Fountain Head and Atlas Shrugged

Written by: Phani Pradeep
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The lovers of Ayn Rand’s philosophy and literature don’t need an introduction to the very famous lengthy books “The Fountain Head” and “Atlas Shrugged“. Each is spanning more than 800 pages yet the heart of novel never misses.

In Brief:

“The Fountain Head” can be compared with “Eiffel Tower”. There is a naked building standing so brave that entire world envies it’s courage. It just stands like a honest truth with no regrets. It writes history “Yes it is what I’m”. Once in a while rains thunder on it’s courage it stands unmoved. Sun tries to heat everyday it merely recognizes it.

“Atlas Shrugged” can be compared with “Statue of Liberty” which stands on “Eiffel Tower”. There is a building which has the same courage in it’s posture. The building inspires thousands daily and stands on the “Ability”.
What makes it so inspiring and unmoved is the naked building.

What these novels are about:

“The Fountain Head” is journey of Howard Roark who lives as “first handed” thinker despite of many problems he would face from “second handed” people. The story starts and ends with a symbolic description of “The Fountain Head”. To live as “first handed” person he loses many things from a common person’s point of view but he raises at every fall and conquers the world. The story is divided in to four parts each dedicated to an important character of story and the final chapter is none other than “Howard Roark”.

“Atlas Shrugged” is revenge of a most intellectual person “John Galt” on the society filled with looters and parasites. He inspires people with “own thinking” to join him and makes the looters realize the value of intellectuals. As repeatedly said in the novel, he stops the motor of the world that is “The thinking”. He creates a new world where all thinkers celebrate the spirit of thinking and living in harmony. The story is narrated as a thriller which unfolds in three chapters each divided in to 10 sections. The plot is complex filled with many details, many characters and interlinked each character. On the top of cake, there will be John Galt’s speech that runs over 60-70 pages.

What makes these novels special:

The novels celebrate the human spirit with lot of philosophical discussion. It is up to the individual reader whether he agrees or not with the philosophy. But in either case, reader will be connected with “Courageous heroes”. While there is only one hero in “The Fountain Head”, there are many heroes in “Atlas Shrugged”. The characters are sketched so well, these characters keep hunting you to become one of them.

Note:
1. Above book lovers (including me) hate concept of reviewing these books, but what I wrote is not a review but an introduction.
2. For those who are not aware, “Statue of Liberty” is built upon another “Eiffel tower” structure.
3. Most of Maniratnam’s movies have inspirations from “The Fountain Head” and “Atlas Shrugged”
(Such as introduction of “Raavan”, most of “Guru” movie, several court scenes)