Book and Film

I didn't finish the book this weekend as I had hoped. Perhaps this week I can finish. Our library system does not have the movie but the thought occurred to me that we do have access to media from other places now. Reciprocal borrowing is a great thing! I just placed a hold for the film. I am so curious to see how this book is represented and how the building are depicted, if at all. In many respects I agree with Erica. I don't find many of the characters likable or sympathetic. Howard certainly has his ideals and doesn't back down. He doesn't play well with others. Sound like anyone you all know? :) I'm going to leave it at that until I finish the book or comment on another comment.

The Fountainhead...

I finished the book this weekend. I am not sure I really liked it. It seemed very self-indulgent. I did not empathize with the characters and by the end, I was like "I get it". Rand seems to take Machiavelli's idea of "self-interest rightly understood" to the extreme. While, Machiavelli and other future philosophers believed that self-interest can result in a "common good", Rand dismisses the "common good". I can't say I agree with her. I know the point of the book is "individualism" and Howard Roark is the "perfect man" because he never compromised his principles, but I am still not on board.

The Fountainhead (and a little War and Peace)

I am on page 500 something and I anticipate finishing this long weekend. I would read something else by Ayn Rand, let me admit that first. She can turn a phrase. Additionally, Rand is a fan of the lengthy sentence and sprinkles commas liberally. In my circle, punctuation is applied as generously as the herbs and spices with which we cook. Rand's sentences are not as complex as those of Robertson Davies (known best for his brilliant trio of trilogies, Salteron, Deptford, & Cornish), but her ideas are deep. The Ayn Rand Institute exists to this day to promote the concepts expressed in The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and Rand's other writings and speeches. From a practical standpoint, I can't help but wonder how Howard Roark's architecture is viewed by the reader as we get more "modern." The Fountainhead was published in 1943. Are we more apt to appreciate his vision than contemporary readers of Rand's? As I sit in my house in 2007, the sketches I conjure in my mind on behalf of Roark, are shaped by my knowledge and love of modern architecture and design. I can't decide whether Roark's designs are more Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater (1934) andTaliesen West (1937) or whether his general aesthetic is more like like the Finnish architects Saarinen and Aalto.

A Little War and Peace...
This past week on Jeopardy on of the categories was War & Peace. I was very excited. The contestant who had the category said she had never read it and Alex responded, " I don't know many people who have." If you followed the other other blog, you know I have as have a few of us. Incidentally, I got all but one question right in the category and I bet a lot on the Double Jeopardy question.

New Home for Book Discussion Blog

So here it is...the other format was not working. Let's try this, a proper blog in which to do an online book discussion. In order to work this as a team blog where other people have the ability to post directly to the blog, I will need to send invitations to which you can respond and then set up a Blogger account, if you do not already have one. If you do not receive an invitation and wish to participate, you have a couple of choices. Post a comment and let me know and I'll work out the details with you or if I am known to you in real life, let me know. I'll be sending out the invitations shortly. Thank you for participating.