tl;dr
So who exactly, is John Galt anyway? When I first started reading the book, I didn't exactly know what I was getting into. I though it would be one of those easy reads, where you read a book, maybe keep a story idea in your head and move on. Boy oh boy was I surprised. At this point in my life, far away from home, in a hostel somewhere, this was a book that not only transformed me, but I have had the same response from people who have read the book by borrowing my copy, or had a copy of their own. For people who jump into this book without having read "The Fountainhead", and are, thus, unaware of the sheer existential questions this book forces you to ponder over, the impact is more or less transformative. If there is a book that you need to read, to understand capitalism, socialism, society as a whole, why most geniuses quietly decide to step back, this book gives you food for thought. Plenty! If there's just two books you need to read to understand the world, this would be one of them. Other, The Fountainhead!