects the reader's intelligence and time”
“Atlas Shrugged has horrific writing, separate from what I feel about the politics.”
“Her book is a delusional fantasy poorly written and stuffed with so much agonizing and stilted sexual repression”
“and atlas shrugged, but that doesn't go over well here.”
“her inhumane and pretentious pseudo-philosophical spin on libertarianism”
“1000+ pages to say greed is good, a realization most people make by fifth grade.”
“Atlas Shrugged is a bit of a slog, but the ideas are brilliant.”
“should be mandatory reading”
“one of the ways my thinking has evolved is away from the concepts central to this book”
“It has some issues, sure, but it should be mandatory reading.”
“some oversimplifications can make you feel like you really understand the world”
“the books (which are quite badly written, I still have PTSD from that monologue)”
“One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes”
“It didn't have to be a mythical engine that ignores the most basic laws of physics.”
“the "heroes" of Atlas Shrugged are, in fact, the villains of our modern world.”
“But it’s ideas seem generally right, the subject matter important, and under discussed.”
“Certainly better written than atlas shrugged”
“she only asks that one better themselves”
“There's nothing individualistic about it. If just John Galt had walked away nothing would have happened.”
“The book has enough problems without also confusing who the author meant”
“not a book I recommend, young reader or old; nor do I agree with its overall cut-throat inspirationals”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.