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lalitjain's reviews
59 reviews
Mediocre!!! Big let down after The Fountainhead.
Unnecessarily stretched,abrupt ending, pointless and worst of all, in contrast to Fountainhead (yes i am comparing) weak characters.
The protagonist (Dagny) is lost throughout the book and the darker side of philosophy in my opinion feel was not represented with the same intensity as the side which Rand represents. Dagny falls in the arms of any character who follow Rand's philosophy (does this with ascending intensity). John Galt could very well be a super model rather than an inventor and James Taggart & Robert Stradler could well be orcs from the LOTR movies.
I dont mind the continious bragging of Galt and Co. about the great job that they were doing abandoning the rogues of the world but the Anti-galt and Co's weak retaliation only makes it more and more meaning less.
Lastly, just comparing Atlas and Fountainhead head-to head:
Howard Roark (\m/): John Galt (Try Calvin Klien, let Tesla Motors do their job)
Elsworth Toohey (Dark): Stradler and Co. (Weak)
and I did not even encounter Gail Wynand (<3)!!!!
Thank god that this ordeal has come to a climax.
Unnecessarily stretched,abrupt ending, pointless and worst of all, in contrast to Fountainhead (yes i am comparing) weak characters.
The protagonist (Dagny) is lost throughout the book and the darker side of philosophy in my opinion feel was not represented with the same intensity as the side which Rand represents. Dagny falls in the arms of any character who follow Rand's philosophy (does this with ascending intensity). John Galt could very well be a super model rather than an inventor and James Taggart & Robert Stradler could well be orcs from the LOTR movies.
I dont mind the continious bragging of Galt and Co. about the great job that they were doing abandoning the rogues of the world but the Anti-galt and Co's weak retaliation only makes it more and more meaning less.
Lastly, just comparing Atlas and Fountainhead head-to head:
Howard Roark (\m/): John Galt (Try Calvin Klien, let Tesla Motors do their job)
Elsworth Toohey (Dark): Stradler and Co. (Weak)
and I did not even encounter Gail Wynand (<3)!!!!
Thank god that this ordeal has come to a climax.
Well the mountains don't echo much in the book as for most part of the book you are nowhere near the mountains. The book would go well as a collection of short stories rather then a full blown novel.
That said, there is no doubt about Hosseini's skill when it comes to developing characters / bonds. While the book begins with the story of siblings it leaves that territory for a very long period (almost 50 years!!!) to get back to it. I am not saying that during this period the story loses track or anything as such. It remains in the proximity of the main plot, but it's just that this is not what one orders when they ask for Hosseini.
The book has its moments and I am glad to have read about the characters in it but no matter how much I try, I can't resist the temptation to compare them with other Hosseini master pieces. There is no character that comes even remotely close to matching Mariam's emotional intensity.
The book would make a great 1st Hosseini read. Otherwise also its still a good read.
:)
That said, there is no doubt about Hosseini's skill when it comes to developing characters / bonds. While the book begins with the story of siblings it leaves that territory for a very long period (almost 50 years!!!) to get back to it. I am not saying that during this period the story loses track or anything as such. It remains in the proximity of the main plot, but it's just that this is not what one orders when they ask for Hosseini.
The book has its moments and I am glad to have read about the characters in it but no matter how much I try, I can't resist the temptation to compare them with other Hosseini master pieces. There is no character that comes even remotely close to matching Mariam's emotional intensity.
The book would make a great 1st Hosseini read. Otherwise also its still a good read.
:)
The plot of a KGB and his CIA counterpart coming together to take down an evil organization, while naïve, could have provided with enough fodder for an entertaining fast paced thriller with really powerful characters.
"The Matarese Circle" loses on most counts. It has neither strong characters nor a gripping plot.
Both Agate and Serpent are more like cheap action movie heroes with some intelligence training rather than super agents (claimed on more the one occasion to the best). Scofeild love affair with one of his subjects feels like a trick right out of a Bollywood flick (hilarious how a CIA legend keeps pondering over his “inopportune love”). The Matarese are the biggest joke in the book and their philosophy is like an excerpt from Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”
Weak plot and characters = Terrible Read
The 2 stars that I have given are also entirely because the book picks up pace (not plot) in the final 150 odd pages, when you really start to get tired of the book and want it to finish, it obliges.
Ludlum disappoints.
"The Matarese Circle" loses on most counts. It has neither strong characters nor a gripping plot.
Both Agate and Serpent are more like cheap action movie heroes with some intelligence training rather than super agents (claimed on more the one occasion to the best). Scofeild love affair with one of his subjects feels like a trick right out of a Bollywood flick (hilarious how a CIA legend keeps pondering over his “inopportune love”). The Matarese are the biggest joke in the book and their philosophy is like an excerpt from Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”
Weak plot and characters = Terrible Read
The 2 stars that I have given are also entirely because the book picks up pace (not plot) in the final 150 odd pages, when you really start to get tired of the book and want it to finish, it obliges.
Ludlum disappoints.
