Stuck (and frustrated) again reading The Fountainhead

Posted by $ rainman0720 9 years, 9 months ago to Books
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Good evening. I need help. I desperately want to finish The Fountainhead, but once again I've hit the same point in the novel and can't get any farther.

Dominique Francon has just toured the Enright House, and in her subsequent article she suggests that the world would be better off if the house was destroyed in an air raid.

For the third time, I've gotten so mad at Howard Roark that I cannot keep reading. Roark knows that Dominique is doing everything she can to ruin him, yet he continues to sleep with her, and considering she knows so much about the commissions he's trying to get, I have to assume that he tells her about the ones he wants. With that knowledge, she dates disgusting men and plays nice with obnoxious women, just to sway them away from Roark and towards Peter Keating.

Not only is Roark willingly (and gladly) walking in front of the firing squad, he's also bought the bullets, he's loaded the rifles, and he's putting on his own damned blindfold. He might as well be pulling the trigger as well.

I'd give my (insert body part here) to see Peter Keating and his mother and Ellsworth Toohey and all the rest staked to the ground and eaten by fire ants. But I have an idea what happens in the second half of the book, since I did some research about it before getting it, so I know that particular wish won't come true.

But I'm looking for a nudge to help me clear this hurdle, as it has tripped me up three times in three attempts. I just can't get past what Roark is doing to himself, his career, his life.

Help!


All Comments

  • Posted by Nalani 9 years, 7 months ago
    So it has been a month. How did the reading go? Are you happy with the resolution? Both Atlas and Fountainhead can be read numerous times and still you will find new meanings or depths of understanding in Ms Rand's ideas. I have read The Fountainhead at least 5 times and seen the movie at least 8 times. I have read Atlas Shrugged somewhere between 25 and 30 times. My book has asterisks and underlining all throughout. I find JOY every time I reread it as well as new insights. The quality of the writing over 14 years...reworking the order, the wording or saying something JUST SO is the genius of Ms Rand and what makes her books so fascinating.
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  • Posted by plusaf 9 years, 9 months ago
    I'm fascinated.... you say you stop reading because you're so angry at the actions of a fictional character....
    Hm? WTF?! I think that needs some looking into.

    I've rarely, but I have... stopped reading a book or watching a movie... usually because I find the premise to be incalculably stupid or illogical... or just TFB... (Boring.)

    I've gotten upset or incensed by the actions of characters in books or movies, but usually stuck around to see 'what happens next' or HTF (How...) they get out of THAT predicament!

    I think the only kind of characters which would make me stop reading a book would be if Al Gore writes a book in which Al Gore is the main character.... or Barney Frank or Presidebt Obama or Hillary Clinton or a select few others.

    In the meantime, my recent 'reads' have been in the Freakonomics series, and THOSE two really piss me off, because I think their real thesis is about Critical Thinking, but they never mention it, per se, and that's the book I want to write, and NO, I would NOT be the 'main character' in it... at least not by name....

    :)
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  • Posted by ameyer1970 9 years, 9 months ago
    Anybody that Dominique can talk out of hiring Roark, Roark doesn't want to work for. Anybody who wants to Hire Roark is not going to let Dominique talk them out of hiring Roark. Roark realizes this, he has to let Dominique learn it for herself.
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  • Posted by LibertyBelle 9 years, 9 months ago
    I think he tolerates it because he knows Dominique
    needs to do it. She thinks she is performing a
    sort of "mercy killing" on him; she thinks if she
    destroys his career early, she will spare him from
    going through a lot more suffering later.
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  • Posted by johnpe1 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    great insight, Herb -- Roark is able to see the woman inside,
    and simultaneously know that his power will prevail !!! -- j
    .
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  • Posted by salta 9 years, 9 months ago
    I sympathize with your difficulty. The thing I could not cope with was her self-destructive attitude, like marrying Keating because of his lack of integrity.
    I hope you finish it, as I did, but possibly only because I listened to the audio while multi-tasking.
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  • Posted by blackswan 9 years, 9 months ago
    Do you believe that a man like Roark NEEDS anyone, or that he can make it on his own terms? Finish the book, so you can see who succumbs to whom.
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  • Posted by term2 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I am an inventor and what I do really is just for me. If I never sell one of them, or get shut down by some bureaucrat, thats OK really. I am pretty aware of what the b ureaucrats are up to and tend to get IN and OUT quickly, so it hasnt been that bad yet. But some people really need the money from their work, and its terrible that its stolen from them.
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  • Posted by $ jlc 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Huh. Good idea. That way I could stay away from the plot elements but still get more of 'stuff that I missed'.

    Good. I will put that on my todo list.

    Jan
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  • Posted by slfisher 9 years, 9 months ago
    I've never been able to follow his logic, either. Or hers, for that matter.
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  • Posted by Bethesda-gal 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Yes, I agree if you do that it does drain one's spirit. For me, that is the whole point of the Roark character - that he doesn't design his buildings for fame, or in one case not even for money. He does what he does purely for the artistic creation, irrespective of any outside benefit and totally immune of any outside criticism. He lived in a bubble of pure creation for creation's sake, which I found so liberating.
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  • Posted by Bethesda-gal 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I'd suggest trying to give another look to the 10 or so pages of Roark's testimony toward the end of the book. It sums it all up.
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  • Posted by wiggys 9 years, 9 months ago
    you do not seem to understand the HR is a man of total/complete confidence in himself and as such does not need the approval on anyone. You must also understand that this is the way Ayn Rand lived her life.
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  • Posted by $ jdg 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Reader's Digest did do a condensed Fountainhead. Some people may like it better.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I don't detect any sarcasm. but I like the notion it's friendly. :)

    "Rather, because it would prove him wrong and forever cause him to regret his life decisions. Ouch."
    I took this same thing away from when he was noting the leaves changing. It's like Roark is a demonstration that one of the main motivations in his life really doesn't matter.

    "Dominique believes the world does not deserve Howard Roark's work."
    I can see that, and I find her misanthropy annoying. It's not her decision to make. If the story took place today, she could stop working at a large media outlet that tells people who are unsophisticated about architecture what is good art, and instead write some blog for a tribe of weirdos who appreciate the same art she does.
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  • Posted by $ jlc 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I understand that I did. Still - not my cup o'tea. The only thing good about Dominique is that she has a neat name.

    Jan
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  • Posted by Dennis55 9 years, 9 months ago
    I hope I can help. Like a lot of us I was a committed Objectivist before I knew the term. About a year ago I heard Atlas Shrugged mentioned on the Stossel show. I thought it's about time I learn what all the fuss is and read it. I loved it. Couldn't put it down and literally tear up reading the "John Galt" speech. So I'm totally in and read We The Living, Anthem, a couple books about Ayn and numerous essays. Then I REREAD AS!! All 1200 pages. Then I thought-got to read The Fountainhead.....I had seen the movie. Make a loud screeching braking sound. I did NOT enjoy. I was still waiting for "the movie parts.". I really struggled (did I mention I read AS twice? LOL). I thought after all of my preaching I had to get through it. I stayed the course and the last 1/8 salvaged it. It became work instead of entertaining. But, I think if you stick it out it not only does it get better but you can call it done and read AS again. Still LOL
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    There are thousands of Tooheys. They breed like cockroaches in DC and in all state capitals. I may have to pull out my can of RAID again.
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  • Posted by $ jlc 9 years, 9 months ago
    I do not like that novel. I don't like the people in it, especially Dominique.

    Not going to try reading it again.

    Jan
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