'Fountainhead' by Ayn Rand?

Question

How come her book 'the fountainhead' supposedly started a cult? I couldn't figure out what the big deal was about it (from reviews and such). What's it (and her) all about??

I appreciate all the answers. Thanks.
The part about 'the guy lived for his architecture alone' makes me want to read the book now. I've read Rand's bio, and basically wanted to know what to prepare myself for.

Answer 1

The Fountainhead is a book you'd do better reading first before inviting commentary. It is absurd to label her fiction as a source for a cult. Even Objectivists are often misguided about Rand's fiction. She considered the writing of fiction very seriously and The Fountainhead is about artists and their intellectual property rights. Most people refuse to acknowledge Rand's more immediate concerns, chiefly: the significance of art and the paramount importance of the role of the artist in the modern yet primitive world.

Ayn Rand also sensed that in the future thinkers will be working for free (like we are doing here). She knew that thinkers, much like slaves, working for free, would have no rights over how their thoughts would be interpreted and used by social forces. They would not even own their thoughts. She was right.

Answer 2

Objectivism is a philosophy developed by Ayn Rand that encompasses positions on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics.

Objectivism holds that there is a mind-independent reality, that individuals are in contact with this reality through sensory perception, that they gain knowledge by processing the data of perception using reason or "non-contradictory identification", that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or "rational self-interest", and that the only social system consistent with such a morality is laissez-faire capitalism.

She did not form a Cult as such, but rather generated a movement of like minded individuals who thought her concepts had social applications.

Answer 3

I read the book many years ago but I never read anything in there worth starting a cult over. It was the longest most boring book about an architech I have ever had the misfortune to read. It was so long and detailed in architech I had to read the same passages over and over to try and understand the point. It was for a thousand word theme. Good question what's it all about.

Answer 4

I dont know whether it started a cult or not, but its a great book. Its about individuality. In our society individuality is suppressed. Anyone who stands out of the crowd is immediately labelled an attention grabber. To be different is to be alone. The book is about a guy who lives for his architecture alone.

Answer 5

who IS howard roark(e?) to add to what the others have said. ayn rand was born in and escaped from russia while young--before WW2. i feel that alot of her "philosophy" was based, necessarily, on her experiences of the unpleasantness of living under totalitarian rule. thus personal freedom and freedom from collectivism in every way, including economics were central to her themes. it has been literally decades since i read the fountainhead, atlas shrugged, and i think, anthem? they were tough going in many respects, but often worth it.

Answer 6

She also wrote Atlas Shrugged which was voted the second most influential book after the Bible. After which she never wrote another word of fiction.

Answer 7

Then again, a lot of people think it's impressive to sit around and tell people they read Ayn Rand...................mainly because they can't pronounce Kierkegaard or Wittgenstein.