Мало слів, щоб описати цю книжку.
Книга не про архітектуру, а про те чи можливо лишатись вірним собі, своїм принципам та своєму вибору.
Цікаво описані думки про егоїзм та альтруїзм, а також протистояння владних "посередностей" та обдарованих людей.
Ну і герої роману - всі різні, цікаві життєві історії - поступове розкриття характерів сторінка за сторінкою.

A MUST READ for EVERYONE!

It's a beautiful fiction that makes us understand (and even experience) the horror in making a virtue out of being self-disrespecting. I have personally always found an irony in the adjective of being "humble" and this book addresses exactly that! There's so much fake-ness that's consuming our society, reading this book will help you stay immune to them and achieve the real things that matter only to you.

Let me begin by saying that after reading this, and especially after reading her novel Atlas Shrugged, that I do not much like Ms Rand. I think her philosophy must surely have been created as a reaction to her experiences with Bolsheviks.

That said, I think this is a modern masterpiece, Rand's reformation and restatement of Nietzschean mythos.

This was beautiful yet brutally simple, shockingly hypnotic; like a bull fight, difficult to watch but you cannot turn away. Many archetypal characters, very influential; how many insidious modern day villains began as Ellsworth Toohey, how many strong silent idealists descend from the Howard Roark model?

I can see how someone would consider this a five star book, maybe even consider that this is a favorite book, but looking back, while accounting for the strength and quality of her narrative, I cannot say that I loved it, and I still don't like Rand.

Ui trời đất ơi mình vừa tốn 3 tháng trời ròng rã lết hết cái quyển sách gì vậy nè -_-

Vĩ mô quá, đầu óc nông cạn như mình không hiểu hết được -_-

1 sao cho sách, 1 sao tự thưởng thêm vì mình đã quá kiên nhẫn :v

Mà sao bạn bè rate toàn 4-5 sao không vậy nè? Có mỗi mình mình không thể nào cảm nổi cái hay của nó hả trời T.T

Ayn Rand has written some of the most undistinguished prose in the English language. Moreover, her politics are appalling.

Ironically, the most common pick-up line I've been given over the course of my life involves random drunk dude #243 ascertaining my intelligence, believing that he's more apt to get me to give up my number (or my virtue) if I believe him to be intelligent, too -- so he busts out something about "The Fountainhead" or "Atlas Shrugged", or suggests that I am unusually stimulating and intellectual for a woman -- like Ayn Rand.

Another interesting fun fact: there is an Ayn Rand foundation that GIVES her books to high schools, which I like to think is the reason they are still in print.

This book is not a capitalist manifesto. This book is not political in any way. It is personal because it is a study in manhood and womanhood. It is a study in personal identity.

If you don't yet see the need to develop a strong personal identity, Howard Roark will not make sense and you will consider him an elitist or narcissist. For those cultivating and enriching a personal identity that is not derived solely from what people think about of them, Roark is a hero. Of course, I don’t agree with everything Roark says or does. Rand intended to portray him as an impeccable and omniscient paragon of personal development. It’s not possible. But it is a pure example. And that is what we need because we don’t know what a good person who values themselves while caring about others really looks like. We have a good day when people applaud us. We have a bad day when people berate us. We think we are great when people think we’re great. Rand has written to deliver us from the evil of a selflessness that is thin, flighty, and weak. She shows us how to build character that is resilient, confident, powerful, and loving.

Through Howard Roark, Ayn Rand holds out. She holds out for the highest and the best in humanity and she doesn’t accept compromise. She believes it’s possible to deny the thirst for acceptance and popularity on the grounds that one truly loves oneself and believes in oneself. Of course, being believed and loved is predicated on the fact that one is developing themself into a work of art and not selling their sense of self-worth for some other poor substitute. And in Rand’s mind, everything else is a poor substitute.

I don’t know or care much about what Rand made herself out to be, or what others made her out to be. Political associations are absolutely uninteresting to me. What is interesting is words one can find in this book, like, “I wished to come here to say that I am a man who does not exist for others.”

