So here I am again trying to articulate some of my own thoughts and also share the experience of having read this particular book.
Disclaimer: To begin with, I am not writing any review of the book, neither this is an analysis or criticism of the views the author presents in the book.
I am not an avid book lover, I read books only when I have nothing to look into and when I am really pulled by that book. Choice of book depends mostly on the title, the title should strike me, and then comes the reviews on the back of the book and then I see the Author.
Same thing happened a year and half back, I had seen this book in one of the Landmark stores inside Forum Mall while we went for a team outing, and the title stayed with me. Somehow the book just pulled me and I tried not to take a note of it. Next thing, that happened was out of a mere coincidence I found the book in one of my friend’s cupboard, on asking their views on it, it seemed a safe bet to read on.
So, as I set myself out for an onsite work to a far off land all alone (actually not, but in the company of 4, completely new team), I decided to purchase the book to keep me company. Ok, now comes the heights of idiocy, all the time (approx 6 months) of my stay there, I hardly found the time or the mental peace to sit with the book. So my purchase was a waste since it did not serve the purpose then.
One fine day when I am back to my country and with my family and I am restless for some unknown reason I pick this book to read. I am quite a rational person and the main rationality behind picking this book was to attaining divinity in terms of developing higher levels of patience. But alas, the story unfolds differently from my prediction. In fact the book gives me a hard time in terms of reading speed and achieving my target. To be precise, I could not read more than 10 pages of the book in my initial days.
Slowly, I started enjoying this weird experience. I felt a challenge being posed to me in the form of that book and I did manage to read one full chapter at a stretch in the end. It gave me a feeling of accomplishment having done that. When I actually write all this, I don’t intend say that the book was so bad or grouse. Rather, the fact is that the book was very well written and something that I will always cherish of having read it.
The story as it unfolded left me completely dazed, It is not a psychological thriller or something but a purely philosophical fiction. There is a statutory warning by the author before you begin reading the book and every sentence lives up to the warning stated. The statement by the author makes you uncomfortable in the beginning and also makes you think that perhaps the author is very conscious of the readers for whom this book is written. I can also add in the same breath that not every one can relate to the book with same intensity. The reason why I say this is because I was also one of them who did not really understand the underlying fire in it.
Well, for those who know me will actually tell you the kind of egoistic snob I am. For a book to have some effect on me, it needs to live up to too high levels of arrogance in itself, and the author and the thoughts presented in that book are just that. :P
Ok, now after the premise about my feelings for the book, let’s get into what happened while I was reading the book. As I started reading the book, the continuity in my reading was always disrupted due to various reasons. But then, it became more challenging for me to actually create a time period everyday just to read the book and be completely in the world that the author creates. The characters make you experience so many varied emotions all at the same time. It also has its own romantic touches but there is a beautiful subtlety in certain paragraphs that can leave the reader spell bound. Especially the dialogues between the protagonist and another main character are some of the most loved paragraphs for me.
The book actually touches upon many issues as the story unfolds in front of us, starting from the education system – which sometimes only concentrates on students learning factual details and without giving them any opportunity to develop their own thinking skills. Though I personally did not like the protagonist of the story in the beginning, In fact I hated him the most and even though he is portrayed in most heroic terms I have an irritation for the character, not for how he is… But for how he behaves.
Then the story takes you when the college student is a young man and is setting his foot in the professional world. The conflicting approaches of his peers and his thought of life and his work is portrayed in the most subtle terms. You will find it very interesting to see how sometimes people are lured to live a life guided by so many prejudices and visions, which are not their own. It’s a journey for one to live his life on his own terms. For someone it is her quest to find a balance between the two worlds and which cannot exist. For yet another person, it is seeing his own values but when he himself has tarnished them.
The most lovable of part of the book is the world and emotions that the author creates with her style of writing; it is definitely going to stay in your mind for long…
Anyone with a philosophical bent of mind can take a pick on this one. And yes, though the author states either you agree to “All” she says or Disagree to all she says. I am quite a believer in rationality but not to an extent portrayed in the book to be an unemotional snob.
Book : FountainHead
Author: Ayn Rand
