Fountainhead

Rating:
Summary: Atlas was better...
Review: but this is still enjoyable. A good book to give your friends if you're not sure how they'll react to Rand.

Rating:
Summary: A strange contradiction
Review: Ayn Rand's Fountainhead has confused me. I've just finished reading it for the second time, a year after I read it first. It has confused me simply in the fact that I don't understand my own reaction to it. I loved the book both times, no doubt. But the more carefully I read and re-read passages, the more I hate what the characters are saying--ALL of them, protagonists and antagonists alike. I still love the book, but Raynd's philosophy bores me with its pretentiousness, and her description of Toohey and his followers is far too simplistic- he's written so blatantly evil that the reader is insulted...Did Raynd think we wouldn't pick up on his wiles if she didn't spell it out for us this way? And, strangely enough, the book has made me somehow more aware and embracing of my religion, instead of shunning it as one would expect to be affected by the book. I'd say everyone should read this book; it affects the way you think about things. But I don't think it has the effect on all people that Raynd necessarily wanted. In shamelessly plugging her own philosophy and attempting to win people over to it, she has contradicted the very things for which is purports to stand, leaving a funny taste in my mouth...I don't know. Like I said, I'm confused.

Rating:
Summary: Reprehensible
Review: In brief, the book is about Howard Roark, a man striving to become a modernist architect in a society which despises modernism and adores classicism. He falls in love with Dominique Francon, the daughter of the most prominent New York classical Architect. The story tells of his struggle, and Dominique's struggle with some of her own issues.

The three things which struck me most about this book are:

1: The characters are all utterly deplorable
2: Todays society is run by facsimiles of the characters
3: Objectivism (Ayn Rands Philosophy) offers despair as its reward.

The book itself was fabulous. I had a difficult time putting it down. The book has many dialogues, some of which did not make it clear who was speaking, on the other hand, many of the dialogues were the sharpest I have ever seen. At one point I was physically buzzing due to this (When Dominique - the main character, first meets Gail - the wealthy newsman.)

Rand describes a stuffy society, run by wealthy men but controlled by unions. She builds a society of "second-handers"- people who spend their lives imitating all that has gone before them. Her main characters obviously depict her Objectivist philosophy. They are the outcasts in a hostile society.

Rand showed many of the errors of her philosophy (unwittingly, I am sure) in this book. Reversing the roles of the selfish and the selfless. She manages to make it look like a person, selfish by todays standards, is in fact a selfless person, and vice versa. The method she uses is highly transparent.

I would recommend the book for people who love to read and will read anything. I don't recommend Mrs. Rands philosophical ideas - and if you do choose to read this book, you will see why.

The character I loved: Gail Wynand
The character I despised: Ellsworth Toohey

Rating:
Summary: a naive and weak book
Review: Ayn Rand was so immersed in her heartless, simplistic ideology to take the time to create interesting, human characters. Instead, we have dummies inflated with rhetoric and ideas. I would hate to be in the room with one of these people for more than a few minutes -- some would bore me to tears, others would make me get violent. The plot of this novel is pretty weak, too.

Rand's philosophy is very easy to understand, and as a consequence this ``philosophical novel'' is very easy to read. For readers ready for novels with human *and* philosophical content (and better philosophical content at that), I advise reading Iris Murdoch.

Rating:
Summary: About love, but completely without it
Review: Rand said she belonged to the Romantic school of literature, as opposed to the Realistic, the difference being the the Realistic writes about how things are; the Romantic how things should be. She said Howard Roark was the "ideal man," how she considered a man should be. But he takes no one's feelings into account and sees people as "things" there to serve him. A man like this would not care if a woman loved him or not. He wouldn't care about her feelings toward him. A man like this IS a psychopath, and being one, would be incapable of love, as ALL psychopaths are incapable of love. So he could not love his work. In reality most psychopaths are in prison or are con men. Rand's understanding of pychology, of human nature--and of love--is utterly incompetent. But this is to be expected, considering that she held a decades-long affair with a married man, never noticing--or caring--that her own husband slowly descended into alcoholism until he died of it. She wrote of something she knew nothing about.

