When The Fountainhead was first published, Ayn Rand’s daringly original literary vision and her groundbreaking philosophy, Objectivism, won immediate worldwide interest and acclaim. This instant classic is the story of an intransigent young architect, his violent battle against conventional standards, and his explosive love affair with a beautiful woman who struggles to defeat him. This edition … edition contains a special afterword by Rand’s literary executor, Leonard Peikoff, which includes excerpts from Ayn Rand’s own notes on the making of The Fountainhead. As fresh today as it was then, here is a novel about a hero—and about those who try to destroy him.
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** spoiler alert ** As usual, Rand delivers a spectacularly told story. This one was narrower in scope than Atlas Shrugged but no less forceful. I very much enjoyed it, and I highly recommend it to those wishing a fictional presentation of what collectivism does to the individual: both the one who conforms and the one who does not. While fiction, Rand’s intimate knowledge of the impacts of collectivism shine through and give her work an undeniable underpinning of truth, which makes her book a timely warning in an age where we are espousing the very things that destroy free and civilized society time and again in history. Regardless of your own political positions, Rand should be a part of your reading list. Agree or disagree with her thought process, careful consideration of the ideas she espouses will broaden your own understanding of philosophy and man’s purpose as either a tool for the collective to be coerced if uncooperative or as a free agent engaging with others free of force.
SPOILER ALERT (Due to a potential trigger I felt I should warn readers of ahead of time. If you don’t have an issue with sexual content that veers into consensual nonconsent bordering on rape and you don’t want spoilers, don’t read any further!)
So, I will warn that there is one scene that might prove disturbing or even triggering for some readers due to iffy consent in a sexual situation. While the female lead refers to it simultaneously as rape and as a badge of pride and also later continues her affair with the guy of her own volition (making it seem less a situation of rape and more a psychological desire to be conquered), the actual scene itself reads in a manner that could be triggering to victims of sexual abuse and rape.
For those who don’t have that history but want an upfront warning so they can decide whether to skip the scene, the few pages the scene occurs on contain a lot of mixed messages with Dominique describing the situation and Roark’s handling as violent while simultaneously at moments describing it as pleasurable for her, not just for him as her attacker. For that reason, I personally consider it consensual non consent, particularly given that she was clearly interested in him prior to the scene and had come up with ways to invite the situation. And given her response during and after, it certainly lends some credence to the interpretation textually.
Still, everyone defines that sort of stuff differently according to their own experiences and preferences, and for those with past traumas, it’s violent enough to be triggering, I would say, even with the hints added that she isn’t actually entirely opposed to his actions or sleeping with him. To be safe, I’d recommend skipping that part if that is a trigger. You’ll enjoy the book all the same if that scene is skipped, and since I’ve spoiled that part, you won’t really miss enough to cause confusion later on. The scene occurs in Part Two Chapter 2, on pages 215-218 in my version, if you want to skip it.
She was amazing…period.
I ended up marrying an architect after all.
This book is just an excuse to push her discredited philosophy of “Excel and profit by your own genius and to hell with the rest of humanity.”