Try free for 30 days
-
The Fountainhead
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
The Fountainhead
Buy Now for $26.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's Summary
Critic Reviews
"Ayn Rand is a writer of great power. She has a subtle and ingenious mind and the capacity of writing brilliantly, beautifully, bitterly." (The New York Times)
What listeners say about The Fountainhead
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- simon preus-kearney
- 19-05-2024
Intriguing Book - Though Feels Like A Time Capsule Of The Past
The core of the book was excellent, interesting and the characters had very engaging internal monologue. I liked the way the characters described and justified their actions.
There were some really dated themes though, particularly the idealising of the old trope of women as a trophy. This was made worse with the sexual assault scene being so heavily rationalised by the victim. I understand that this represents certain fantasy's, and it was interesting to see how a person goes about rationalising things in their internal monologue. It gave a pretty good overview of a couple who would be the 'toxic couple' in a friend group today. The 'highly functioning' co-dependent's.
The start was a bit odd in how grandiose the prose was in introducing the main character (but was likely helpful to capture the reader, it just didn't interest me). Finally, while I really enjoyed a lot of the book after that initial intro (with the back and forth debates providing a lot of clever commentary on how people think through their actions), I didn't enjoy the elements at the end speech, which was clearly a propaganda speech for complete acceptance of capitalism; this was contrasted with the books view of the antagonist of Toohey. Toohey was an incredibly interest adversary for most of the book, but he suddenly became more careless and vindictive in a foolish way by the end of the book. I felt this strawmanned his character and the communist argument by extension. Some anti-communist arguments still rang very true, but others felt disingenuous.
Overall this is worth a good read, but don't expect to be convinced of communism or capitalism by the end. This is a Charles Dickens reminiscent take down of the caricature of communism. It's best to just enjoy it for what it is, a love letter to success under capitalism.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Paddy
- 07-03-2024
Fictional story with Rand’s philosophy of altruism tied in marvellously.
Cute story. Narrated well. Fictional story with Rand’s philosophy of altruism tied in marvellously. Love
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Shaz Ginns
- 17-04-2022
Perfectly suited narrator to a great classic story.
A sublime story, with characters of depth and greatly nuanced. Sadly we have far too many Tooheys running and teaching in today’s world and far too few Roarks. A book with relationships written with such depth that, unsurprisingly, feminists over the last decades have been unable to either grasp the complexities or understand the depth of the relationships between any of the major characters and instead have maligned and slandered the story and the writer, a strong intelligent and empowered woman. I imagine she neither wanted nor needed their brand of acceptance.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 03-01-2021
The subtle art of not giving a Fxck- one!
Good book in general. Excellent writing and easy reading but... The author took a single concept of not giving a fxck, milking it dry. 3 characters so different but so the same...above the weak proletariat. Huxley would have cherished the masses control with the main aim of happiness or power and control. If you like reading you might be able to pallet this novel with a strong slant towards promiscuity. Long love the strong in the name of freedom...I personally value the idea of individuality.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!