Fountainhead

Rating:
Summary: unbelievable!!
Review: This novel changed my whole perspective of life. Words can't even describe how much i loved this book. This was the first book of Rand's that i've read but certainly won't be the last.

Rating:
Summary: In Defense of Ayn Rand
Review: If you've made it to my review, you've read all the ones above it. Notice that the people who do not like this book cannot say why they do not like it. They simply call it names, and call Ayn Rand names. Then look at the reviews of people who like it. Notice that they list specifically the ideas and characters that appeal to them. If you can think, you will like this book. If not, you will come back to this page and spew out the filth from your empty mind in a contentless, pointless, harangue of Ayn Rand. Read the Fountainhead, and learn about the past, present, and still attainable glory of man.

Rating:
Summary: Long but well worth it
Review: This was a great book, excellent detail, well-developed plot, great use of characters. But 700 pages is a little extreme. I will confess, I read the whole thing, and I couldn't put it down, but if you are one of those people who can't read more than 200 pages at one sitting, don't bother. Unless you read most of this at once, you won't get the full effect of The Fountainhead.

Rating:
Summary: A stimulating book that will challenge altruism.
Review:

This book is as fat as a dictionary, but it will challenge your views on altruism (i.e. selfishness) and show how hard it is to be openly selfishness, how hard it is to have integrity, and thrive in a parasitic society bend on having its way with your talents, your mind, and your very soul if you have one. Those concerned about the state of affairs with humanity should read this book and consider its implications that still ring true to today. It will demonstrate that humanitarians and those with a collectivist ideology are as selfish as their counterparts. At least think when you read this book, but try harder to think for yourself, as Ayn Rand suggests. Plunge into it, sustain judgement, and view the world with a realistic perspective. But most of all, enjoy the process and not the end. Aaron Albelo

Rating:
Summary: It's a love - hate relationship
Review: I've never experienced such a love-hate relationship with a book before. I was so completly drawn to the characters and the principles created in this book. Yet somehow in the back of my mind I kept thinking, "this just isn't right." The book was brillent! It appealed to a side of me that I never knew existed. Could I recomend this book to anyone without feeling a little guilty? I don't know. The book was amazing, but would I want to promote such ideas? It really makes you think.

Rating:
Summary: are you ready???
Review: are you prepared to have your beliefs stirred and shaken and jolted and electrified? if you are, it is time to be saturated with the power of the fountainhead. go on, pick it up, and you will never be the same again. you will learn about the kind of person you were not so sure ever really existed. he does exist, and your initial goosebumps will remain as you absorb the character of howard roark. he thrives in the fountainhead. this novel is pure exhilaration to read. once you complete it, howard roark will remain in you, whether you like it or not. the final step is up to you - do you choose to learn from howard roark? or do you choose to remain the same - the same as you have always been, and the same as everyone else is? again, i ask, are you ready?

Rating:
Summary: what head?
Review: please read the review by [e-mail]

They express exactly how I feel about this so-called "novel". Mountains of Triteness, Plateaus of Platitude. Except that, in my case, I give it a "1" because I haven't read Atlas Shrugged (thank god).

Rating:
Summary: For those who know how to think...
Review: I admit it. I was way intimidated by this book when I first picked it up. But upon encountering the very first line, I was immediately drawn into a world that was always there at the tip of my mind (and remains at the tip of everyone's mind - the real question is whether or not people have the integrity to delve into it). Reading The Fountainhead, I felt like the largest fake that I had ever known. What I most admire about The Fountainhead (and the other works by Ayn Rand) is the fact that she can make you look at what you've been taught your whole life and laugh in its face. It's nearly impossible to take an intrinsic society value such as altruism and turn it over to show the inherent evil that most people fail to see. I know I had been blind to this concept for years. However, I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone. Taking the lead from Ms. Rand's ego, I don't think that this book can be enjoyed by those who aren't yet ready to let go of society's hand and take their first step

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: Saul Bellow was once asked about Ayn Rand's work. He replied"...yes..I read something of hers before. I remember I felt like I just had my suit pressed...while I was still in it." I know people who love this work and people who hate this work. I've encountered people that have tried to be Howard Roark, and known people who have dropped out of architectural schools after reading this work. regardless of hate or love one must respect a work for being able to make us feel the way we do, for makeing us act the way we act, and for makeing us think the way we think. This book, for me anyway, is a shineing example of what words are capable of. I was on a bus to arizona and I heard a woman talking about The Fountainhead. She hated it because she tried to live like Howard Roark for 2 years, and failed to become "like him". She had rage in her voice, and anger, genuine and pure balled up her fists. I have to respect any written work that can generate such internal intensity in the reader.

Rating:
Summary: The Virture of Selfishness
Review: Do you find yourself often ridiculed by your peers for being selfish? Do they say you don't feel enough love for your fellow man? If that is the case read The Fountainhead and understand why selfishness, not their weak Aristotelean selflessness, is the height of human goodness. Also, understand the role you play in the epic battle of the creator v. the second hander. Read The Fountainhead today and stop being a second hander and start being selfish.