I just might spend the rest of my life practicing on how to say that.

It's uncomfortable when it's pointed out that we have traded our potential, our most sacred personal ambitions, and our godhood for social, financial, or emotional security.
It hurts a bit to be reminded that we're not living bravely in service of our spirits, but that we're living instead in fear of failure, in fear of social embarrassment, in the fear that our own happiness is unattainable and our own ambitions are selfish or unrealistic.
Howard Roark exists to show us what it is to live fearlessly, with integrity, and to find happiness and fulfillment, not in the successful realization of our dreams, but in the tireless pursuit of them.
The characters in The Fountainhead somehow come across as gods and superheroes--as fiery beacons of love, vitality, and passion that tower above the rest of humanity like skyscrapers.
It's because they refuse to lower themselves to the social standard. They will not be judged by anyone but themselves. They will not give in to fear of failure or embarrassment.
They live by their own convictions and do it with supreme honesty and without compromise. In our world, that is truly heroic. It's a heroism we all are capable of, given the courage to discard our fears, lower our defenses, release our spirit from the security of our bosom, and reveal our honest naked selves to the universe.

"Don’t work for my happiness, my brothers--show me yours--show me that it is possible--show me your achievement--and the knowledge will give me courage for mine.”

I'll be damned if that isn't the greatest summation of honest creative pursuit that I've ever heard.
This novel is a challenge to stop being scared and to start living. This novel is a lot of things.
That is the personal philosophy of The Fountainhead.
Yet, a person's happiness is their own responsibility and a person presumably can achieve happiness in a variety of ways. One doesn't have to respond to or agree with the values presented in this book.

On the other hand, the political ideology of The Fountainhead demands an answer from the reader. It demands a response, and it demands analysis and self reflection.
A political ideology is not a personal philosophy. When we vote, we're not just affecting our own lives; we're imposing our personal values onto everyone around us. We are dictating what is right and wrong. We are dictating what is good and bad. We are taking control of people's lives and applying them to our own purpose.
If we are going to take responsibility for our neighbor's health and happiness, we need to take it seriously, and we need to be ready for and worthy of that responsibility.
Have we really justified our values and our convictions to the point that we know what people need and want more than they themselves do?
The Fountainhead's political philosophy is that we DON'T know what's best for everyone. That in fact it's immoral and selfish to think for a second that we are worthy of taking responsibility for other people's lives, health, and happiness and to force our neighbors into dependence.

Howard Roark sees a better world in his mind's eye.
He asks nothing, he expects nothing, he imposes on no one.
He goes outside and begins to build his world with his own hands.

Ellsworth Toohey sees a better world in his mind's eye.
He asks for people's money, he asks for their time, he asks for their lives and their souls.
He builds his world through rhetoric and disingenuous persuasion.

We see a better world in our mind's eye.
We don't even bother to ASK for people's time, money, or lives.
We simply go to the polls and we take them.

It should at least give us pause that our highest conception of Good is only attainable through mutual enslavement.
The Fountainhead is a re-examination of what Good is and a powerful one at that.

Ellsworth Toohey is a very interesting character. You can see his methods of memetic rhetoric and persuasion at play right here in the reviews of The Fountainhead on goodreads.
There is a force (more likely many unconscious forces) working to discredit works like this, and they do it by spreading insubstantive preconceptions and memes about the work in question.
What are some utterly insubstantive and weirdly common memes working to discredit Ayn Rand and The Fountainhead? Reading the reviews will uncover at least one.

"I liked this as a kid, but now I'm older and wiser and know better".

