Jun 23, 2004 04:06 PM
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(Updated Jun 23, 2004 04:06 PM)
Who the hell IS John Galt? If you were troubled by some soul searching questions like these, and wish to find a plausible excuse for them, then Atlas Shrugged is the book for you. I made the mistake of buying this book after I had committed another mistake, of fountainhead. But to speak the truth 3 years when I had first read the book I was pretty impressed by the ideas advocated in both the books. Reality it seems was something else.
Ayn has a penchant for making you feel bad, and maybe good to some people. This book explores the principle of objectivity, as she prefers to call it, by way of practicing superiority, selfishness, and denouncing everything, everyone which you feel depends on you. And yes this world really is run by, ummm, approximately 25 people, who if leave the mainstream, and go to some heavenly, hid-by-wonder-of-sciences, place, they will be happy for a long time, just until the time the rest of the world dies and diminishes from the loss of these great people. Just what does this mean??? Only a few people are worth living on this planet, and the rest can go for a six? Where are the characters Ayn describes with such exquisite detail in real life??
She does respond to the questions raised by fountainhead, that whether her concept of objectivity can be applied to other fields of work also, and Ayn ended up creating an even bigger travesty on paper. In her foreword she says that the proof such people exist is that this book is being published and being read. I would love to compare her book with one of her own characters, whom she admonishes.
The book is exhaustive; it is 1300+ pages of sheer theory, principles, and maybe taking revenge on everyone in the whole world. The worst part is a 60 page speech by the protagonist John Galt, justifying himself, his clan, and everyone associated with him. I barely kept myself awake, and then, skipped the whole speech, which took me near bouts the end, of finding which I had given up every hope.
Even the end doesn’t give you a sense of justice, to the hunters and the hunted. You feel you have just wasted your time, which can be anything from a week to a year over it.
Beware of the feeling of righteousness one gets after reading such a book, they are quite harmful for you and your family too, cause in this book there is just too much pain.
