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The Fountainhead (Audio CD)
by Ayn Rand
| Category:
Fiction |
| Market price: ¥ 368.00
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¥ 348.00
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| MSL Pointer Review:
A true masterpiece in the realm of philosophy and ethics. Oh yes, a manual for being a real human being, as a bright mind put it. |
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AllReviews |
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The New York Times (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-26 00:00>
A writer of great power. She has a subtle and ingenious mind and the capacity of writing brilliantly, beautifully, bitterly. |
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Lonnie Holder (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-26 00:00>
The Fountainhead is a great rarity; a well-written and successful philosophical novel. Though Ayn Rand becomes occasionally too didactic, I realize that she was concerned that some readers would be unable to see the points she was making. I did find this novel humorous at points, as Rand placed Howard Roarke, her protagonist, in contrast to his environment so that Roarke appeared to be in control of his environment. Those who understand this novel will find humor in many places. I am unsure of how much of the humor was intentional and how much was unintentional.
There are several principal characters in this 700+ page book. Howard Roarke is an architect. Roarke believes in himself and is a creator. Rand uses Roarke as her example of the "perfect" man. Rand contrasts Roarke primarily with Peter Keaton. Keaton is an adapter of technology. He "borrows" his architectural concepts from historic styles rather than focusing on the practical and having form follow function. Keaton panders to popular styles. Roarke designs plans that are functional and fit within their environment. The beauty of Roarke's designs is in their functionality and how each design fits its environment. Unfortunately, repetitive design is valued, and creativity is not.
There are several other significant characters in this book. Ellsworth Toohey is a newspaper columnist. Toohey exemplifies mediocrity. Toohey is manipulative and power hungry, but is so subtle in his machinations that few people recognize Toohey for what he is. I was fascinated that Toohey seemed to want a worthy opponent and lamented that his opponents were unable to see what Toohey was doing. Toohey's comments and actions imply that Toohey seeks socialism or communism, but he wants to be the absolute dictator. Toohey seems to have all the worst characteristics of communism and fascism.
Gail Wynand is the owner of a chain of newspapers. Wynand is a self made man. Wynand is quite similar to Roarke in many ways, though it takes us a long time to discover the similarities. Both men eventually come to admire each other.
Dominique Francon is very important to the novel. She appears cold-hearted, though she is not. She becomes a connection between Keating, Wynand and Roarke. However, Dominique realizes that she will likely destroy nearly everyone she contacts. Rand uses Dominique as a tool for continuity throughout the novel and to aid in contrasting the characteristics of the three men in Dominique's life.
What is The Fountainhead about? It is about one man pursuing his quest for what he believes to be right, regardless of what most of the world thinks. Rand hypothesizes that if that man is correct, and has an objective ideal as his goal, that eventually the rest of the world will recognize the validity of that man's (or woman's) viewpoint and follow along. The Fountainhead is against the average, against mediocrity, against collectivism, against rule by committee, and against the manipulation of people by those whose only purpose is to seek power over other men. The Fountainhead is for individualism, for creativity, for following your own path and for objective truth.
Ayn Rand tried to keep her explanations relatively simple. She characterized people as those who lived through others and those who lived for themselves. However, I think there could be a third category, which Rand likely classified as the second category. As we know, not every person is highly creative. But, an average person may well recognize the creativity of a person such as Roarke, and admiring such creativity, does what they can to bring that creativity to realization. I would call this third category a person who facilitates the creator.
The first time I read The Fountainhead, I considered the book profound. I looked at the world, and myself, in a different perspective. This book is easy to read, but it is not light reading. The book requires a lot of thought, and you may find that you disagree with Rand or you may be disappointed. If you are a potential Howard Roarke, it is unlikely that you will read this book at all. For the rest of us, The Fountainhead is a great work of fiction that embodies what many of us like to believe is the basis of the United States. While there may be a little cowboy in us, there is a lot of pioneer spirit, which was founded on a strong sense of individualism. We can only hope that these ideals remain with us in the future.
