After giving things a lot of thought, I've realized that I've changed quite a bit as a person over the last 10 years. I'm definitely not the man I was 10 years ago. As an unprecedented act of masochism I'm going to re-read Ayn Rand's Fountainhead. I had nothing but loads of bile & gripe juice the last(also the first)time I read it in 1997. I couldn't stand it when her character's wings were ripped off by her childishly cruel pen/mind. Another novel that had a pathetic character was Somerset Maugham's Razor's Edge. But Maugham's stuff was 20,000 leagues apart from the Rand's stuff.
The reason for re-reading Fountainhead, is to celebrate the completion of a 3D model of Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water Building (a.k.a. Kauffman's House). The architect loser in Fountainhead was said to be modelled after Wright. Wright was also an interesting character in real life. He was more of a wash-out architect, who towards the fag end of his life was responsible for some strikingly modern buildings. The only people who will disagree with the last sentence are the teachers of architecture and the guys at the Frank Lloyd Wright trust/ estate/ buiding conservatory. Art is subjective.
I'm eager to see the new things I rediscover this time, even though Fountainhead is a fucking tedious read.
13 comments:
"I couldn't stand it when her character's wings were ripped off by her childishly cruel pen/mind."
Do you mean during the first half of the novel? Or do you mean after that? Isn't it a plot element to make the character defy adversity to persist on what he believed in?
@ unawoken - The point is I was extremely irritated by the book from the start. The ideas presented could have been done so in a straight forward manner, the characters less extreme. You are right some of it where vital to the plot. On the whole it felt too bloody contrived. I even stopped reading it half the way & picked it up a few months later. Not many books do this to me. Which is why I'm eager to pick it up again and examine what rankled me. I had the same allergic reaction to Atlas Shrugged. Maybe its Ayn Rand's writing style ?
Hey! Even I tried to re-read Fountainhead few months back :) And guess what? I couldnt go beyond the first page. Gave it up as a bad case of how-did-I-ever-read-it-in-college-in-the-first-place.
Frankly, I dont even remember what the story's all about now. I dont think I care for Ayn Rand's philosophy any more esp since I dont seem to recall a thing about it! And I dont think I'm going to try the tedious re-reading, at least in this lifetime.
Blady commie basket! :) try the movie instead of putting yourself through a week long torture.
Hmm
I read Fountainhead long ago, and I read Atlas Shrugged 3-4 years ago.
It is indeed clear that her characters are archetypes, unreal because they are usually unidimensional.
This generally has the effect of either riling people up, or getting them excited. In fact, I'd say that is the reaction she was aiming at with her style.
Her novels have a purpose outside of their story. She escaped the communism of ex USSR and was all glittery-eyed by the sky-scraping capitalistic establishments of the US. Her religious embracement of capitalism coincided with a time when there was a mild interest in socialism within the US. She was one of the spearheads that opposed it, and her writings of the time were to demonstrate what she believed to be the logical conclusions of the communist system. Her fervour for her justification for capitalism gathered her a cult-like following. The Ayn Rand institute still exists and post-Randians are now called neo-objectivists. Random FYI, just in case you didn't already know of course.
The only Rand book I tried to read was Fountainhead. And I still remember how painfully depressing it was. In those days, I used to finish any book in less than couple of days, but that one took more than week. I became too pessimistic while I was reading it. In fact I became so depressed that I had to give up reading towards end.
I feel happy that I am not too idealistic.
That book is one of most empty ones I've read. The philosophy is mostly borrowed, the story is almost non existent and the language is boring. I really wish I could "unread" it.
i knew people would abuse this post - and i am surprised you are reading this again inspite of your 'strong' views about these things !
the fact that i found them so insanely boring within the first few pages was bad enough ... but you (and a couple of others) ranting about her made me give up really fast :-)
get neeraj to read this comments section - he will jump in her defense !
I'm happy to be aware that I'm not the only one who cant/wont read Ms Rand. So I'm not the only philosophically-challenged, ignorant or superficial reader that I feared to be :P
(Oh happy days)
Dunno.
Congnitive dissonance is an interesting object of study. We collect ideas that already align with the way we think, and filter out those that oppose our established ideas.
If a book riles us so much, to me it is very important to understand why. So I will definitely complete such a book and read it again, even.
@Unawoken: Yup man, thats exactly why I'm planning to re-read the book.
@Everybody else: Maybe you guys too need to re-read it :)
First time here :) Couldn't refrain from commenting on this...I used to like the book when I read it long back in 10th...I dont exactly hate it now, but am more wary of her philosophy.
1. Lack of any warmth! I feel happy when people around me are happy because of something I did. But she makes that seem like a bad thing. She thinks being altruistic is against human evolution and nature, which is refuted by a lot of philosophers.
2. BDSMish portrayal of the main character's relationships as the most ideal relation.
3. Fundamental flaw in her philosophy - Referring you to this "http://members.aol.com/kiekeben/rand.html"
4. Most people who claim to like it, turn out to be pretty tedious! They could do with a lil sense of humor ;)
Just my 2 cents ;)
Oh dear. I don't agree with Ayn Rand's philosophy. But I would think of myself as a stick in the mud tedious person if I only liked stuff that agreed with my philosophy.
I mean, I don't agree with alcoholism, but I love my alcoholic uncle.
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