It was while cleaning up my store room that I found my
cousin brother’s long forgotten treasure of novels and instantly picked up Ayn
Rand’s ‘Capitalism’. Having read The Fountainhead before, I became an immediate
fan of her philosophy and writings and wanted to equip myself with as much of
her work as possible. In Capitalism she stated that to understand the true
essence of this book it’s advisable to read Atlas Shrugged first and I
sincerely followed her advice. Though the size of the book (1000+ pages) can
make one reconsider the idea of reading it initially, but after reading the
first few lines only, all my apprehensions disappeared into thin air. The book
starts with a question, ‘Who is John Galt’?, and the quest of finding its
answer will sail you through the end of the book and what a worthwhile journey!
The story is not about one individual
yet it is based on individualistic values and purpose of living in the world.
The story is about Francisco D’ Anconia, the Heir of biggest copper
manufacturing unit of the world and gave it all up, it’s about Hank Rearden,
the successful manufacturer of steel in USA and the inventor of Rearden Metal
that made him even more successful, but gave it all up, it’s about James
Taggart who lived his life assuming that everything he did, does and shall do
would be for the sake of public welfare
and that should be the ultimate aim of any Rich
human being but eventually proved wrong, it’s about Dagny Taggart (part
protagonist), the WOMAN who runs a railroad and who could have given up her
life but not her railroad and the story is about 3 men who became her epitome
of an ideal world she always wanted to witness and part of, An Utopia.
Rand managed to create a world where the
characters that are productive are downright shrewd and selfish but in a
completely justifiable way and the ones who are dependent upon these people are
of low moral code and unacknowledged. The reader can find oneself struggling at
times with her philosophical view on life and living i.e. living for oneself
and not for the sake of any other person. The exaggeration of everything is
evident, the creation of wealth as well as wiping it off to the last straw. Being
born and brought up in the land of Bhagvad Gita which teach us the ultimate
mantras of Karma like, ‘Neki kar, dariya
mein daal’, Karam kar, phal ki ichcha mat kar’, this book can seriously
question these motto of good deeds.
There are long and awe-inspiring speeches preponderant
about correct definitions (according to Ayn Rand of course) of those factors
that keeps a society survival possible which can make you question your own
ideologies and at times might test your patience due to their lengthy
description. One can imagine oneself as a silent spectator amidst the whole
plot cheering for the Good while jeering for the Evil, but what is good and
what is evil is a matter of idiosyncratic perceptions. A particular aspect
about Rand’s work which I found in The fountainhead too is that all Goody
characters are great looking while the baddies are not-so great looking, probably implying a metaphorical description
of good and bad by Rand. It shall make you ponder the various economical and
political issues prevalent in present times too.
The
writing ability of Rand is unquestionable, supported by a wide research and
thorough knowledge of various facets of society, economics, politics and human
behavior on the whole; she definitely knew the job of weaving all these aspects
together with adequate reasoning to produce a master-piece. Many a times, the
plot would make you say, ‘Err…I beg to differ with you Ms. Rand’, but being an
intelligent writer, she clears all your doubts by vindicating her stand and
keeping you on her side for majority of the book. Though pretentious at times,
with bold and surreal portrayal of its characters, one would love to overlook
all this for a happy and utopian ending.
To
wrap up it all, I will also recommend this book to all the book lovers, because
no matter if you’ll love it or hate, it would be a great loss to ignore it.
After all it’s a book that changed and challenged the thinking process of many
throughout the world. It's a **** for me.