I hope you find this book as incredible as I did. Enjoy! |
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Kevin Kingston (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-26 00:00>
I arrived at The Fountainhead by reading the books mentioned in the Berkshire Hathaway letter to shareholders by Warren Buffet, one of which was, When Genius Failed about the rise and disastrous collapse of Enron. That mentioned The Fountainhead, which I read first, then Atlas Shrugged. The Fountainhead was less focused on the economy and more on the individual and how the group consciousness, collectivism and the expectancy to live ones life for others affects society, whereas Atlas Shrugged takes it a bit deeper to show the effects on an economic level.
Both approaches clearly and convincingly point out the dangers of irrational thoughts, beliefs and actions. Ayn Rand, both in this book and her others rejects the belief that man is or can be a victim of forces beyond his control, such as God, fate, upbringing, genes or economic conditions. She shows through the beliefs and actions of the lead character Howard Roark how rationality is man's basic virtue and his main fundamental values are: reason, purpose and self esteem. She illustrates that man must live for himself, not for anyone else and to live for one self takes self esteem to believe in ones own ideas, dreams and visions.
I applaud her strong burning belief in a hands-off government and laissez-faire capitalism. I read someplace that Alan Greenspan is a big Ayn Rand fan as can be seen by his hands off approach and reluctance to interfere with capital markets and security market regulations.
The book illustrates that thinking for one self is of the utmost importance in life and how not thinking for one self turns you into a helpless victim of the thoughts and plans of others.
The books theme, be true to one self is a biblical concept mixed with a modern day society to illustrate as clear as day the difference between self thinkers and those that live for others. It will just about terrify you into becoming your own person. |
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Johnny Verbeck (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-26 00:00>
Like Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead is one of the finest peices of literature ever written. This book emphasizes the importance of individualism over collectivism, and of sticking to principals. Howard Roark, the hero (arguably modeled on Frank Loyd Wright), is a hard working architect who learns not to compromise with his ideas on architecture. He doesn't believe in designing with architectural styles of the past - Classical, Gothic, Rennasaince - and instead uses a new modern style that hasn't been done before, using new concepts and new technology to create unique buildings.
Although he is a brilliant architect, he refuses to build anything in a historical style, resulting in his expulsion from his college, and later making it difficult for him to get any contracts. Even when faced with closing his business, he still refuses to do work he doesn't believe in.
Peter Keating, on the other hand, is a talented architect who at first becomes wealthy and famous designing buildings in historical styles. He quickly rises to becoming a partener in a great architectural firm, and designs many buildings that are praised by the public. However, he has no talent for designing anything new, and often has to ask for help from Howard Roark. Much of the story revolves around the conflict between the two - Roark would rather create a magnificent builing, but Keating would rather get credit for creating a magnificent building that he didn't design.
The story takes twist with the involvement of Elsworth Toohey, an architecture critic who preaches altruism, and despises any form of sucess, like the buildings of Roark. Dominque Francon, a manipulative woman, gets involved with both Roark and Keating. And Gail Wynand, a very wealthy a powerful man with no principals, becomes great friends with Roark, although eventually he will learn why his lack of principals will ultimately be his demise.
Hoard Roark constantly struggles against the general population, who view him negatively for being selfish and stubborn. He goes through expulsions, bankruptcies, betrayals, but because of his determination he eventually ends up on top - above Keating, Wynand, and Toohey.
The great thing about The Fountainhead is that it still applies to modern life, as individualism and principals are just as important. For instance, John Kerry, like Peter Keating, based his policies on what the public thought was good, and not what he felt was good. And like Peter Keating, John Kerry ended up as someone who will never be on top, and who will soon be forgotten (I'll remove this review if he somehow does get elected in 2008). On a more positive note, many people throughout history, like Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King, had strict principals on what was right, and they did not compromise with their principals, which is why we achieved gender and racial equality. The Fountainhead will continue to be a commonly read book, and the principals of it will continue to be true. |
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Richard Gleaves (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-26 00:00>
I wonder how Roark would review The Fountainhead. Hmm...