Such a declaration does not engage the content of the book in the slightest but discredits anyone who likes it as being intellectually childish. Dirty.
It's likely not intentional--it's memetic--it's symptomatic of a wide indoctrination, and it's an unconscious tool of bolstering insubstantive arguments by implanting negative preconceptions.
The implication is of course that if you like the book, you have yet to attain the level of intellectual zen that the wider smarter public has.
This exact concept takes place in The Fountainhead when Ellsworth Toohey and his theater critic friend prop up a terrible collectivist play by spreading the meme through news outlets and a wide variety of media, "if you don't get it, you're not smart enough to get it".
The result is a public that, though they can't engage the play on any meaningful level or explain why it's great, they laud it. They all share a wink and a nod, safe in the knowledge that their tenuous view won't be challenged, and secure in the feeling that they are part of the zeitgeist.
These memes are deceptively powerful, and they likely do more to shape the world than any meaningful public discourse. Indeed, this is the foundation of today's political system: Create a platform based on powerful memetic devices in order to distract from more substantive issues (Abortion! Gays! Freedom! Even Ayn Rand herself was inappropriately used as a memetic device and buzzword in 2008's election by Republican candidate Paul Ryan), watch the memes spread through the media like wildfire, get elected based on one or two buzzword issues, and finally, maintain power and the status quo.

Here are several examples JUST from the first page (seriously, all on just one page of reviews, and all separate reviews. Imagine how deeply ingrained this is. A glance through more pages reveals just as many examples). See if you can't see the sinister and subtle manipulation of public discourse in this meme:

"... so many of us have such a complicated relationship with the work of Ayn Rand; unabashed admirers at the age of 19, unabashedly horrified by 25."

"I found this book terrifically useful in high school. with not enough life experience to understand why i was perpetually on the outside..."

"Most people have overcome their teenage angst and fantasies by, say, twenty-eight or so. At that point, Rand will have lost her magic and her books should be freely available."

"I was totally blissed out on the idea of egoism instead of egotism... and then i finished the book and grew up a few years."

"This book is a big epiphany-getter in American high school and college students."

"... which is why its philosophies are more suited for the high school mind than the adult reader. "

"Upon rereading this 50th anniversary hardback edition as an adult, I was appalled at this amoral tale."

Oh, and here's one from the front page of the world:

"Ayn Rand is one of those things that a lot of us, when we were 17 or 18 and feeling misunderstood, we'd pick up. Then, as we get older, we realize that a world in which we're only thinking about ourselves and not thinking about anybody else, in which we're considering the entire project of developing ourselves as more important than our relationships to other people and making sure that everybody else has opportunity -– that that's a pretty narrow vision. It's not one that, I think, describes what's best in America. Unfortunately, it does seem as if sometimes that vision of a 'you're on your own' society has consumed a big chunk of the Republican Party."

- Barack Obama

"... where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there's someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master."

- Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead


I'm 27 years old and somehow freedom and independence are still more than insincere political platitudes to me. I still don't want to impose my subjective values onto my neighbor with police force. I still don't want my neighbor to impose their subjective values onto me. I still don't think the ends justify the means. I still have convictions that I won't compromise, and I still won't ask my neighbor to compromise theirs so long as theirs don't involve putting a baton to my head.

There are two distinct milestones in my life that I consider invaluable to my self-esteem, happiness, and understanding of the universe.
The first was in high school, when I finally questioned what I had been told all my life, and came to the conclusion that there was no God. I had shirked religious indoctrination and felt free, happy in the thought that there was no one above me.
The second point was 2 or 3 years ago when I looked inward and finally questioned another thing that I had been told all my life, this one more sinister in that it purports to be a secular concept and is almost invisible. I reached the conclusion that there was no Greater Good.
I realized that last time I had escaped the frying pan only to leap into the fire. Now I've shirked a more powerful, more widespread, and more sinister indoctrination, and now I KNOW I'm free. I KNOW there's no one above me. Not the president, not my neighbor, not my parents, not the police, not some amorphous conception of the common or greater good.
And when I know I'm free; when I know for a scientific fact that I'm not by nature beholden to any man, god, creature, or Good in this universe, it's infuriating when people are arrogant and presumptuous enough to believe they have the moral RIGHT to control me, my money, my labor, my time, my ideals, my morals, or my life. Every sacred second of my life taken from me to pay for the NSA, or the TSA, or the war on drugs, or the DMV, or oil subsidies, or welfare, or green energy subsidies--every second I spend in forced obedience and subservience to anyone but myself--is a tragedy, and I don't see how anyone could value their own time on this earth so little as to disagree.
The truth that nobody can seem to bear is that the only way to stop others from forcing us to do Evil, is to give up our own right to force others to do Good.
What is it about losing control of our neighbor that scares us so much that we are willing to be controlled to maintain it?

