Book Review: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

I'm sure many of you have read this book already, especially if you're in art school. When you're on the computer the whole day its still nice to pick up something tactile once in a while.

But first of all, let me make an interesting note: Ayn Rand made two books: The Fountainhead and The Atlas Shrugged. I havent read the latter but its nice to hear people's opinion on these. People would say that they're both good but they prefer one over the other. It depends on your personality. I heard the Fountainhead is more about individualism and the Atlas Shrugged is more about collectivism.

This book was one of the very few books I was so in love with reading. I dont usually read that many books because I'd fall asleep too fast from reading but this one kept me awake and I got to finish it in 3 days. But in the end I felt so productive.

Since I suck at writing synopsis' I'll pass it on to wikipedia:

The Fountainhead's protagonist, Howard Roark, is an individualistic young architect who chooses to struggle in obscurity rather than compromise his artistic and personal vision. The book follows his battle to practice modern architecture, which he believes to be superior, despite an establishment centered on tradition-worship. How others in the novel relate to Roark demonstrates Rand's various archetypes of human character, all of which are variants between Roark, the author's ideal man of independent-mindedness and integrity, and what she described as the "second-handers." The complex relationships between Roark and the various kinds of individuals who assist or hinder his progress, or both, allows the novel to be at once a romantic drama and a philosophical work.

I thought it was a fun read and it was kind of insightful and inspirational. However I'm not really that ambitious in life. I'll be honest: I like money. I would be willing to sellout it when I think its appropriate. It was nice to hear from my mom that she read the same book. But she told me she liked atlas shrugged better. I'll try to read that book next time when I have time.

BTW, if you're reading this, think of Frank Lloyd Wrights work when they're talking about the architecture. It was funny that I was getting into him and reading fountainhead at the same time. I had the pleasure of seeing his works when I visited Chicago and saw his exhibition at the guggenheim 3 months back.