Rating:
Summary: A silly book written by a very silly woman
Review: Not to be unkind, dear reviewers, but I find it ironic that Rynd's "drooling masses" appear to be the same lemmings rabidly rating her books 5 stars. I would rank this book alongside "The Celestine Prophecy" and "The Bridges of Madison County" as the one of the Three Silliest Books of the Century. Make that the Millenium.

Rating:
Summary: one can't rate this book with just 1-5 stars......
Review: even as i write this, i know that it goes against the whole objective of this book (so to speak). all i can say is that in my life, ever since reading this book many years ago, i have had one wish....to live in a building that Roark built...in only that way could i totally experience and possess him....the mind of Roark, living within the creation of his hands. and, finally, my being could be celebrated in something worthy. [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: That's me in there
Review: I read this book a few years ago, but I still remember, after reading the first twenty pages or so, looking up from the book and realizing that I was reading fiction. Every word I had read seemed so true that I almost forgot this was a book, and that I was not Roark. For years before I read the book, I had always wondered whether or not there were others like me, but after those twenty pages, I knew. I shake my head in disbelief when I read the other reviews that say Roark was cold, without feeling. I remember feeling the same soulfulness that Roark must have felt for his art. A central theme of this book is that one's art and self cannot be created for (by) others, or it is not art, or a self, at all. It's interesting that Objectivism goes hand-in-hand with creative art, which seems a much more subjective activity. I can't explain it, but as soon as I discovered true music (way back in Middle School), my life took a very Objectivist turn. I don't know everything about Objectivism (time prevents me from reading much), but after reading the Fountainhead, I felt that I would fit under the 'objectivist' title quite well. Even though, today I just use the title 'Brian.' I don't feel any need to learn more about Ayn Rand's philosophy, since I already have my own mind. That would be like reading the Khoran [sic] to find out I don't believe in that religion either. I don't have time, and for someone who already forms his own beleifs, I don't think it necessary to read why Rand thinks capitalism is great. I would love to read Atlas Shrugged, however, because I like fiction, and believe that is where Ayn's strength is (in her self-art). But I digress. The Fountainhead is a masterpiece by a true artist, about art. The book is obviously a work of the heart and soul. I suggest to anyone that feels alone against the prevailing trends and social ideals of the world, and has a surge in their breast that tells them to create and be happy, to read this book. It will only take a few pages to realize that you are not the only one out there. You may be so drawn into the book as I was, that you start to take the fiction for fact. For example, I was scared for the sake of others (wait a minute... I'm supposed to be an egoist) when I found out that it can be too late for a person to find happiness (i.e. when _____ showed his try at 'art' to Roark). I took that as fact, because all the rest of the book seemed to be true. I supppose Rand may have had more insight (or more like 'outsight') into the matter as I do, but I still hope for everyone that hasn't found true happiness, that it is not true. If you haven't found true happiness, I suggest trying this book, and trying to find your self-art. (Also listen to a good helping of Devin Townsend's music.)

Rating:
Summary: Beauty in words
Review: I read this book because this I could win a $10,000 scholarship. After I was done reading it, it was much more than that. I no longer care if I get the scholarship or not, this book has put into words many of the feelings I have in my heart. Howard Roark's passion for architecture is incredibly romantic, and I only wish I could be so dedicated a person like him. This book was non-stop twists and turns. It kept your eyes peeled and your mind open. I got done with the book at about 4 in the morning and had to go for a walk. I surrendered to the beauty of the book and what it represented. I would say that anyone who believes in total freedom of the mind should read this novel.

Rating:
Summary: A massive book
Review: This novel is inevitably associated with whatever touches a chord deepest within each reader. Ayn Rand carries her tale with such swaggering confidence that it is necessary either to agree with her or to disagree with her. Ignoring her is out of the question. The novel had a deep spiritual significance to me-- one Rand probably did not intend and might have resented in light of her atheism. I loved her characters-- a love she would have despised. I admire her book-- an admiration for which she would not care. Rand practices what she preaches-- a perfect egoism, and a total disregard for anyone else's opinion. If you are prepared to be snubbed, read this book. It is definitely worth reading.