I finished The Fountainhead over a coffee and as I was walking home my head was tilted up to the sky in gaping awe of buildings that suddenly seemed more massive than they'd ever seemed before, and beyond them seeing nothing but stars.

this review is bizarrely getting votes from people i don't know, so let me just reiterate that the text of the prediction is from mcsweenys, in case it's not clear that all i did was a little cutting and pasting.

instead of reading this book, just read ayn rand's superbowl prediction in mcsweeney's and you'll get the idea:

When he saw Bill Belichick in the hallway before the press conference, Tom Coughlin's face contorted into a whine. "It isn't fair!" he shrieked. "You have all the best players!" he whimpered. "What happened to helping your fellow man?!" he mewled. "You ... all you care about is winning!" he sniveled.

The muscular coach set his prominent jaw, and his hard, handsome eyes glistened. "Why, Tom," he asked with a smile, "isn't winning what the NFL is all about?"

Coughlin's face turned bright red as he flapped his effeminate hands in hysterical gestures. By this time, a large crowd of reporters had gathered. "But, but ... your players are the best in the league! Your offense is unstoppable! How am I supposed to go on the field with my weak players or my simple, predictable playcalling?? We'll be destroyed! I tell you it isn't fair! We deserve to be helped! This is social treason!"

Belichick squared his broad shoulders as he stared Coughlin in the eye. The smaller man cowed and threw his hands to his face in a pathetic flail. "Tom," said Belichick, "I bet nobody has been honest with you in your entire life, so let me be the first. I was taught in the ways of strength. Yes, my men will win today. But it's because we've had the courage to act on our judgment, and the fortitude to trust our decisions. Long ago, we were faced with a choice—the same choice you faced. We chose conviction. You chose impotence. And now, today, you ask me not only to cut my wrists and bleed on your behalf ... oh no. You would also have me fund, design, and build the knife. You accuse me of social treason, and yet you beg me to betray myself." The beautiful man laughed a throaty, attractive laugh. "You are a coward, Tom, and a coward in this world deserves nothing."

With a great cheer, the reporters stood in unison and applauded.

Prediction: Patriots 326, Giants –27

Ayn Rand was one sick puppy.

A great PBS documentary on what happens when Any Rand takes over a real-world company.

pbs (dot) org/newshour/economy/column-this-is-what-happens-when-you-take-ayn-rand-seriously

"Bir gün bir kitap okudum ve bütün hayatım değişti."

İşte o kitabın adı Hayatın Kaynağı. Hani şu hiçbir yerde bulunamayan, baskısı olmayan, bir türlü okuma şansına erişilemeyen o kitap... Sizin de okuduktan sonra hayatınızı değiştiren bu tür kitaplar var mı?

Bu kitabın yeteri kadar abartılmadığını ve yorumlanmadığını düşündüğüm için geçmiş mesleği mimarlık olan biri tarafından incelenmesi gerektiğini düşündüm ve işte buradayım. Bu kitabın baskısını şehrinizde aradınız ve bulamadınız mı? O zaman şehrinizi iyice gezmemişsiniz ve tanımamışsınız demektir. Bu kitabın baskısını ülkenizde aradınız ve bulamadınız mı? O zaman ülkenizi iyice gezmemişsiniz ve tanımamışsınız demektir. Bu kitabın baskısını dünyanızda aradınız ve bulamadınız mı? O zaman dünyanızı iyice gezmemişsiniz ve tanımamışsınız demektir. Bu kitap da zaten onu dünyanın her noktasında arama çabasına girişip de bulmayı arzulayacak kişilerin okumayı hak ettiği bir kitap olacaktır.

