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emmabjones's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
An absolutely incredible book from the characters to the writing to the story. Rand’s characters are complex and intelligent. The world she created and the interactions between people made me think about relationships and social situations in ways I never have before. It’s a story about architecture in the briefest sense but it is so much more than that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
austinsmart's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
readingoverbreathing's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Even after two books and over 2,000 pages in the span of a few months, I really have a hard time articulating what it is that gets me going with Ayn Rand's work. So much of it is about industry, about capitalism, about human nature and human genius. These are not themes which would usually appeal to me. But Rand has an extraordinary talent for master storytelling on the deepest possible level, for creating characters that, despite the archetypal roles they occupy, are somehow so vivid and real. There is such a sense of atmosphere in each and every scene she creates here, from Peter Keating's living room to the edge of the Francon quarry. If I envisioned Atlas Shrugged unfolding like an Edward Hopper painting, this book I imagined against the backdrop of the works of Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, all sweeping lines and sensible design.
The Fountainhead was not nearly at the scale of Atlas Shrugged, but I found I enjoyed the confines of the New York setting and the opportunity to see Rand's skill for storytelling on a more insular level. Dominique and Howard are not unlike Dagny and Hank (same initials even?), nor is their battle against the mainstream that dissimilar, but I found I didn't at all mind these and the other parallels that I picked up on as this book unfolded.
I will say that my primary frustration with this book was that, unlike in Atlas, Dominique and Howard actively self-sabotage in a way that was honestly just exhausting. The principles and the philosophy that hindered them from their own happiness and success were unnecessarily moralistic and just a bit much. That is, I suppose, how Rand's overall message could best be characterized; it was for this same reason that I couldn't bring myself to award Atlas 5 stars, despite how much I loved it.
Overall, however, this is the kind of book that really sticks with you, that you will continue thinking about, that you know even while reading it that you will keep thinking about for a long time to come. After this experience — and an experience is surely is — I think I can definitely count Ayn Rand as one of my new favorite writers.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Drug use
spookynerd's review against another edition
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Well, as the friend who recommended this book to me said, "I hate her politics, but..."
If said friend had told me, "This is a book about architects!" I never would have picked it up out of sheer disinterest. But somehow, Rand's writing style MAKES it interesting.
The poetic prose flows well. Her descriptions are vivid and realistic. And she writes her main characters in a sharp, introspective, (and at times uncomfortable) light.
This was a weird one for me. I enjoyed it very much in some ways, as a piece of art largely. At other times I wanted to hurl it out a window for dragging on. (And for having an unsubtle underlying theme of "oooo socialism scary!!!" turned straight up manifesto at the end.
Regardless, I'm glad to have read it to broaden my horizons some.
If said friend had told me, "This is a book about architects!" I never would have picked it up out of sheer disinterest. But somehow, Rand's writing style MAKES it interesting.
The poetic prose flows well. Her descriptions are vivid and realistic. And she writes her main characters in a sharp, introspective, (and at times uncomfortable) light.
This was a weird one for me. I enjoyed it very much in some ways, as a piece of art largely. At other times I wanted to hurl it out a window for dragging on. (And for having an unsubtle underlying theme of "oooo socialism scary!!!" turned straight up manifesto at the end.
Regardless, I'm glad to have read it to broaden my horizons some.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Rape, and Injury/Injury detail
rainpunk's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Nonoffensive, and in a limited way inspiring about the ideal of self-actualization and self-assuredness, but extremely narrow-minded with a laughably cartoonish world that feels like a strawman world set up specifically to make Roark look like a noble, misunderstood victim. That makes it hard to take the philosophy seriously because it makes no attempt to examine its own claims with any nuance.
Like what might the person look like with the ideal ego but without Roark's literally flawless hyper-competence? What if Roark loved the work for work's sake, put it all into a building, and monumentally erred, like a building collapsing or it in real life flowing more awkwardly than he realized? It seems so easy to claim that a philosophy is correct and good when the only person acting under that philosophy is a genius visionary who can make literally no mistake in his work, even seemingly never struggling at all.
Glad I read it, because Ayn Rand is a meaningful part of the western "canon" but I can't say the philosophical content is more compelling than a Ted Talk on the value of self-actualization.
Like what might the person look like with the ideal ego but without Roark's literally flawless hyper-competence? What if Roark loved the work for work's sake, put it all into a building, and monumentally erred, like a building collapsing or it in real life flowing more awkwardly than he realized? It seems so easy to claim that a philosophy is correct and good when the only person acting under that philosophy is a genius visionary who can make literally no mistake in his work, even seemingly never struggling at all.
Glad I read it, because Ayn Rand is a meaningful part of the western "canon" but I can't say the philosophical content is more compelling than a Ted Talk on the value of self-actualization.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
enterprse's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
I'll start my review by saying I greatly disagree with nearly all of Ayn Rand's philosophies. The way she vilified any form of human aid and connection is really quite strange.
I did not really like or care about any of the main characters, but I do think that Rand did a good job of planting seeds of foreshadowing.
I find it disturbing that other reviewers haven't really touched on the fact that Roark is a rapist and is only shown in a positive light.
Overall I wouldn't recommend reading Fountainhead, it drags on and I don't find the characters compelling.
I did not really like or care about any of the main characters, but I do think that Rand did a good job of planting seeds of foreshadowing.
I find it disturbing that other reviewers haven't really touched on the fact that
Overall I wouldn't recommend reading Fountainhead, it drags on and I don't find the characters compelling.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
cgrays's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Minor: Classism
laina_olive's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
parwaaz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
harshada's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Finally done with this mammoth. And just like a mammoth, this book is not only huge, it's also extinct and impossible to exist in a real world where humans live.
This book is like the philosophical manifesto for Objectivism and Individualism. The main character is Rand's "ideal man". All her characters are extremely black or white, good or bad, creator or parasite, egotist or altruist - which almost sounds like a children's story because, as we know, no human is like that. We're all grey.
The "romance" of the two main characters is extremely problematic and toxic. I would have worried how this book might be perceived by impressionable young adults, but I think the pop culture today has made it irrelevant.
I think the litmus test of this philosophy depends on your answer to this question - Would you be okay with an objectivist blowing up a new housing project which would have homed poor people, because the building's design wasn't followed as specified by the objectivist architect?
The writing in the first half was slow paced, repetitive and dense. It gains pace in the second half and I even found some of it beautiful towards the end.
This book is like the philosophical manifesto for Objectivism and Individualism. The main character is Rand's "ideal man". All her characters are extremely black or white, good or bad, creator or parasite, egotist or altruist - which almost sounds like a children's story because, as we know, no human is like that. We're all grey.
The "romance" of the two main characters is extremely problematic and toxic. I would have worried how this book might be perceived by impressionable young adults, but I think the pop culture today has made it irrelevant.
The writing in the first half was slow paced, repetitive and dense. It gains pace in the second half and I even found some of it beautiful towards the end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape