I'm not going to go into a long rendition about how spectacular
this book is, on the review page of a website. It would do neither
your judgement, nor the book (which I've read 3 times,)
justice.
I would simply like to tell you this: If you do read it, which I
would suggest, don't consider anything you've heard about Ayn Rand
anywhere else. Read the book for what it is, and take the
ideas/dialogue as they are in the context of the plot, which is how
one should approach a fiction novel filled with ideas. After you
have read it, then I suggest that you, if you like, consider how
the ideas presented in the book might be relevant to your
life.
I'm confident that if one judges the story itself independently,
one will appreciate it as the compelling, throught-provoking,
masterpiece that I believe it is. It has influenced my life, and
it's one's own job to see whether or not it will influence theirs.