Bu kitabı anca mimarlık okuyan öğrenciler ya da mimarlık mesleğinin içinde bir şekilde bulunanlar en iyi şekilde içselleştirebilir. Çünkü bu mesleğin içinde bulunmadan, mesleğin uygulanış biçimlerindeki yozlaşmışlıkları görmeden ve mimarinin estetiğini hissetmek için taşa, tuğlaya, tarihe dokunmadan bu kitabı tam olarak içselleştirmeye çalışmak, her zaman eksik bir yorum olmaya mahkumdur. Ama elini Sisifos gibi taşın altına koymayı seven bir insan olarak size bu kitap sürecinde aklımdan geçirdiğim bazı düşünceleri anlatmak istedim.

Mimarlık mesleğinden yeni istifa etmiş bir insan olarak artık bazı şeylerin anlatılması ve bu meslekten olmayan kişilerin de bilgilendirilmesi gerektiğini düşündüm. Öncelikle şu alttaki alıntıyı okuyalım:

"Ben bir mimarım. Bu düzensiz kuralların ne şekilde inşa edildiğini anlayabiliyorum. Üzerinde yaşamak istemediğim bir dünya meydana gelmek üzere." [s. 911]

Nedir bu düzensiz kurallar, üzerinde yaşamak istemeyeceğimiz bir dünya? Üzerinde oturduğunuz evlerin çoğunun betonlardan, duvarlardan ya da tuğlalardan değil de kul hakkı yenen işçilerden meydana geldiğini söylesem ne derdiniz? Gelin anlatayım...

Artık sabah kalktığımda CV atılmış mail'lara dönüş yapılıp yapılmamış olmasına bakmadığım, tanımadığım bir numara bana iş vermek için mi aramış diye beklemediğim, istediğim saatte yatıp istediğim saatte kalktığım bir işim var. Kulağa bu kitaptaki "Howard Roark" karakteri gibi çok ütopik geliyor değil mi? Ama "Hayatın Kaynağı"nı arayan insanlar için bu sonuçlar çok da ütopik olmasa gerek.

Meslekte şantiye şefi olarak çalışırken benden göz göre göre talep edilen kul hakkı istekleri, işçilerin ve kalfaların hak edişlerinden patron tarafından istenen haksız kesintiler, üstlerin ile altların arasında medcezir yapmak gibi şeylerin benim "hayatımın kaynağı" olmadığını çok önceleri anlamıştım. En basit şekilde bir örnek vermek gerekirse, bir işçi 500 lira değerinde bir iş yapmışsa o işçiye 500 lira verilmelidir, değil mi? Fakat patron tarafından benden oraya 300 yazmam istenirdi. Matematik kitaplarındaki işçi problemleri yalandı, esas işçi problemi buydu!

Bir gün şantiyede yemek aldığım sırada işçiler için verilen yiyeceklerde bazı şeyler olmadıktan sonra bir işçinin gözlerimin içine bakıp "Sizin tarafta her şey var bizde niye yok şef" demesi içimi kaç yıldır acıtıyor, o anda da aslında yanlış bir meslekte olduğumu anlamıştım. O anda "Hayatın Kaynağı"nın orası olmadığını, başka bir yerlerde beni beklediğini ve bu başka yerin de ancak benim kendimi aramamla oluşabileceğini anlamıştım. Kitapların dünyasına daldım.