Let me start by saying you've made a mistake already, Peter, by asking what I think of this book. You can read. You can think. You're still human and you're still capable of reason. You know enough to make a judgement.
The setting is the world of architecture. The theme is the importance of integrity. If the title, setting, or theme intrigue you read the novel.
What I think of the Fountainhead matters to only one person: myself. I will not provide you with a pre-digested approval or disapproval of this book. I will, however, offer you advice on how to understand it. Advice that applies to any other book you might read in the future as well.
When an author publishes a novel, they publish only a slim fraction of the thought that went into that product. Art is a process of selectivity; for every word in a novel, there are a thousand words written and struck out again.
When an Ayn Rand offers you The Fountainhead, she is laying before you, for a price of a few dollars, years of her life and enormous mental effort. Understanding the novel to the root requires that you put in the mental effort to follow - a tiny fraction when compared the mental effort that went into the creation. Your mental effort is multiplied by the originator- but the degree of your understanding is your OWN achievement, and your final assessment is your own "yes" or "no" in answer to the author's song.
An Einstein may give you E=MC². That will be of no benefit if you accept it passively. But if you seek to understand, the road from ignorance to knowledge is a glorious road- even if the knowledge is ultimately rejected in favor of something else that you find more convincing.
Ayn Rand has placed in your path either a rock or a gem. Pick it up and value it according to that which you determine it to be. Don't judge it based on what others say. Hold it in your hand and really look.
A novel I read is something I judge against my own lifetime of knowledge. The connections I make between it and my own observations are unique and unrepeatable.
A novel is just like a love affair, a college course, a career, or a cause- you get out of it what you put in.
So don't look to me to review it. That defeats the very purpose of Art. If you love it, you will have gained a value in this life. We may find we have a value in common. If you hate the novel, it will not affect my opinion in the slightest.
Nor will it affect Ayn Rand or the value of her acheivement. |
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-26 00:00>
You may or may not be aware of the controversy surrounding this work. The Fountanhead is Rand's introduction to a bold philosophy called "Objectivism." In short it values the will and ego of the individual over all, purporting that every action, every decision be given to a purpose solely in the interest of he who makes it.
It is a novel about Howard Roark, an architect of Rand's perfect objectivist design. Roark will not, and perhaps cannot stray from the height of individual integrity; he acts for himself and one desire: to build.
His character demands that he refuse to compromise on matters of his work. He pioneers a new and asthetically beautiful architecture, one that is mechanically efficient and devoid of visual fanfare. He also lives in a time where innovation is shunned in favor of variation on the old themes: roman, rennaisance, gothic. He is beaten and driven to poverty by those who wish to see him fail, those who play to the public's desire for vanity.
In short it is a story of the genius of an individual against the insistence of the collective. It will challenge one's perception of the ego, of altruism, and of humanity itself - no matter what is made of it after all is said and done.
The most persistent criticism of this monumental work is its lack of compassion. Many complain that the characters are cold. In fact, their compassion is subtle, but often more compelling than literature's most fabled heroes.
If you plan to tear through this novel then do not bother - it requires time as does any type of digestion. It will force you wrench out any sliver of certainty you may have ever had about how to live one's life. The most egregarious mistake you could make interpreting this novel is to assume that it is cold, it teaches how to live. |
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Britta Schellenberg (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-26 00:00>
I love and hate this book at the same time.
I love it because I have never read anything like it. It engaged me, challenged me, made me angry and happy. But most of all, it questioned my viewpoint on life, my relationships, my own agenda and my quest for happiness. And that is what I believe a book above all should do to its reader.
I hate it because Howard Roark, the hero of the book, is so idealized. Everyone else in this books struggles with their demons, their place in society and their relationships with each other. Roark, however, is different. He appears to have it all figured out. He always knows what to say and what to do. There are never any doubts, no regrets, hardly any pains. I asked myself: how does he do it and how did he get to this point? He is supposed to epitomize the ideal of happiness and content. But in that ideal, he seems so inhuman. He actually does not seem like a real person. Where you would expect a character to struggle with a decision, Roark storms forward without any faltering. If Rand intended Roark to be the person that we should all strive to be, I cannot figure out how to be him.
