The Fountainhead

By: Ayn Rand

Narrated by: Christopher Hurt

Length: 32 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the 20th century's most challenging novels of ideas, The Fountainhead champions the cause of individualism through the story of a gifted young architect who defies the tyranny of conventional public opinion. The struggle for personal integrity in a world that values conformity above creativity is powerfully illustrated through three characters: Howard Roarke, the genius who is resented because he creates purely for the delight of his own work and on no other terms; Gail Wynand, the newspaper mogul and self-made millionaire whose power was bought by sacrificing his ideals to the lowest common denominator of public taste; and Dominique Francon, the devastating beauty whose desperate search for meaning has been twisted, through despair, into a quest to destroy the single object of her desire: Howard Roarke. Dramatic, poetic, and demanding, The Fountainhead remains one of the towering books on the contemporary intellectual scene.

©1943 The Bobbs-Merrill Company; 1968 Ayn Rand; 1993 Leonard Peikoff (P)1994 Blackstone Audio Inc.

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." ( New York Times Book Review)

Preventing America's demise requires knowing Rand.

To agree with Rand is to prioritize one's life such that every second is spent striving for perfecting your ability to improve the world and then doing so. personal achievement through discovery of one's talents is the only source for lasting satisfaction.

Wonderful book

This book is a real eye opener. I love Ayn Rand and this book doesn't fail to engage the reader!

My love of this book is built out of hate

I spent 30 chapters wondering what the damn book was about, but was unable to quit reading it because of the deliciously pretentious writing style of Rand. I had to know what gave her such motivation to scribble this soap opera out.

It's not a soap opera at all.

It's a masterful work and my mind was manipulated through the whole thing. By the last 3 chapters, all the debauchery seemed to make sense, and I even learned something about myself.

The narrator also is a master of his craft.

The whole thing was a long, embattled process, and I feel better for having listened to it. It's in my top 5 all time books.

Best Book I Have Listened To

I loved it... more than I have ever loved anything. This book has given me, me.

Epic. Truly Inspirational. One of the best books I've read.

I am so grateful to come across Ayn Rand. This ranks right up there with Atlas Shrugged in how epic it is and how much it teaches you about life. This one is more about finding happiness in life. You don't find it in validation from others and being popular. You find it in doing what you enjoy and achieving excellence in this. You find it in being proud of that excellence. Feeling like you have purpose in life and are doing something worthwhile cannot be easily yanked out from underneath you like those feelings of validation. The feelings of dependence on other people to tell you they like you and that you're doing a good job. That is a false confidence that destroys things.

It seems like everything Ayn Rand says has application to my personal life and is extremely insightful. It's truly been a joy to read her novels.

Best Book I've Ever Read

This book speaks so true to human nature and how people will do willingly bend the knee to gain power and appease others. Ayn Rand was truly brilliant.

I has to get used to the intellectual language!

In the beginning I was not enjoying the authors forward because it seemed so impersonal and distant without a desire to connect with the average every day listener or reader. I now understand the mind that it took to create this writing. I enjoyed the overall character development and the message and premise for the book. Because the author is from an atheistic background it lends toward an anti God message, but that is to be expected when one wants to support and create a work that come from the inner thoughts. I would like to say that my vocabulary was expanded by listening to the book & I took pleasure in completing it to the end.

Very good story loved it as much as Atlas Shrugged

What made the experience of listening to The Fountainhead the most enjoyable?

I love how creative Ayn Rand is when she is describing something. Her sentences really flow well.

What did you like best about this story?

The whole story itself.

Have you listened to any of Christopher Hurt’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

He is excellent.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Cried and laughed. Totally enjoyable.

Finally a classic that lives up to the billing!

This was a unique and well written story. It is as concise an explanation of conservatism, as you're likely to find. It surprises at times, but the story is satisfying, even after all these years. The characters in this story are bold an memorable, and I would recommend it .

good book

a little boring in the beginning but then the story changed and got way better