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aggyrun's review against another edition
4.0
Do books on tape count? I read this years ago, but it's been so long it's like listening to it for the first time. Not as good as I remember. Atlas Shrugged is WAY better. I'm pretty sure this was written before Atlas Shrugged and you can tell Ayn is still developing her philosophy on life. Still a good story and worth reading if you've already read Atlas Shrugged.
urtesun's review against another edition
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lynn_jerzyk's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
langos_ta's review against another edition
reflective
tense
medium-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
2.25
"Take it with a pinch of salt."
my_odd_books's review against another edition
challenging
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? Yes
3.75
This was a hard slog but an enjoyable read all at the same time. Where, this year, I have complained that books were too short, this is an exception and could have been at least 200 pages shorter. Though long, the characters were all well developed, often to the point where I disliked them in the extreme and while I couldn't always agree with the book, it blew my mind that this book is over 80 years old and some themes are more relevant now than ever.
raj_8102018's review against another edition
5.0
To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.
I love you. As selfishly as the fact that I exist. As selfishly as my lungs breathe air. I breathe for my own necessity, for the fuel of my body, for my survival. I've given you, not my sacrifice or my pity, but my ego and my naked need. This is the only way I can want you to love me.
I love you so much that nothing can matter to me - not even you...Only my love- not your answer. Not even your indifference
You have been the one encounter in my life that can never be repeated.
I could die for you. But I couldn't, and wouldn't, live for you.
I regret nothing. There have been things I missed, but I ask no questions, because I have loved it, such as it has been, even the moments of emptiness, even the unanswered-and that I loved it, that is unanswered in my life.
Of course, I need you. I go insane when I see you. You can do almost anything you wish with me. Is that what you want to hear? And the things you couldn't make me do?” you could put me through hell if you demanded them and I had to refuse you, as I would. Through utter hell! Does that please you? Do you want to know whether you own me? It's so simple. Of course, you do. All of me that can be owned. You'll never demand anything else. But you want to know whether you could make me suffer. You could. What of it?"
It goes only down to a certain point and then it stops. As long as there is that untouched point, it's not really pain.
Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most important is nothing to them; nothing, not even a sound they can recognize.
Love is reverence, and worship, and glory, and the upward glance. Those who speak of love most promiscuously are the ones who've never felt it. They make some sort of feeble stew out of sympathy, compassion, contempt and general indifference, and they call it love. Once you've felt what it means to love as you and I know it - total passion for the total height - you're incapable of anything less.
I came here to say that I do not recognize anyone's right to one minute of my life. Nor to any part of my energy. Nor to any achievement of mine. No matter who makes the claim, how large their number or how great their need is. I wished to come here and say that I am a man who does not exist for others."
Lines I love from the book I love to the person I love. I have a lot of favourite quotes from the book and a few like the ones above were very intense:
En cada empeño, se entrelazan virtudes y vicios. La esencia del trabajo depende de los hilos que elijamos tejer en nuestra narrative.
The Fountainhead aligns with my ideals and exudes concepts of love, choices, power, happiness, and individualism. The work contradicts people who can't place themselves over others. Howard Roark is a phenomenon and symbol of self-belief, independence and intense passion. People either like Howard or abhor him. Howard's level of commitment to his profession, love, and values is something worth attaining. A freethinker who doesn't go around pleasing nor trying to gain the approval of others. Howard Roark is only in love with Dominique, for his entirety, just selfless and undemanding love. Howard Roark doesn't compromise on his integrity. He exhibits a great strength of character and patience during times of tribulation. I can keep writing more and more about the protagonist. Peter Keating, Ellsworth Toohey and Gail Wynand's characters represent different sections of people out there. I was already in awe of Roark's progression through the story and that feeling soared upon the introduction of Wynand. The philosophical views are different for every individual. The setup, the protagonist and excellently penned supporting characters make this the best of my favourites. Who wouldn't like a tale that involves a single person standing against the majority? The Fountainhead likewise, is a conflict between a visionary and the rest.
blazekcurrie's review against another edition
4.0
There are thousands of reviews of this book, but I write this one for myself. Which is very fitting for this book in particular.
I have been encouraged to read this book ever since I started reading books outside of those required by a school class. And because I kept being told, “you should read ‘The Fountainhead,’” I refused for a long time. I had googled Ayn Rand - I got the gist of objectivism. I wasn’t interested in a massive novel when I could easily find essays on the salient points.
However, I was pleasantly surprised by The Fountainhead - my first Rand novel. Her character development, story design, and dialog kept me reading. I liked her style of archetype characters who represent versions of society. I was also struck by how a book written in the late ‘30s / early ‘40s could use language - even technical language - that has survived a near century.
The book’s first sentence and last sentence are of one individual, Howard Roark, standing in contrast to everything else. Beyond all the armchair discussions about principles and philosophies of Rand, she took a character hundreds of pages and across decades of time without changing him any, and the story still works. She had to do it this way - she believes men are born with a sense of self-respect and reverence for self. It’s society that changes us… well, some of us. She needed a main character that did not change.
