I bought Rand's The Fountainhead--should I read it?

[Orrex]

First printing of a 1943 edition with jacket reasonably intact. Hey, it was a dollar at Goodwill, so it's not as though I've given her any postumous income.

I'm reading other things at the moment, with a few items in the queue, but I wondered if intellectual curiosity is sufficient reason to tackle this monolithic work.

To be honest, I know little about the book, other than the fact that many NeoCons are required to bleed into its covers before being admitted to the cult. Also, I've scanned the first several pages and can conclude with reasonable confidence that Howard Roark is an asshole.

Is there more to be gleaned from it beyond this conclusion?

Or should I just try to rent this fine piece if I'm looking for a sampling of Rand's writing?

[OldLeftieLawyer]

1. If you're under twenty-one,

I say read it, because it's a classic - in its own way.

Then, years later, you'll look at it, and wonder "What the ............. ?"

[Orrex]

8. Way over 21, but

I'm always interested in bogus reasoning that "the other side" finds convincing.

Thanks for your suggestions--I'll read it in due course.

[WCGreen]

22. God, that was sooo on I can;t believe it....

The Fountainhead is all about being selfish to the nth degree....

It sound heroic when you are young and facing all that authority but soon you grwo up and understand that some compromise is neccessary ...

[SteppingRazor]

2. Definitely read it.

Now that you've already bought the thing (shame on you, by the way! ;) ) why not read it? That's what books are for. At the very least, it can give you important incite into how the other half lives.

[Orrex]

11. Oh, they give me plenty of "incite" on their own!

Sorry--no one likes an anal speller in a casual forum. :)

Since it's a weighty tome, I thought of using it when I rotate my tires, but I guess I'll read it before that.

Thanks!

[dogday]

3. Why Read It When We Are Experiencing It

The classes are at war but the MSM would never say it.

[RPM]

4. read it...

Everytime some conservabrat accuses my more liberal views as being "utopian" or "unrealistic" i merely refer to this book - Rand's thoughts are highly impractical in the real world - in fact, I dare say if the world worked the way she would have it, she wouldnt have written the book as most women would be illiterate and kept as sex toys. my $.02

[Orrex]

7. Illiterate sex toys? Why didn't I buy it sooner?!?

I've had enough online discussions with Libertarians to have gleaned a sense of where their market-uber-ales would take us, and I wondered if this book would provide good background detail.

Thanks for your input.

[Warpy]

5. The Fountainhead was her best

and one that was almost persuasive. Well, it was very persuasive to most adolescents.

The antidote is "Atlas Shrugged." I was 16 when I read my way through Rand, and I finished that one in silly giggles over the persistent vision of those hardassed characters with whiny toddlers clinging to them.

I mean, all that forced sex should have produced SOME toddlers, right? Oh, wait, that's where her philosophy of utter selfishness breaks down completely. Her characters would have stopped work, squatted and dropped the kid, cut the cord, and kicked the kid into the corner to learn how to fend for itself.

[FSogol]

9. I'd say 2nd best.

"We the Living" about her escape from Communist Russia was pretty good.

[FSogol]

6. Its worth reading.

She worked out a lot of ideas preparing to write Atlas Shrugged in this novel. Most interesting part is how independent elements (writers, critics, business leaders, religious leaders, in society all worked together to accomplish certain goals. Very reminiscence of Fox news, right-wing radio, fringe religious groups, etc work to further Repub goals. That said Rand was a fruit cake who stalked Frank Lloyd Wright for years. She had him design a house for her that she never built, but carried the design around for years showing everyone the "masterpiece". FLW finally asked her to leave him alone.

PS. After this, read Sinclair Lewis's, "It Can't Happen Here" next.

[MisterP]

23. sort of like the Okhranka and its White successors followed the Protocols

of Zion almost to the letter

[annerevere]

10. Read it and then

Her best work, Atlas Shrugged. It's a great piece of writing, and has some good ideas although it's difficult to buy into the entire package.

