Rating: 
Summary: Liberals beware...
Review: The story behind Ayn Rand's "objectivism" is wonderful. I was absorbed throughout by the characters. However, the right-wing underlying philosophy can grate at times, and the end is a bit on the strange side for me. Read it for the story and try to ignore the Limbaugh-style rantings and ravings that plague it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but drawn out!
Review: The Fountainhead started off very slow. But as the story farthered, it was much better. My only problem was that it was drawn out. Every page could have been summed up in one sentence.
Rating:
Summary: Very deep, concise, Rand's vision is successfully put forth
Review: The Fountainhead is very enjoyable, it's philosophic and psychological insights regarding the spiritual roots of collectivism and individualism are woven into a clear, rich texture. While a bit long, and Rand's narration can be a bit hammy and self-indulgent, the novel is clearly a wise investment of time and thought.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading, if only for the content and not the story.
Review: I enjoyed the first 2/3 of the novel until the long winded propaganda selling Rand's brand of philosophy began to wear thin. I forced myself through the last 1/3 and decided it wasn't so great a story, but it was a thoughtful experience.Ayn Rand did accomplish what she set out to do: she changed the way I, as reader, look at life (at least for a week or so). To look at it simply as a piece of fiction, to me it failed. I didn't buy the ending, either. One thing that amused me is that Rand's favorite word must have been "insolent." It appeared at least once every two pages, sometimes once per page, sometimes twice, and once she used it twice in a single paragraph. It pulled my attention away from the story and to the words, which is not a good thing to do. Rand probably wouldn't have appreciated me laughing at her masterpiece like it was a Monty Python sketch. Here's a writer who's work screams "I need a Thesaurus!"
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth all the blind love it's received.
Review: The first time I read this book I loved it. It fed all the soap-opera ideals I had about myself and the individual, and I romanticized the comments someone else had told me about it. I bought it again a few years later, and couldn't finish it. The philosophy is obvious and self-serving, and the "trial" of the last few chapters was a simple way for the author to make sure even the most idiotic readers got her point. Blech. At the same time, it's important that you read this book and formulate your own judgment of it. Just don't accept it without question, which is what everyone seems to do. There are some serious flaws to the philosophy that's represented.
Rating: 
Summary: integrity
Review: this is simply the most amazing book i've ever read. theres no way to describe it other than that...
Rating:
Summary: This book will change your life
Review: The Fountainhead is the best book I have ever read. In spite of its length, it reads fast and not one single word is superfluous. I would recommend this book to anyone with a brain and the ability to face the truth about the self and the society in which we live.
Rating:
Summary: It is Novel worth reading!!!!
Review: Doesn't it say something about a book that is as loved and loathed as this one. Read it and form your own opinion.
Rating:
Summary: Trust your judgement.
Review: The Fountainhead speaks in a voice that always felt like my own but I just wasn't sure I was hearing it. Sometimes the inner voice could use a little confidence. The world of second handers, of people who would rather live unhappily ever after (and have society to blame because they did everything they were "supposed to do") than strke out on their own, is clearly spelled out in this book. The Fountainhead put into words a feeling I always had and has given me the confidence to atleast "attempt" to listen to my own wants and needs. Is Roark fiction? Of course. Is that life attainable? Probably not. Is it a goal? It is for me.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting ideas that I had previously not been exposed to.
Review: Without boring you with paragraphs of details to let you how well read I am, I'll say I liked it. I read it about 2 years ago and it has stayed with me. However, it is definitely dated, expanding on concepts which, while acceptable in the 1940's were barely palatable now (eg. the rape of Dominique by Howard Roake and her subsequent inability to get him out of her system so to speak). I was particularly taken with the character of Ellsworth Toohey. I think Rand captured a character here that we are all aware of in our lives. A man given to power through manipulation. A man who knows that his power can only stand through the world's acceptance of mediocracy. She stated her point very well though him. He is the character that most affected me in this book and in my life.
| 