I have been encouraged to read this book ever since I started reading books outside of those required by a school class. And because I kept being told, “you should read ‘The Fountainhead,’” I refused for a long time. I had googled Ayn Rand - I got the gist of objectivism. I wasn’t interested in a massive novel when I could easily find essays on the salient points.
However, I was pleasantly surprised by The Fountainhead - my first Rand novel. Her character development, story design, and dialog kept me reading. I liked her style of archetype characters who represent versions of society. I was also struck by how a book written in the late ‘30s / early ‘40s could use language - even technical language - that has survived a near century.
The book’s first sentence and last sentence are of one individual, Howard Roark, standing in contrast to everything else. Beyond all the armchair discussions about principles and philosophies of Rand, she took a character hundreds of pages and across decades of time without changing him any, and the story still works. She had to do it this way - she believes men are born with a sense of self-respect and reverence for self. It’s society that changes us… well, some of us. She needed a main character that did not change.
fahad's review against another edition
5.0
Phenomenal and timeless. Can't believe this was written at that time by a woman of that time. This is what literary novels should be in the modern era.
willardk's review against another edition
5.0
So, after two years, I am done.
I have finished all twelve books. And whether I liked them or disliked them is beyond that--they all changed me. I'm sitting here typing, thinking about where I was two years ago. Like then, I am writing. But now I write with more conviction. I think.
The Fountainhead was truly amazing. However, I didn't want it to drag me along willingly. I wanted to pause, to fight its message at times. I had to be the filter, just as Bill told Charlie. And while, as a freshman, I didn't understand what that was supposed to mean, I do now. You can't just go along with a book, even a great piece of literature. You have to make it your own. All those people who admire Ayn Rand, who are part of her institute, I don't think they completely understand what being a filter is. I can't just let her book change my life completely. I have to let it change me on my own terms. I embrace her philosophy while desperately holding onto my own.
Everyone who saw me reading this book knew who Ayn Rand was from the fond memories of Anthem. But I don't think we were teaching it correctly. Mr. Zalaski told me he found the book selfish; I found it a great tribute to self. I think, in the end, that's how everyone felt about Anthem. But what we really should've taken away is the fact that it is both: terrible and wonderful. Why did that novel have such an impact? It told someone what to think, and he or she just went along with it.
However, I am choosing what to think now. That is what I now know. I can choose. Nobody can tell me that I'm not good enough anymore: it's a phrase I've heard one too many times. I can stand for myself, pick the novels that I want to read. It took me two years to realize it. I wish it had taken less.
I've always known I want to be a writer. But now I know I can. This past year, I've been thinking about a book I want to write, and I know that I will write it. I know that it will be good. I'm not being egotistical. If you think I am, so be it. But I know that I am my own author now, and I can't be afraid of what people will think, as I have been before.
By reading these books, I have gained the experience and knowledge I need to write my own anthem. My own Gatsby. My own change. Something that is precisely my own.
I have finished all twelve books. And whether I liked them or disliked them is beyond that--they all changed me. I'm sitting here typing, thinking about where I was two years ago. Like then, I am writing. But now I write with more conviction. I think.
The Fountainhead was truly amazing. However, I didn't want it to drag me along willingly. I wanted to pause, to fight its message at times. I had to be the filter, just as Bill told Charlie. And while, as a freshman, I didn't understand what that was supposed to mean, I do now. You can't just go along with a book, even a great piece of literature. You have to make it your own. All those people who admire Ayn Rand, who are part of her institute, I don't think they completely understand what being a filter is. I can't just let her book change my life completely. I have to let it change me on my own terms. I embrace her philosophy while desperately holding onto my own.
Everyone who saw me reading this book knew who Ayn Rand was from the fond memories of Anthem. But I don't think we were teaching it correctly. Mr. Zalaski told me he found the book selfish; I found it a great tribute to self. I think, in the end, that's how everyone felt about Anthem. But what we really should've taken away is the fact that it is both: terrible and wonderful. Why did that novel have such an impact? It told someone what to think, and he or she just went along with it.
However, I am choosing what to think now. That is what I now know. I can choose. Nobody can tell me that I'm not good enough anymore: it's a phrase I've heard one too many times. I can stand for myself, pick the novels that I want to read. It took me two years to realize it. I wish it had taken less.
I've always known I want to be a writer. But now I know I can. This past year, I've been thinking about a book I want to write, and I know that I will write it. I know that it will be good. I'm not being egotistical. If you think I am, so be it. But I know that I am my own author now, and I can't be afraid of what people will think, as I have been before.
By reading these books, I have gained the experience and knowledge I need to write my own anthem. My own Gatsby. My own change. Something that is precisely my own.
poppysmic's review against another edition
5.0
I was wary of starting this book partially, inevitably, because it seems better suited to a doorstop than a novel. Unlike most long novels however this didn’t feel like a slog. I was quickly obsessed with these often abhorrent characters; following the lives of their ilk seems to be my niche. Infuriating as Roark and Dominique were I was oddly rooting for them to overcome the far more reprehensible (mostly) society through which they trudged.