I read this novel by Ayn Rand recently, i thought the title of the book will be nice title to start with and i wrote something on the book..........
This novel by Ayn Rand like her previous novels conveys a unique philosophy towards life and her way of describing it is also unique. The novel gets its life in Leningrad (or Pterograd) in Russia and it flows into different corners of Leningrad. The story is around a girl called Kira Argounova, a very strong character with a vision in life. She spends the cream period of her life in a time of political and social turmoil in Russia during the year 1917-1930. After the Bolshevik revolution and demolition of imperialism, it was the time of reconstruction. It was the time when Kira arrives in Leningrad with a new social tag; she was a “burgoa”. With the proletariat government in power, Russia was under going a social change a fresh idealism which carried out by a true proletariat Andrei Taganov. and by Leo Kovalensky(s) a young man rebelling against the totalitarian system. Kira, a character with values, could see the death of values and lack of vision in the new born society; she eventually falls in love with Leo. Kira’s father who was a industrialist now found it difficult to get bread for living. Kira and Leo both were rebellion in their own way, Kira wanted to be in the system and then revolt when she had enough strength; on the other hand Leo was mocking the system by destrying himself. The best part of the novel is the interaction between Andrei Taganov and Kira. Two completely different ideologies meet each other with some common principles and then move on parallel. The consequences of this relation are far fetched. The characters evolved with time with changing social backdrops. Corruption was taking over the regime which was based on idealism. Proletarian were replaced by corrupt escapists. The pace of the novel is fantastic, though the change in the communist reign in Russia took a long time but this book actually describes why the change was necessary. Kira who aspired to become an engineer and built a bridge made of Aluminum continued her struggle but fails. Andrei who dreamt of a society where everyone will have equal rights to live finds himself giving berth to one which lacked everything he had once thought of. Leo who wanted to live life in his own way destroys all the values he lived for. The novel is about a philosophy and it leaves a strong impression about life on you.
