Rating: 
Summary: Marvolous insight into many different things
Review: Ayn Rand, much like she did in the novellete "Anthem", has said very much in very few words about many things. Other than the normal egotism and objectivism portrayed in her other works, the fountainead goes deeper into the realm of, at least I think, organized religion at its roots. More than that, but I think that Ellsworth, Keathing, Guy Francon and the majority represent the "church" of archietecture, and Howard Roark represents the new thinker, the "agnostic" in a sense. Remember, the Roman Catholic Church did not acknoledge that the geocentric view of the universe was correct until the 70s! Organized religion and groups as a whole will always be hate-filled about new ideas, they wish to maintain conformity. Ayn Rand says very much in this novel, and I dont see how anyone can see that this is bad writting, unless they just dont like Ayn Rand's philosophy.
Rating: 
Summary: So wrong in so many ways
Review: Ayn Rand is so wrong in so many ways -- and spreads her mistakes out over hundereds and hundereds of interminable pages. "The Fountainhead" could be unintentionally funny, a kind of trashy read, a giggle for people with a brain. In fact it's just dull, full of stooges for Rand's tenets haplessly disguised as characters. And, oh, she doesn't know the first thing about architecture, either.
Rating: 
Summary: valley of skyscrapers
Review: I am a 30 year old architect. I read fountainhead for the juicy details of big time architecture. Rand wrote a story that is both bigger than life and true to life. She was a voracious researcher and a highly imaginative writer. Art imitates life in Fountainhead, in glorified fashion. I can attest from personal experience that a career in architecture does indeed include elements such as school rivalries, office politics, insecurities, megalomania, long hours designing, critiques, skyscrapers, mansions, engineers, contractors, tradesmen, and wealthy clients. There is mediocrity in American architecture, and there was a modernistic movement in the early twentieth century. Rand abridged it for her story. The lives of her magnified characters are entangled in destiny. This could never happen in real life, could it? Many scenes are so confident and gritty I cannot forget them. Also, her building descriptions are vivid and beautiful. As you can tell, I needed some extra excitement in my 9 to 5. I thank Rand for the greatest American story about architects that I know of. Only, I wish she would have finished it. I have a big problem with the last third of the book. A misplaced dialectic of philosophy cuts into her ending. The ending is missing something. If only Rand would have kept her artistry and philosophy more separated. Thus, as is, Fountainhead ultimately is not literature to me, but propaganda. And every person should be wary of propaganda. The message of this story is not universal. It is a mistake for young readers to imitate Rand's protagonist. Roark is the most wooden hero. He is a robot programmed to design masterpieces. A puppet in a book, not to be confused with a real life fountainhead. Instead of anthropormizing Roark, look for real life leaders who struggle and ultimately change our world. I know I'm just a regular architect. If I was a fountainhead, I would know it. Don't be a player hater.
Rating:
Summary: A subjective look at objectivity
Review: It is difficult to brand this book as a novel.It mixes philosophy, selfishness, love and several other rarely discussed concepts. The first time I read this book I found that everything it said was perfect. But 15 days down the road the holes in the story started showing up. I started finding whole of Rand's so called objectivity a cruel farce. The story starts with the naked Roark and ends with a successful Roark who after 700 odd pages looked to be mightier and aweinspiring than ever. Toohey- the evil really went on to prove that "the pen is mightier than the sword". All in all the book is powerful and is not for the weaker fun loving minds.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best
Review: Many pseudo-intellectuals think they are geniuses for being able to read a book of this length. I am no intellectual by far but have read many books on philosophy. I believe this book to be one of the most important pieces for people of any age. This book puts life in perspective. It shows, quite cleverly, that there are rewards beyond materialistic ones. It also shows that greatness is not necessarily what others believe it to be but what the creator gets out of it. I first read Atlas Shrugged at the suggestion of my brother. I read it in about 3 days, seldom putting it down. I went on to read every novel written by Rand. I think that she is a very important author of our time and whether you believe in her philosophies or not you must read it.
