The Fountainhead has been one of Ayn Ryand’s most prolific work. Though it is famous for its philosophy of individualism, I love it for its intellectually challenging themes of passion, excellence, integrity and ethics. And yes it is a great love story too.
The Fountainhead is a book every collegian reads and worships! The Fountainhead is a tribute to positive selfishness (?), individualism, ego and is based on Ayn Rand’s theory of objectivism. Once you start reading The Fountainhead, it is difficult to put it down. Though I do not always tend to agree with her, I am amazed at her thoughts. She is refreshing, creative and too engrossing. While The Fountainhead is about people behaving in a certain way, Atlas Shrugged is why they behave in that way. The Fountainhead is the favorite book of loads of people including students, celebrities and CEOs. Imagine this was a book that was rejected by many publishers.
Sample these Ayn Rand quotes :
1. Wealth is the product of a man’s capacity to think.
2. I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.
The story of The Fountainhead is centered on an architect, Howard Roark. Howard Roark was a Brilliant young architect whose integrity was as unyielding as the granite of the buildings he created. This is the story of his violent battle against the world’s standards and conventions, and of his explosive love affair with a beautiful woman who loved him passionately, yet struggled to defeat him. The theme of this record-breaking bestseller is that man’s ego is the fountainhead of human progress.
The theme of individualism vs. collectivism, or self vs. selfless, runs throughout philosophy. The story is mostly concerned with ethics, though. The Fountainhead deals with issues of: selflessness, altruism, collectivism, creativity, aesthetics, love, sex, morality, and how to live morally.
The Fountainhead is the fastest book that I have read. I was up the whole night while reading this book and while in the lecture next day, my mind was on the plot ahead. I completed the book in less than 48 hours. Go – read it!
Tarique Sani
“and of his explosive love affair with a beautiful woman who loved him passionately, yet struggled to defeat him.”
Did she really struggle to defeat him? Or Did she do all that to protect him?
🙂
ashok.karania
Obviously she did that to protect him!
Lauren
so what happened to these so called fountainhead journals created by Rand that included her sketches of the characters?
I can’t find them online anywhere!
suraj
i am planning to read this book have heard a lot about it.
sai
oh this is not put downable it jus goes of with a bang
she shows the care fo a woman towards the man she loves the most in a dangerous way to fight him its great
for those who are not individualists it infuses that idea and for those who are individuals it jus makes them better
viju
it’s really a “high quality book ” ….worth reading
Natasha Sazonova
Those of us who lived under Communists have a great appreciation for societies that value the individual and I agree with you that “The Fountainhead” is a great book when it comes to the importance of individualism (among other things). However, I wouldn’t call it a great love story. If anything, I, personally, was slightly annoyed with Rand’s portrayal of Francon’s behavior. I think the book could’ve benefited by being a bit less ‘relationshippy’.