Dostoyevski'yi okudum, acıdan acıya koştum. Kafka'yı okudum, sonucu olmayan sonuçlara aldandım. Camus'yü okudum, dünyanın saçmalığında kendimi en saçma insan olarak hissettim. Erich Fromm'u, Viktor Frankl'ı, Rollo May'i okudum, kendimi aramaya başladım. "Kendimi buldum" diyemem, bunu demeye haddim yok. Bunu hiçbirimiz hiçbir zaman diyemeyeceğiz, belki de ölüm, kendimizi bulduğumuz tek nokta olacaktır hayatımızda çünkü. Fakat bu başka bir tartışmanın konusu...

Mimarlığı bir sanat ve hayatı görüş biçimi olarak çok seviyordum, hala da çok seviyorum. Çünkü bir şeyleri sıfırdan başlayarak inşa etmek bana bir kimlik inşa etmeyi çağrıştırıyordu. İnsanın da temeli vicdan ve hoşgörü, döşemesi akıl, kolonları saygı, kirişleri empati ve çatısı da dış görünüşü olmalıydı. Fakat Zeki Demirkubuz'un sözüne benzer olarak "Bu ülkede paragöz insanlar tarafından yönetilen mesleklere dair hiçbir şeyin, hiçbir zaman benim dilediğim gibi olmayacağını biliyor, artık bundan acı duymuyordum."

Hayatın kaynağı çok başka bir yerde arkadaşlar. Bu yazıyı buraya kadar okumuş olan bütün insanlar için belki de bu kaynağın her insan için ne olduğunu tek tek söyleyecek yeterliliğe sahip olamayabilirim fakat en azından "nerede olmadığını" söyleyebilirim. 8-5 mesailerde sürünüp kendi isteklerini değil sürekli bir başkalarının isteklerini yapmak zorunda kalmak, kendinden ödün vere vere malzemeden bile isteye çalarak bir kimliği inşa etmek, hayatının kaynağını patronların cebinden çıkacak miktarlarda aramak, meslek haklarınızı bile bilmeden kendinizi bir köle gibi kullandırmak, size işinizde yapılan psikolojik baskılara sesinizi bile çıkaramamak... Sizce bunlar "Hayatın Kaynağı" gibi geliyor mu kulağınıza?

Bence bu kaynağı sadece kitap okuyarak bulabilmek de mümkün değil. Esas gerçeklik ile kurgu gerçekliği dengelemek, dünyanın acılarını kendi acılarımızla üst üste koymak, empatiyi öğrenmek için dere tepe düz gitmek, gerçekten de bu "hayatın kaynağı"na layık olmak gerekiyor diye düşünüyorum. "Hayatın Kaynağı" ancak ve ancak sizin kendi benliğiniz olabilir, bunu bir başkasından beklemek yapacağınız en büyük hata olacaktır. Size diyeceğim şey, ne olursa olsun geleceğinizi başkalarının sizin için belirleyeceği şeylerden beklememeniz yönünde olacaktır. Siz, kendi benliğinizle, kendi düşüncelerinizle biriciksiniz.

Hít 1 hơi, vận tất cả nội công để hoàn thành cái thứ to dày chết tiệt này. Bà Ayn Rand đã vứt vô cuốn tiểu thuyết triết lý luôn đúng ở mọi thời đại: " Bạn có thể chết vì người khác, nhưng không thể sống thay họ. Hãy sống là chính mình. "

Whohooo! Ein irres Buch. Das nenne ich mal einen dynamischen, aufregenden Plot. Komplexe, ausgefeilte Charaktere. Irre gute, intensive Dialoge und Interaktionen.

Logisch ist das drüber. Da sind Ansprachen und Monologe drin, die einem die Ohren klingeln lassen.
Alles wurscht, da es konsequent und stringent gearbeitet ist. Die Figurenpsychologie wackelt an keiner Stelle. Das Ding treibt gnadenlos auf die Konsequenzen der Handlungen zu.
Ein radikaler Spaß!


Ich habe es als Hörbuch gehört. Werde es demnächst nochmal lesen und dann gibts ne gescheite Besprechung. Mal sehen ob die 5 Sterne sich halten können.