Bastard! Hell, who am I kidding. I have a copy of The Fountainhead, which although a bit preachy, I enjoyed. Liked the movie even more. Also have a copy of Atlas Shrugged, but I got to that 300-page monologue/oration and just bogged down, never to pick it up again. I collect books, and I have noticed that 1st eds of Rand's book go for a fortune! Obviously, some deep-pocketed collectors out there. I wonder if they have an Objectivist approach to E-Bay bidding!?
Yeah, John Galt's speech is a bit of drag and is so cause AR stated the whole of her philosophy (Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Politics and Aesthetics) in that one lengthy chapter. But that's an excusable flaw when taking into consideration the novel's worth as a whole. The reason I like Ayn Rand so much apart from her incredible writing itself is the fact that she was very consistent, inviolable and unrelenting when it came to what she thought was right and wrong. Not to mention she expanded on Aristotelian Metaphysics, which is the most rational one there is.
Plus her lead characters are easily some of the most unique and fascinating ones there are, on top of being absolute and dare I say, inspiring. There is a big difference between her characters and those of other authors. For example, Margaret Mitchell made an amazing creation in the form of Scarlett O'Hara who is far more popular than both of Ayn Rand's most celebrated heroines Dagny Taggart and Dominique Francon, but you can still see that the latter are mental giants and in a whole different league altogether compared to Scarlett, who is nothing more than a Southern Belle that overcomes great odds and obstacles based solely on her common sense and obstinacy.