The curious thing about the book is that all the other characters actually depict the human traits that you expect in a fictional character. There is the woman who seems to have everything except for love and happiness. There is the man, who has risen from the slums of poverty by working hard and corrupting others. There is the man who lives through the opinion of others and is never truly himself, and there is the man who has figured out how to construct public opinions through his own manipulations. All these characters struggle, all of them develop, change, come to an awareness of themselves. Only Roark is the same on page 1 as he is on page 700.
Yes, this is a long book, but don't be discouraged by its length of Roark's idealized character. The story keeps you going and the interweaving of plot lines is fantastic. Read it! Really read it, even if you don't believe in Objectivism or Rand's theories. You will find that besides its faults and ideals, it is a fantastic read that will surely challenge your outlook on life.
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Lesley Freitas (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-26 00:00>
Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead is now more than sixty years old, yet it retains its relevance and urgency, Judging both from fellow reviewers, and from personal experience, every reader of The Fountainhead emerges either loving or hating the book. I personally find Rand's ideas uplifting, and though her philosophy is not entirely of her own creation, Rand's presentation is compelling and her formulation is clear and striking. Furthermore, for all the controversy Rand's philosophy may inspire, The Fountainhead is undeniably an entertaining and well-written book. That Rand is able to demonstrate her fascinating philosophical views in such a well-written and well-told story should be recognized as a tremendous feat.
The Fountainhead tells the story of Howard Roark, a young architect who is, as Rand describes in an early manuscript, "a man who is what he should be." Roark is a self-contained human being, who lives entirely for himself-by his own definition of himself. Roark's buildings are considered both radical and offensive by many observers because he fails to pay homage to the styles of the past or to collaborate with anyone on any part of his designs. As Roark states at one point, he believes that buildings, like people, have one central theme or idea, and that idea cannot be compromised.
The leading figure in opposition to Roark is Ellsworth Toohey, an "intellectual" with a particular specialty in architecture. Rand, in the same early manuscript, describes Toohey as "a man who never could be-and knows it." I take delicious delight in every word Toohey speaks; he is one of the most evil characters every created, and there is no doubt he is extraordinarily good at what he does. What Toohey does is attempt to destroy the heroic, self-sufficient men by setting forth as the moral ideal those men who live by everyone else's standards but their own, who are mediocre and could never achieve greatness, and who submit themselves to the collective will.
The conflict between what Roark stands for and what Toohey stands for demonstrates quite clearly Rand's philosophy: in short, she upholds Roark as the ideal. This contrast can also help explain why some readers feel uplifted by Rand's philosophy while others are horrified by it. The heroic in Roark can be inspiring, but also somewhat menacing; Rand is very clear that it is not possible for everyone to achieve the ideal demonstrated by Roark. This runs counter to ideas most Americans have been instilled with since youth: egalitarianism and the accessibility of the American Dream. On this basis, it is easy-as several characters in "The Fountainhead" do-to dismiss Roark as an egotist and to hold up Toohey's intentions as benevolent and charitable.
As this is a book review, it is not my intention to argue for Rand's positions-though I realize that my admiration for those positions is plainly evident. I mention these conflicting views simply in hopes that readers will approach The Fountainhead more willing to allow their own values and expectations to be challenged, and honestly assess Rand's ideas. This book is able both to entertain and to inspire thought, and any reader should remain open to both. |
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Ed Uyeshima (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-26 00:00>
Ayn Rand wrote a fascinating albeit melodramatic novel in 1943 about an idealistic architect named Howard Roark and how he epitomized the concepts of individualism and objectivism in spite of the consternation it caused in others. In using architecture as the vehicle for her ideals, she concocted a hero whose ego reigns supreme and whose selfishness marks him as a true success in his field. This is bold thinking and probably quite antithetical to wartime sentiments, yet this book has under- standably built a following over the years thanks to her near-Baroque style of defining her characters and their predicaments. In fact, it is really just the Baroque elements that Hollywood could understand in the well- remembered 1949 film adaptation starring Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey and Gary Cooper as Roark.
