The best book I've read in a long time

First of all thanks my sister Lisa for getting me to read this book even though she didn’t realize it! :) Lisa is in school and my mom mentioned to me that she was reading a book by Ayn Rand. I have thought about reading a book by her for a long time, but always seem to put it off. I vaguely remember hearing that Ayn Rand was a radical author and being told that I wouldn’t like her books. That made me curious about them, but I’ve never followed through on reading any of her books. I figured that this was a good chance because I could talk about the book with my sister once we both finished. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember which book Lisa was reading and I chose The Fountainhead while she is reading Atlas Shrugged. In the end, I’m really glad I read this book anyway. I will definitely read Atlas Shrugged so we can still talk about it sometime!

One of the reasons that I thought this was a great novel is that it really made me think. Ayn Rand wrote it to illustrate her philosophy, and while there are aspects that I agree with and aspects that I don’t, it caused me to really reflect on what I thought about it. It has been a while since I read a book like that. What I thought was the core message of the book (and one I agree with) is the importance of remaining true to yourself no matter what happens to you, and how rare it is to really remain true to yourself. Another theme of the book is how easily public opinion is led and how many people tend to follow public opinion. The side I don’t agree with is the extreme extent of independence it seems to advocate or the level of importance and value placed on men’s individual achievements (i.e. designing a great building) vs. appreciation of the majestic beauty in nature.

An interesting side effect I experienced while reading this book was the reactions I got from people who saw me reading it. One day the man sitting next to me on the train asked me what I was reading and then said “Isn’t that a Nazi book or something?” What?!?! I’m can’t imagine where he got that idea but it reminded me of how I had a vague feeling that she was considered dangerous but had not been able to remember anything other than that. The cashier at Starbucks when he saw my book told me to be careful, that he had been mean for a year after reading it. I thought that was an interesting reaction also, but I’m happy to say I don’t feel any meaner after reading it! If nothing else, you can still see over 50 years after Ayn Rand wrote this book that she succeeded in provoking people which I think can be a positive thing.