beingdesh

Stuck in Book Traffic courtesy Ms. Ayn Rand

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Ayn Rand is surely a genius. She has made a mess out of my reading habits. I am no way a book addict like pingu but I have read some 30 odd books in the 11 months after coming to Bangalore. But it was only after I read Fountainhead that things have started messing up.

After Fountainhead I started with Harry Potter to pacify my thoughts. I mean Harry and company surely are much more simpler to comprehend in action and thoughts than Howard Roark and troupe.

As if Roark, Gynand, the stupid acts of Dominique, the light year long dialouges of Elssworth Toohey weren’t enough, I started my interaction with John Galt. Although still somewhere in middle Dagny sounds much more rationale than Dominique.

Ayn Rand has started given me bad dreams too. I once saw Ayn Rand in my dream and here is how the conversation went,

Me- Hi Ayn.
Ayn Rand- Hi Desh! There is no reason why we are talking, but should there be a reason. You can do whatever you want but let me make my home as I want to to. And then I will blast it. There is nothing known as love for the house but an animal like desire for the ones whom I never loved. It hurts me if someone thinks that profits are worthless. Philanthropy is just a juxtaposition of randomly disordered thoughts which were never objectivist in nature. Its better to eat from someone’s palter rather than cook for him blah blah blah…(to infinity)

And then you wake up with her bakbak still rumbling in my small brain.

Whatever I say Ayn Rand surely makes you think and maybe that’s why she is that popular. Anyways by book traffic I mean I am reading the following books at the same time and not able to complete any of them,

  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter-1,2,3 happened in one-two weeks, third is certainly the best of the lot)
  • Atlas Shrugged
  • Short Story Collection by Satyajit Ray (quite simple stories
  • Freakonomics
  • Shantaram (read some 600 pages of it few months back and after that have had 3 failed attempts to restart it again)

Trying for a non-congested book affair. Any suggestions?

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Comments

27 responses to “Stuck in Book Traffic courtesy Ms. Ayn Rand”

  1. Jaine Avatar
    Jaine

    don’t wry desh .. as usual u r just being yourself … confused !!

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  2. desh Avatar
    desh

    thnq fr tht jaine 🙂

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  3. aodz Avatar
    aodz

    Ayn Rand lover 😉 is it?

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  4. desh Avatar
    desh

    she can really give u big time love bites 😛

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  5. Anirudh Singh Avatar
    Anirudh Singh

    dude go for maximum city:bombay lost and found by suketu mehta…awesome book..another gud one is The hungry tide by amitav ghosh

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  6. Sur Avatar
    Sur

    u sound familiar, even i have a hard time juggling books.:D But Ayn Rand is worth it.

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  7. Pingu Avatar
    Pingu

    LOL!moral of the story: never juggle Ayn Rand with any other book!’Atlas…’ is too heavy to be ‘juggled’ :Panother book I had a tuff time holding while reading was ‘LOTR’…now thankfully, I have it as 3 separate volumes…Have u read ‘We,The Living’? If u read Rand in the chronological order of the publication of her books..u’ll realise how she matured as a writer…Galt is alright…but it was Frisco D’Anconia who made me cry…I’d rate ‘We,The Living’ higher than ‘Atlas..’ though…Happy Reading! 🙂

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  8. desh Avatar
    desh

    @anirudhi have had a eye on tht book for long but let me finish th loti saw tht guy’s interview on tv few days back@surwht do u mean by “you sound familiar”if i sound familiar i am not doin my bakbak any justice@pinguek haath fracture ho jaayega juggle kiya to 😛 LOTr ki kahani lambi hai baad main likhungaand no ayn rand for a yr after atlas shrugged gets over

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  9. Cuckoo Avatar
    Cuckoo

    Hmmmm.. your choice of books are quite similar to mine except for those Harry Potter things.lol@Shantaram : I am stuck at page 121 for last so many months & in no mood to pick that up again.Yeah, read Ayn Rand also.Thanks for dropping by. Keep coming.

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  10. Mridula Avatar
    Mridula

    I have stayed away from Ayn Rand till date. Have you read Swami and Friends? I liked it a lot.

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  11. desh Avatar
    desh

    @cuckoothts good in a way, anyway i thought its bttr to be harry potter educated bfore th 7th part fiasco…n u keep visitin tooShantaram is one hell of a book, god knows how many parts it will take to wrap up th movie@MridulaIn a way its good, Swami and friends is goodbut I dont like the book of Malgudi Days as such…Shankar Nag’s teleseries is awesome though

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  12. Shelia Avatar
    Shelia

    Desh, thanks for your comments on Ayn Rand and on my blog. I know someone very much like Howard Roark–visionary in the face of misunderstanding and all that–but even he is not immune to the regard of others. So you are probably right in asserting that Roark doesn’t exist. Atlas Shrugged is my favorite. I agree with Pingo that Frisco was a tragic figure, but my heart bled for Hank Reardon. Dagney is a much stronger character than Dominique, though I identified with both in many respects…and I was totally in love with John Galt. You should definitely read We the Living. It’s surprisingly short. You could knock it out in an hour. It has an intriguing concept. I’m a book juggler too…makes life more interesting…if a little schizophrenic. Like your blog…I’ll be back.

