novels

This overtly philosophical novel is about Howard Roarke. This book describes the career of a fiercely independent architect, who exemplifies Ayn Rand's objectivism. His career is juxtaposed with a colleague from college, Peter Keating, and is intertwined with other characters, including a unique woman named Dominique, a successful businessman name Wynand, and a famous "intellectual", Tooley.

Rand thoroughly describes each individual's concept of humanity throughout the book. This is strength, and a flaw. The dialogues are very, very contrived, and at points insulting to the reader's intelligence. Keating and Roarke's rivalry was thoroughly enjoyable. To see such those two in tandem, though extremely overt, was stimulating. The inclusion of other characters, especially Dominique, bored me to death. Even though she provides a sort of bridge between two the two rival philosophies, her intrusion into the story is convoluted and serves little purpose than to occupy pages.

This book contains a great message. It's almost hard to find anyone who doesn't relate to Howard Roarke's character. It's lack of subtlety, its super preachy and continuous dialogues, annoying other characters, all deter it from making it an enjoyable read. I found myself glued to some pages, while trudging through others. It's best to describe this as an essay containing fictional characters, rather than a classic novel.

Some people say that this book changed their life. Fair enough, but all the philosophy and messages are presented throughout simple economic principles, historical affairs, and common sense. The only true insight I gained from this was the definition of objectivism. Not worth 700 pages of only mildly interesting reading.

Would I recommend this book? Probably, it's not that bad, and you can decide for yourself.

Annotation: The Fountainhead is about an architect, Howard Roark, who builds for himself and not for society. He is hated because he won't sacrifice his ideals in order to please a client. Other architects use designs from prior periods in history that many times serve no functional purpose, such as Roman columns or gargoyles. There is not much originality and society likes what they are told to like. Howard is often considered a rebel, but should be considered a genius because he doesn't steal others' designs but relies on his own standards.

Author Bio: Ayn Rand, the founder of her unique philosophy objectivism, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1905. As a young child she taught herself to read and write and decided at the age of nine to become a fictional writer. In 1925 with Russia under communist rule she obtained permission to visit family in the United States; she would never return to communist Russia. Her first novel, We the Living, was published in 1936 but it was not until The Fountainhead was published in 1943 that she became nationally recognized and acclaimed. She died in 1982. Every book published during her life remains in print.

Evaluation: The Fountainhead is the best book I have ever read. Howard Roark was created as the perfect being, the hero of this novel, according to Ayn Rand's philosophical views. It is a very good introduction to this view, called Objectivism. Roark is the beneficiary of everything that he does; he acts in his own rational self-interest. This is a highly condensed version of the basis of Objectivism. In order to appreciate this novel you must open your mind to anything, you may not agree with the philosophy but I assure you that you will learn more about yourself and your own morals. To understand this book you need to see the deeper meaning of things not just the simple plot. This book is not a thriller nor a mystery, but a thought-provoking masterpiece.

I stayed up late nights to read this book. I turned page after page. There is something Ayn Rand has seen through, something she articulates so roundly, that it relieves a burden I hadn't even realized I'd been carrying. I can put my burden down as I read -- she has seen me. I no longer have to scream at the top of my lungs. I love to read her books.

And there are many, many aspects of human nature which she sees very deeply. Not everyone could have written that rape scene, for example, and gotten it right. She is one of the 20th Century's great authors...... despite the fact that you can mail in a card enclosed in the book and join some save-the-world organization dedicated to her work. I really think they should take out the cards. They only make the right people ignore her and the wrong people read her for the wrong reasons.

And yet the cards reflect the vestiges of an ideologue which still lives in her. She's a Russian turned Jeffersonian. But I still feel the European ideology thing going on. Most Russian immigrants to the US take up capitalism and its freedom of speech in their own way. But I've seen precious few of them who so genuinely understand and embrace the Jefferson in America - and I've known a lot of Russian immigrants. I was married to one. (For that matter, I've met few Americans who get it consciously, but that's another matter.)

The ideologue in Ayn Rand shows up, for example, in her categorical condemation of anything suggesting 'spirituality' or 'God' or whatever. I even ran across an erratum somewhere where she apologizes for using the word 'spiritual' in a fit of passion... of course there's no spiritual, she explains. Of course not. No, no, no, no. But her passions spoke true, and her mind couldn't follow them. For she is essentially spiritual and just in denial about it. It's that she can't rationally fit it in with all the stuff that she does see so clearly with 'spirit' and 'God'. And the reason she can't do that is that she can't think of religion as a private matter between a person and God. Religion for her belongs to a state and a society.

So she puts her head before her heart a little sometimes, and the result is that she lacks the lyrical powers of Emerson, Goethe or Shakespeare. But I'm so happy she lived and worked.