On Books & Reading

I enjoy reading, though I always feel I should be doing more. There are some authors that I love like James Herriot and then there are some I can never figure out. Ayn Rand falls in the latter category.

I have tried my best to finish 2 of her novels "Atlas Shrugged" and "The fountainhead". Some how I have never been able to go more than half of either book.

I do not debate the fact that her thinking and ideas are distinctly different, may be even bordering on the extreme. It seems in her books everything has to be black and white, yes and no, right or wrong. The main character always seems so arrogant and disconnected from the real world. The sheer volume of Atlas Shrugged too does not help, I guess.

But then my likes and dislikes are often peculiar. Couple of my friends almost attacked me when I told them I found "The Alchemist" by Paul Coelho was not worth all the hype . For sheer beauty of thought, I would pick The Prophet by Khalil Gibran , and for simplicity of thought, I would any day pick The little prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Alchemist is neither here nor there as far as I am concerned. No doubt many of you disagree, this is just my opinion.

I aim to finish at least one of Ayn Rand's books this year, may be my opinion will change then.