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  13. desh Avatar
    desh

    @someone like roark…will be interested in atleast tokin to such a person in real :)and book juggler is much bttr than one book at a time… a lil confusing thoughn i have not finished atlas shrugged yetkeep visitin sheila…

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  14. A Little Light Avatar
    A Little Light

    I ve tried reading Ayn Rand a lot of times..hmm!doesnt juggling books confuse u with the chars/stories?just curious to know!

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  15. desh Avatar
    desh

    so did u ever finish it???no i mean like yday i did a bit of Harry potter’s classes along with some engg lessons from Atlash shruggedi always like to switch in between thngs…thts my aadat, good or bad

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  16. Varsha Avatar
    Varsha

    Atlas and Fountainhead are heavy, I agree. Try We the Living by Ayn Rand…much easier to digest. And its not as thick either. I am a big Agatha Christie fan. Have read 30 odd out of her 72 mysteries. If you ish to start, I can recommend a few books you must not miss and the very few you must. Alexander McCall Smith’s ‘No.1 Ladies Detective Agency’ is a very very nice book. I liked the different style of writing and the fresness and innocence of the leading lady. If you like that one, you can go ahead with other books i the series.

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  17. desh Avatar
    desh

    @varshahave been given tht advice by someone alrdy 🙂 abt we the living i.e.Alexander McCall Smith’s ‘No.1 Ladies Detective Agencysounds interesting will read it fr suren me never read agatha christie…ht name doesnt sound interestin or smthngneway keep visitn th space

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  18. A Little Light Avatar
    A Little Light

    i never completely read even one book 😦

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  19. Pingu Avatar
    Pingu

    chal ab itne saare logon ne keh diya…ab tho padle ‘We, the Living’ :Psach mein yaar…bilkul bhi bore nahi hoge..usmein koi long-winded 100 pages ke speeches sab nahi hote…

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  20. desh Avatar
    desh

    padh lunga yaarabhi to kaam ne waat laga rakhi hai 😦

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  21. Ashley Avatar
    Ashley

    Ayn rand is too heavy to digest in one go. I had to read fountainhead twice to get even with it. Roark is inspiring and disturbing at the same time. ‘Atlas…’ is much simpler after you have read Fountainhead. Hank is my fav character and Frisco too!Try reading Wodehouse… nice books and they will take off the Rand load !

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  22. desh Avatar
    desh

    i agree ashley, it can give u indigestion :)wodehouse…comes after ayn rand n orwell in my listu see i like to screw up my head a bit

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  23. Smartalec Avatar
    Smartalec

    lol! reminds me of mine and raja’s situation after we completed the fountainhead earlier this year! damn we used to have such crazy discussions! haha! then raja started atlus shrugged but hasnt made much progress i guess! i purchased “we, the living” by rand but havent yet taken it up! haha! that convo between u n ayn was awesome! talk about one-sided talks:p

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  24. desh Avatar
    desh

    @smartaleci was thr in puen whn u wr into it…:)neway its confusing at times and abt th conversation its like tht, thnk god th one i wrote was so small, rand’s characters take it 4-5 pages at times

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  25. Soup Avatar
    Soup

    read the book : tuesdays with morrie.. it’s a very light book written in narrative form with a very deep meaning…evn i tried reading ayn rand many times, but could not 😦

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  26. desh Avatar
    desh

    @soupsure soup will try tht outin narrative form mayb thr is none bttr than catcher in the rye :)keep visiting btw …

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  27. Mo Freaky Avatar
    Mo Freaky

    there is one fatal flaw that readers commit when reading ayn rand in general, but the fountainhead specifically: to critique the literature as one has done in academia or in class, as a traditional work of fiction or philosophy. the fountainhead is not for everybody, rand specifically states it in the foreword. its goal was not to be read by anybody and everybody, but a message to the select few who believe with every part of their being a certain something about the capability of man. for instance, many people debate roarke as an individual who could exist. to the people who the fountainhead is written for this is a moot point, its not that roarke could exist, roarke does exist. he is every man or woman who live by ideals and never compromise the integrity of their vision. roarke must exist, he is the only type of being worthy of the term human. people will inevitably read rand, discuss her and fail to understand that they are exactly the masses for which her and her characters have contempt for.

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