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Cannonball Read III: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

By Jim Doggie | Posted Under Book Reviews | Comments (15)

the_fountainhead.jpg

Wait, wait, come back. I promise this won’t hurt.

Ayn Rand’s third novel tells the majestic (to read her hero-worship descriptions) tale of Howard Roark, an architect thrown out of school for not following style assignments and making modern-looking buildings when everyone else is still copying Early Colonial. Knowing what the hell any of that means doesn’t matter when there is all the juicy drama to enjoy; a rival architect with mommy issues and a severe lack of ideas (or spine), a ice princess who can only enjoy sex if she’s being raped, and a menacing newspaper columnist who appears to have his hand in everything. Those are the real reasons to read this book; the joy of watching the characters crash and spark each other makes the 694 pages a bit less of a chore.

I do say “a bit less” because Ayn Rand is pretty clear about the people she doesn’t like, the ones who contribute nothing to society or clutter its great historic pages with folk songs and plays about normal people. Repeated ramblings about second-handers and parasites occur ad nauseum, drilling the idea into the reader’s brain, but dulling the argument as the speeches go on (and on and on and on and on and on….), reaching the point where it seems the only way to make a real impact with The Fountainhead is to hit someone with the book.

I did get a funny feeling while reading a part of the book where a theater critic decides to praise a shit-tastic play. He reasons that he doesn’t get anything out of promoting a play that is good, but selling a dung heap to hungry audiences is a demonstration of real power. My mind immediately went to the blocks of TV that I now avoid to prevent myself from screaming at the set in frustration. I thought of the last movie I saw in theaters; Coraline. A unique, entertaining film that did not have to be sold to me…then I thought of Faster, and how many ads I’ve seen for it on television and hogging billboard space in Chicago. “Jersey Shore,” Auto-Tuned anything, Twilight, and “America’s Next Top Model”—I’ve ingested more than a few of these and never thought they were anything special. The very fact that these mediocre works were popular and being discussed with some modicum of respect made me wonder if there is a statue in America dedicated to “meh.”

(See? It’s possible to get something of worth out of an Ayn Rand piece and not turn into a libertarian fuck-nutter)

It can be hard to separate the story that lives in The Fountainhead from the preaching that interrupts things. And yes, it may take a couple of tries to do it, but I swear that it’s worth it.


This review is part of Cannonball Read III. For more information, click here.









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Comments

...reaching the point where it seems the only way to make a real impact with The Fountainhead is to hit someone with the book.

Indeed so -- the last time I picked up my copy was to kill a cockroach.

Posted by: sansho1 at October 14, 2011 9:38 AM

Thanks for taking one for the team Jim Doggie.

I will confess to having started The Fountainhead 6 times and never been able to get through it.

Posted by: PaddyDog at October 14, 2011 11:27 AM

The only thing that stopped me from burning my copy of Atlas Shrugged is that book burnings are for idiots, nazi-types and opponents of free speech and also, I couldn't find my matches.

Posted by: Zirze at October 14, 2011 12:26 PM

Zirze:
Re-pulp that bitch for recycling, then.

Posted by: Jerry at October 14, 2011 1:47 PM

After a couple people compared me to Howard Roark, I read this in college. I did enjoy it at the time as a narrative for at least the first two-thirds or so of the book; I'm not sure if I'd feel the same way now. The thing about it that I didn't like is that it gets way too bogged down in its preaching and allegory in the last act at the expense of the characters and the actual story. At that point it felt more like a smattering of caricatures delivered with a sledgehammer instead of a grounded story that paid off my investment. If Rand wanted to sell me on her philosophies, she would have done a much better job if she had done so subtly and kept the focus on the characters and their humanity.

I watched most of that old movie adaptation that is depicted in the header. Maybe it's just me, but Gary Cooper's portrayal of Roark was completely wrong.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at October 14, 2011 1:55 PM

I clicked on this just to see who would comment and I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED!! Paddydog, you and me! Same for We The Living, which was PAINFUL with all the polysyllabic, multi-consonant names. Eeek.

Posted by: klingonfree at October 14, 2011 1:59 PM

I will confess to having started The Fountainhead 6 times and never been able to get through it.

That's not perseverance. That's repeated tries at self-lobotimization.

Posted by: idiosynchronic at October 14, 2011 3:17 PM

"The Fountainhead" does have some valuable philosophical points about the integrity of artistic vision and the importance of the individual. However, I prefer the adaptation made by "The Simpsons".

Posted by: Maureen at October 14, 2011 6:17 PM

Tried both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Couldn't do it. Now, I've read more about the stories and about Rand and I'm not sure I even want to try again.

Posted by: Protoguy at October 14, 2011 9:37 PM

I'm just disappointed to learn that "Sisyphus Farted" wasn't an actual Ayn Rand title.

Posted by: Craig at October 15, 2011 5:41 PM

Equus Crapped / Hercules Swept?

(It's a buddy picture.)

Posted by: BierceAmbrose at October 15, 2011 8:35 PM

No mention of the new Movie, interesting. I wonder what you are all afraid of? Cheap gossip isn't going to work this time. Atlas Shrugged is coming true.

Posted by: Jeff at October 16, 2011 12:56 AM

@ Jeff: do you mean that Part I from a few months back that had Part II cancelled?

Posted by: Zirze at October 16, 2011 5:03 AM

Yes, Jeff, it's coming true. Please help it along by going Galt. >_

Posted by: Jim Doggie at October 16, 2011 3:31 PM

Unfortunately Jeff can't reply right now, he's gone Galt. Don't worry about him, CEO's have many survival skills for living in the wild, he managed to manage people and own stuff, who's to say he won't thrive in the woods.

Meanwhile it's looking bad for us, I'm his second in command here at the company, and I don't know what we're going to do. Jeff has left us here with nothing but a fully functioning and well staffed multinational company, a strong market position and some financial backing. What will we do without him?

Posted by: Ender at October 17, 2011 4:56 AM