4/20/13

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand




 ★★¼

GENRE: Fiction, CLASSIC
SUBJECT: individualism, architecture, competition
Setting: NY City, CT
CHARACTERS: Howard Roark, Peter Keating, Gail Wynand, Ellsworth Tooley, Dominique Francon
DATE READ: April 9 - April 20
NO. OF PAGES: 741
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?: Yes, my shelves

PLOT:...........................................2.50
CHARACTERIZATION:..............2.50
TOPICS:.......................................2.50
STYLE:.........................................2.00
ORIGINALITY:..............................2.50
ADDICTIVENESS:.....................2.00
OWNERSHIP:.............................2.00
THRESHOLD QUALITY:............2.00
Average....................................................2.25

My book club chose this book because 4 of the 8 members thought it was the greatest book they had ever read. I had to use both the hardback, audio version, and cliff notes to get through it.  

The story was pretty standard - poor boy stands on his principles and watches others advance beyond him because they are willing to give in.  Pretty boring as far as I'm concerned.

The secondary story of the romances involved rivaled a current day soap opera.  Howard rapes Dominique who falls for him, but she marries Peter who divorces her because Gail (male) wants her and will give Peter a commission for Dominique who is still sleeping with Howard.

The characters were very 1 dimensional with each having a specific trait to their credit.

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