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The Fountainhead

by Ayn Rand

Architecture, individualism, and social opposition

Critically Recognized
Regular price $34.21 USD
Regular price $57.02 USD Sale price $34.21 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Critical praise

    Praise from The New York Times

    Attributed critical praise describes Ayn Rand as a writer of great power and calls this an unusually notable nov...

AlbakiReads Editorial

Architecture, individualism, and social opposition

Ayn Rand’s novel brings architectural ambition into conversation with questions of personal integrity and social conformity. Howard Roark, a young architect, stands by his convictions amid denunciation from an enraged society; his relationship with Dominique Francon, who loves him but marries his enemy, forms another strand of the story. The book’s central idea connects the individual creator’s independence with human progress, a premise associated in the description with Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. Its combination of a professional world, romantic entanglements, and conflict over the creator’s place in society gives the novel several linked ways into its ideas.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in novels about architecture and creative work
  • Readers exploring fiction centered on individualism and social conformity
  • Readers who enjoy stories combining romantic relationships with philosophical questions

Themes

Creative independenceIndividualism and human progressSocial conformity and denunciationLove and rivalry

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

The revolutionary literary vision that sowed the seeds of Objectivism, Ayn Rand's groundbreaking philosophy, and brought her immediate worldwide acclaim.

This modern classic is the story of intransigent young architect Howard Roark, whose integrity was as unyielding as granite...of Dominique Francon, the exquisitely beautiful woman who loved Roark passionately, but married his worst enemy...and of the fanatic denunciation unleashed by an enraged society against a great creator. As fresh today as it was then, Rand's provocative novel presents one of the most challenging ideas in all of fiction--that man's ego is the fountainhead of human progress...

"A writer of great power. She has a subtle and ingenious mind and the capacity of writing brilliantly, beautifully, bitterly...This is the only novel of ideas written by an American woman that I can recall."--The New York Times
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Customer reviews

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Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

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Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

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Olivia

Smooth.