State of Fear

Michael Crichton is known for his bizarre stories. Bizarre and blockbuster. Not to forget, superbly researched and gripping. State of Fear is built around the theory of global warming. It debates the threat that carbon-di-oxide emissions could have. The techno-thriller follows a rich philanthropist who invests heavily in a law suit filed against the State, demanding compensation and measures to check losses caused by global warming and to prepare for the expected bleak future. He strays when he detects the fishy doings of the law firm. His secretary, lawyer and a charming scientist follow suit. Soon they unravel the law firm's plot to terrorize the world in the name of global warming, to establish a State of Fear.

A three. Read it for the extensive research that has gone into writing the book.

Michael Crichton

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” 
― Jane Austen

The Fountainhead

The Fountainhead is about an architect, Howard Roark, who lives his passion. He struggles in the hands of cavalier men who suppress his vision and the art he submits himself to, that which the orthodox public look down upon and call Modern Architecture. It follows his complex relationship with different people, making it a romance and a philosophical work at the same time. The romance may not be Elizabeth-Darcyesque but is one that stays with you much after you have turned the last page. Even the philosophy tends to stick. Objectivism and individualism are so utterly beautifully related that you begin to believe in them from the core of your being. The size of the book is endearing, the language is overpowering, and the philosophy it encompasses is life changing. It is said Atlas Shrugged is Rand’s best work. Atlas definitely shrugged for me, while I read The Fountainhead. A five, obviously.

The Fountainhead was made into a hollywood movie in 1949, six years after Ayn Rand got her book published.