Rating:
Summary: The "synthesis" of Ayn Rand
Review: A strictly entertaining story or interesting philosophy is a notable achievement. The capacity to combine both as only Kierkegaard and a few others have done before is a mark of special genius. The first fiction read in years which I seemingly could not put down, I'm glad I held off reading "The Fountainhead" until my late-20s. The marrow of this book -- its uncompromising stand against workplace compromise -- is a theme unlikely to be fully appreciated by younger readers. "The Fountainhead" is pure hyperbole, through and through. Though its chief protagonist, Howard Roark, will have great appeal, hardly anyone could stand a friendship with so self-assured an "ubermensch." Few outside of Rand's world warrant such callous disregard for the judgment, experiences, and rational talents of others. Yet it is precisely this hyperbole which drives home Rand's point so convincingly. The lesson to be distilled? If our lowest common denominator world is the "thesis" and Roark its "antithesis," then the world is surely a better place at the "synthesis" -- that point of equilibrium where intelligent, principled independence is asserted and yet where accomodation doesn't necessarily connote capitulation. "Fountainhead" is a must-read.
Rating: 
Summary: I strain myself to review this fairly.
Review: "The Fountainhead" was supposed to be -if one believes the back cover- a book about two architects at war. But instead of focusing on such an interesting idea -Peter Keating, always leaning on crutches; and Howard Roark, always breaking free with new forms and materials- what we have here instead is a "novel of ideas" that attempts in one swoop to cover the media, altruism and selfishness, and a love story that reminds one of pulp fiction (not the movie, but the "school" of writing). I gave it two stars because, if you can suffer through all the cliches, there's some extremely thought provoking ideas that are inspiring. Stick to your guns, Rand tells us, and anything is possible. Don't compromise, and don't listen to others telling you you can't. But oh, the cliches! Every time Roark raises a building he walks through the skeleton, the girders lunging heavenward (as she might put it in her many variations on this same exact scene), with his hands clasped, with a cool, confident demeanor, languishuing in his own deftness and surety. And of course the kid on the bike, whom Roark gave "the courage to go on living". I suppose some cliche usage is permissable, but after 700 pages it really gets on the nerves! Philosophically the book is very interesting, very foundation-shaking, but it's a NOVEL, of course, not a book on philosophy (of which she has several), and in examining "The Fountainhead" strictly as a novel, as a big story, I'm left feeling cold. Perhaps I'm just a product of my times, but way too much artifice and melodrama, and not nearly enough passion. Also: far too diffused, too many topics! Read it for the powerful philosophical ideas, but skip it if you want a good story!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful
Review: I would recommend this book very highly. I found it to be a refreshing and wonderful view on the human spirit.
Rating:
Summary: -
Review: However spectacular this novel is, the fact remains that it is not a novel. It is propoganda.
Rating: 
Summary: Love it or hate it--it is what it is.
Review: Ayn Rand is a gifted storyteller. This is apparent in the first twenty pages. It is an extremely engaging book with phenomenal characterization and it weaves an interconnected plot which rivets the attention of the reader like few other books can do. However---the enjoyment of the book is contingent upon the reader's philosophical leanings. It is, at heart, a philosophical novel, but perhaps one of the best (with the exception of Tolstoy) to erect a philosophical system while keeping the reader fascinated with the characterization. The final question remains at the end of the book---did I like what Rand said? For me the answer was unequivocally "no." Often downright polemical, the book extolls the virtues of the individual will to power. I am with Rand all the way on the individual will to power, as, like her, I believe it accounts for the evolutionary progress of mankind. However, the characters representing her philosophies sometimes take on the qualities of caricatures, almost surreal in their embodiment of the ideas Rand has designated them to symbolize. The Fountainhead reveals Rand's fear of the mob, the herds of humanity and their petty desires and motivations. It champions the spirit of egotism, the rigorous adherence to one's own drives. But it does so in a way which leaves a bad taste in the mouth of anyone who has ever felt a sense of connection with their fellow human beings. Unfortunately, it is Rand's political ideology which has put the US in the current position it is in. 1% of the population controls the majority of its wealth. And hand in hand with the domination of capital come the other "isms" which are cancerous: sexism, racism, classism. Rand's characters are such patently sexist archetypes, one almost gets the sense that Rand herself has a little self-contempt for being female. Dominique Francon desires her rape, longs to be dominated and crushed into a subhuman existence. Even the male heroes of the book, despite being the only characters to have "ideals", are driven underneath it all by the sexual urge. The book, like capitalist philosophy, essentially takes the low road in terms of its measurement of overall human character. The worst thing I could say about it is that is essentially a document embodying all the darker elements of capitalist ideology and I sincerely believe that it is a justification of all the unfortunate (or fortunate depending upon your power position) conditions that arise from a nation guided by these principles. The best thing I could say about it is that it is an extremely well-written character drama.
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