I read Rand when I was a teenager and I admired her a great deal. A brilliant woman.

[deacon2]

12. Yes, because the world is awash in morons of her making

Read it to understand The Fountainhead of selfishness and callous self-regard that nurtures the neocons and con-artists overrunning our country. You'll be one up on them as they refuse to read anything outside the Sacred Canon of Assholian Indoctrination. Then read something of real value like the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. Maybe you'd like The Turning Point by Fritjof Capra, Non-Violent Resistance by M.K. Gandhi, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving... lord knows the instructions on a book of matches offers more practical advice then this bloated piece of dukey.

Enjoy!

[SteppingRazor]

14. Holy books, Shmoly books...

And if you like politics, then read Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, Better Than Sex, or even Generation of Swine, all of which get into Thompson's political writing, which was, many times, dead on.

Of course, that's not to say Las Vegas isn't a great read and a fantastic work of art, because it's both.

[harlinchi]

13. In one or the other of them (Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead...

Looters were defined in addition to the "Politics of Pull"! Both apply now!

[applegrove]

15. It made Greenspan get onto his knees at her feet. Go ahead and

read the cult book. I had to throw it across the room. But you try.

[Bridget Burke]

16. I never read the book but the movie is a lot of fun.

Gary Cooper as the rugged individualist architect. Patricia Neal as his soul-mate who really needs to be dominated. How can a black & white movie be the equivalent of Purple Prose?

And the wonderful housing project the architect fights to have built his way? A replica of those dreary tower blocks that became sources of crime & despair--until they were torn down.

[mitchum]

20. I really am laughing out loud!

"How can a black and white movie be the equivalent of Purple Prose?"
That is absolutely beautiful. I bow to your wit, ma'am :)

[tammywammy]

17. I say read it

I think of it as a good piece of fiction, but the reality of people following the philosophy is another good reason to read it.

I found it interesting on a whole, but also wordy and somewhat preachy. (I found myself skipping paragraphs where no real action or duologue was taking place).

I prefer Atlas Shrugged over Fountainhead, and also would recommend the movie version as well.

[Ragnar]

18. Read it.

If your copy is in collectible condition, sell it to a neo-con at a mark-up first though. You can get the words at the library.

And yes, Roark is an asshole, but an admirable one. It's strange the stuff you said about using it to base a neo-con 'cult' though. The book is essentially an opus on American individualism. I'd definitely follow it up with Catch 22 or some Vonnegut though, as the conservative message gets pretty thick, and you'll want something else when it's over.

[PATRICK]

19. Read her anti-fascist piece

which is on line. I'd say neocon is an accurate description. But try to imagine her including Dimson or Cheney(who resembles the snarling villain publisher in the film "Fountainhead") as shining examples of Nietzschean supermen, creative, brilliant, suppressed by society. Her article is mainly how could those clowns have gained power being so few and so, well, inferior. it also is an article of "how it could happen here."

No, I doubt she could be the darling of conservatives lately, but the way they selectively use Christianity they would have an easier time with her.

It also raises the issue of why we aren't getting the bubba vote, the rugged individualist vote, or some of these bright shining neocon elitists, because no national emergency has gelled them into proper focus. Instead, the crazed libertarians have been rallying around totalitarian plutocracy, the smart guys in love with PNAC policy(Biden et al.) And the "clowns" are riding high in the saddle again.

[mitchum]

21. Badly wriitten, Badly reasoned. Alice Rosenbaum was a pretentious twit.

[Zorra]

24. If you have cats, it might make a great bottom layer for a litterbox.

The book is so lifeless and dry that it could easily absorb 27 times its weight in kitty pee.

[Gatchaman]

25. yesterday, I saw a full roll of toilet paper in a public commode...

...someone must have mistaken it for an Aynd Rand book.

[Uncle Roy]

26. kick

[Democrats_win]

27. When you read it, "be a filter not a sponge."

"Nothing is sacred except your own integrity" is a theme of "Fountainhead."