The novel really follows the lives of five distinct characters who represent contrasting archetypes in Rand's philosophy. First, there is Roark, a supremely talented, uncompromising architect whose creative visions are at odds with those around him. On the opposite side is Ellsworth Toohey, an architectural critic who values mediocrity as a means to subdue the masses and allow Communism to infiltrate the country. In between Roark and Toohey is newspaper mogul Gail Wynand, whose rags-to-riches background has given him an unprecedented power to influence the masses. While he is Toohey's boss, Wynand gradually comes to admire Roark's individualism. A romantic triangle develops among Roark, Wynand and Dominique Francon, the headstrong daughter of a successful architect, whose attraction to Roark is mixed with self-loathing over what she envisions as his doomed visions. The fifth character is Roark's former classmate and rival architect Peter Keating, who is presented as a man devoid of ideals, more than willing to accommodate the masses to ensure his livelihood. While others may find the weak-willed Keating beneath contempt, he is also the most human of the quintet.
The characters inevitably clash throughout, but Rand produces an exciting if rather far-fetched climax where Roark clandestinely designs a housing project for Keating under the condition that nothing change in his design. Of course, the design is significantly changed, and Roark takes matters into his own hands. It's irresistible fiction with a philosophical core that makes it seem more important than it is. Many Republicans claim the book is about one of their own, but such self-referential adoration misses the novel's main point, that Roark is a man who stands outside any recognized group. Rand deserves kudos for making such an arrogant character completely arresting throughout the book's marathon 752 pages. |
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Tragdor (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-26 00:00>
Ayn Rand's life, works, and philosophy still remain mired in dispute 23 years after her death. But you if you are reading this review page you are already knew that.
My review will try to focus on the actual work in question instead of judging Rand's personality, affairs, intellectual ability, The Ayn Rand Institute, or gasp! Even her smoking (I have yet to meet somebody who had a problem with Sartre smoking). But this course of action is unlikely.
This book along with Anthem and Atlas Shrugged are morality plays. Just like The Scarlet Letter, Everyman, or even The Jungle (yes Virginia, socialists have morality too.). That fact that this is a morality play is what turns some people off.
The prose and plot structure turn off many people who demand "realism". I put realism in quotes because I really don't believe that this book is totally detached from reality as its detractors claim, each character is a moral abstraction. Taking bits of realistic human behavior and taking it to its logical and often ridiculous extremes. Keating is a bumbling everyman, Wynard is a Nietzschen/Stirnerien overman, Dominique is the depressed existentialist, and Howard is the Randian ideal. The only character that I would agree is totally unrealistic is Toohey, who is an abstraction for everything Rand views as evil.
Now for the part you all have been waiting for, the commentary on the rape scene! My first comment will be totally off the record and totally not intellectual. "That's hot". Its no secret Rand liked to have her heroines get smacked around when they were having sex. As a male who would like his girlfriend to smack him around in bed I have no problem with this scene.
Since Howard is the Randian moral ideal and he did commit rape many people assume this means that Rand supported rape. Rand also didn't help herself when she said she was a "male supremacist" and that no healthily woman would want to be President. (Well so much for not discussing Rand's beliefs). But on the same flip of the coin Atlas Shrugged main protagonist is a woman and Rand's newspaper endorsed The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. Eh I have gotten sidetracked, check out the book The Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand if this stuff interests you.
Well my review has gotten rather long I will end with some advice:
1) Take all reviews on this book, including this one, with a grain of salt and read the damn book anyway.
2) Counting reading philosophy once you're done with the book. If you don't like Rand there are more fish in the sea. Try Camus, Sartre, Nietzsche, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, Popper, Ayer, Foucault, Thoreau, Plato, Aristotle, etc. I don't care just read some philosophy. You might learn something about yourself and the world you happen to live in. |
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