The Fountainhead

By: Ayn Rand

Narrated by: Christopher Hurt

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; Afterword ©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)

2nd Only to Atlas

I recently discovered Ayn Rand recently, and listened to Atlas Shrugged, and it was the best book I have read or listened to. I read Fountainhead next not expecting it to be anything as good as Atlas, but it was just about as great. It's different but similar, a little quieter but just as thought provoking. Such a range of characters. Is it coincident between the two books, the two main ladies have a name that start with D, and the two main men have the initials HR?

More than just a story

This book has changed my life. I recommend everyone read it. This story is an illustration of humankind that will change the way you view the world around you.

So twisted I loved it!

This novel is by far the most memorable I have ever read. Ayn Rand is surely a different author by all means and this novel is not for the close minded. Despite its excessive length, I enjoyed every day the turn of events and the interaction between the characters to the extent that it caused real mood swings for me!

After reading the fountainhead, I don't think I'm the same person at least in the way I view people around me. Try it but be guarded with the length; you need to assign a lot of time for this listening.

The G.O.A.T

The Greatest [book] Of All Time! Not kidding. I usually only rate books I read, but this one deserves my expression acknowledging its rank at the top of all books I’ve ever read or listened to.

A masterpiece

It is for a work & performance such as this that I withhold that 5th star from other books that I love.