The Fountainhead (Centennial Edition Hardcover) by Ayn Rand Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Fountainhead (Centennial Edition Hardcover)
Book Review: Ayn Rand Predicts The "Dumbing Down" of America
Summary: 5 Stars
Have you ever wondered how we as a people could be so happily discarding good taste for bad? Has it ever occurred to you that there is a trend toward an ever lower common denominator in music, art, politics, ethics, morals, and virtues? Perhaps you've always believed that this was inevitable or just the sad "way of the World". Read this book and think again!Book Review: A classic. Mandatory reading for aspiring architects!
Summary: 5 Stars
A classic. Literature in the true sense. Mandatory reading for aspiring architects and impossible to put back down by anyone else who cracks it's cover. That "The Fountainhead" is often ridiculed by today's architectural press for portraying an architect who stubornly stands alone rather than being a "team player" is of little importance to this architect reviewer. The plot, characters, and undercurrents of intellectual ideology are more than enough to induce fascination. This book remains relevant in any era. Even better as a reread, "The Fountainhead" when revisited after several intervening years will awaken new understanding and meaning. To enhance this understanding read noted pshchologist Nathaniel Branden's biography of Ayn (ryhmes with "mine") Rand, "Jugement Day", written around 1990. More fascinating than the novel itself, her life story provides a sure footed foundation upon which to build an understanding of this author and her writings. Learn the part that such noted architects as Richard Neutra and Frank Lloyd Wright, not to mention present day economist Norman Greenspan each played in her literary career. Fascinating!Book Review: don't let the length fool you!
Summary: 5 Stars
if the length of this book turns you off you vould be missing out on one of the greatest pieces of literature! Rand superbly illustrates the struggle between conformity and individuality in this novel. Roark can be seen as a true idol for not selling out on his beliefs and epitomizing a true leader.Book Review: One of the most important books I have ever read.
Summary: 5 Stars
IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE IN YOUR PRIVATE LIFE THIS IS A MUST READ BOOK. OUR CULTURE AND GOVERNMENT IS HEADING TOWARDS DISASTER. IN THIS BOOK AYN RAND AWAKENS THE READER'S AWARENESS TO THESE ISSUES. A VERY COMPELLING LOVE STORY AND DRAMA THAT MUST BE READ!Book Review: Philosophically silly, the style and characters are wooden
Summary: 1 Stars
THE MOUNTAINHEAD (a parody) Chapter 1 Howard Rock pulled himself to the summit. He was the first to climb Mount Everst. Or was he? There was flag planted at the summit. And that flag belonged to Peter Cheating! Rock's attention was diverted by a growing whirlwind. The heavens parted and Rock hafl expected a repentant God to offer an explanation. Instead, he saw a helicopter. A rope ladder was lowered and he saw a shapely pair of legs desend. Rock would recognize those legs anywhere: he pried them open once before.l "Hello, Rock," Domino said, now joining him at the summit. "Too bad Peter was here first." Rock did not reply. "If it means anything to you, Peter didn't climb Everst; he took a helicpoter. Rock smiled. He knew Cheating was no mountain climber. Cheating and his ilk would never be more than mere social climbers. "But the credit will go to Peter," Domino said. Rock said not a word. What did her care for the recognition of fools and humanitarians? "Anyway, Howard, I just wanted to let you know that I'm filing rape charges against you. I might have enjoyed it, but it was still rape." Rock said not a word. There was only one person who could have put such dangerous ideas in Domino's head, and it wasn't Susan Brownemiller. "Fooey will represent me," Domino said. Of course, Hellsworth Fooey! Fooey, a humanitarian plotting to destroy the world through la ethal injection charity. Fooey would start with a soup kitchen and wouldn't stop until he had housed all the world's poor. "You'll spend a few years in jail," Domino was saying. "You can use the time to study and get a real job." Yes, that's exactly what he would do. Cheating had beaten him to the top of the highest mountain, but he - Rock - would build and scale the world's highest building. Chapter 2 Five years later, Rock's plans were complete. There was a knock on the door. Rock knew it was Domino. "Hello, Howard," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't visit, but the slammer is such a depressing place. Are these your plans? Why, I'm flattered, it looks just like a domino." "It will be the world's tallest building," Rock said. At thirty thousand feet, it will be taller than any mountain. I'll be the first to climb it." "But Peter will beat you; hel'll take the elevator." "There will be no elevators." "Then he'll take the stairs." "There will be no stairs." Domino was struck with awe. She was in the presence of no mere ordinary date rapist; Rock was a man who could stick it to the world. "But, Howard, don't you think it will be hard to get financial backing for a building without elevators and stairs?" "Fooey has arranged everything," Rock said. Chapter 3 Howard Rock looked skyward. His building, Mount Neverest, was complete. He, Rock, had refused to pander to softed-hearted philanthropists and hard-headed corporatists alike. Only true mountain climbers would scale his building. Let social climbers like Peter Cheating design buidling with stairs and elevators. Why word had it that Cheating had included wheel chair ramps in his last building! "So, Howard, we've finally done it," Fooey said. "Where is your climbing gear.?" Rock looked at his feet. Fooey understood: Rock would pull himself by his own bootstraps. Chapter 4 Rock toiled for forty days and forty nights. Why mounting Domono hadn't caused him half so much trouble! Finally, he pulled himself to the top. And there, fluttering in the wind, as though laughing at him, was the flag of Peter Cheating. But how!? "What's the matter, Howard?" Rock turned. It was Hellsworth Fooey. "I took the elevator," Fooey explained. He smiled and added, "I'd like you to meet some of my friends. Fooey opened the door and a procession of wheel chair bound invalids rolled out onto the roof. Hellsworth was in his glory. "Express elevators, local elevators, escalators, emergency stairwells. All the creature comforts a degenerate public and a unionized work force could ask for. Rock said not a word. He knew what he had to do. Chapter 5 "The People rests," Fooey said. He had presented an ironclad case. Howard Rock had, with malice and forethought, firebombed Mount Neverest, killing three hundred children in the day care center. Rock did not deny the charges. "If you wish to apply the letter of the law, I am guilty," he said. "But I appeal to a higher authority. Mount Neverest was an affront to artistic integrity. Elevators and stairs and worst of all, priority parking for the handicapped!" Rock continued on for another three hundred pages, after which he said not a word. Chapter 6 Has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asked. "We have your honor. We find the author, Ayn Rand, guilty of wooden language, cardboard characters and contrived plotting. Worse, we find her guilty of foisting her infantile philosophy upon us. Any Rand said not a word, but fourteen years later replied with fifteen hundred pages of nonsense.