Ayn Rand source description. Source read both books online. About the book “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand

Pages: 912

Year of publication: 2008

Language: Russian

Description of the book Source both books:

In her book “The Fountainhead,” Ayn Rand describes the fate of Roark, a boy expelled from architectural institute. The reason for this was the “wrong” views on art. Now he will begin his own struggle for beauty and proper art in his presentation. He will meet Dominique, a beautiful but aimless girl who changes her mind after meeting a guy. This is a strange love between two young and undoubtedly talented people.

This is a novel about work and the attitude of ordinary people towards it, about achievements, love, power and many other things. It gives you the opportunity to reflect on your own existence and look at things differently. the world around us. Healthy egoism here is the driving force of human progress, therefore individualism is opposed to collectivism.

This work can be considered a kind of preparation for Atlas Shrugged. There is a deep philosophy here that is revealed in human society. Usually we don't notice it or think about it. But after Rand's books, don't pay attention to the device modern world it won't work anymore. Unlike other celebrated works, this book is about people of art, about talent, contrasted with an ungrateful crowd of consumers.

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For many years, this novel has topped the bestseller list. It has become a classic. Its main character, Howard Roark, fights for his personal right to creativity, takes unexpected actions that seem extraordinary in the eyes of others. But this is not the only thread of the work. The plot also contains room for Roarke’s unusual relationship with the woman he loves. Subsequently, she becomes the wife of his worst enemy.

The author raises such topics as the presence of talent, genius and individualism in people. Through the actions and words of his character, he fights dullness and careerism. Emphasizes highest value- to be free. From public opinion and prejudices. From negative emotions. Therefore, the book inspires, gives strength and faith in yourself, in your purpose!

Characteristics of the book

Date of writing: 1957
Name: Source

Volume: 1110 pages, 1 illustration
ISBN: 978-5-9614-2011-1
Translator: D. V. Kostygin
Copyright holder: Alpina Digital

Preface to the book "The Source - Ayn Rand"

Dear reader, the first volume is in your hands famous work Ayn Rand.

The novel “The Source” clearly defines the author’s life position and shows the foundations of her philosophy.

However, a lover of exciting reading need not be afraid - there are no boring philosophical discussions in the novel. Despite the impressive volume, the plot is captivating from the first pages and it is very difficult to stop reading without knowing how one or another of its twists will end. And yet, The Fountainhead is largely a philosophical novel.

Rand said: “If all philosophers were required to present their ideas in the form of novels and dramatize the precise, clear meaning and consequences of their philosophy in human life, there would be a lot fewer philosophers, but they would be much better.” It is not surprising, therefore, that philosophical ideas interested her only in the sense in which they influence real existence person. By the way, Rand added to this that people themselves interest her only in the sense in which they refract philosophical ideas in themselves.

As a philosopher, A. Rand introduced a new moral theory; as a novelist, she skillfully wove it into a fascinating work of art. What is the essence of this new morality?

Russian people were taught from childhood (both under the Bolsheviks and long before their revolution) that the well-being of the community, fatherland, state, people and something else like that is immeasurably more important than his personal well-being, that to achieve personal happiness, regardless of the interests of a certain collective, means to be selfish. And this, of course, is immoral, that is, very, very bad.

Ayn Rand categorically and without any reservations rejects the priority of anyone's interests over the interests of the individual. “I swear on my life and the love of this life,” she wrote, “that I will never live in the name of another person and will not force another person to live in my name.”

It would seem that everything is simple: live for your own pleasure, achieve well-being for yourself. But what is it, this well-being? Eat deliciously and sleep sweetly? But the fact of the matter is that freedom is not at all necessary for such well-being. Moreover, it prevents you from receiving primitive pleasures from life, forcing you to think, make decisions, take risks and be responsible for your actions, at least to yourself.

Apparently, it is no coincidence that the leaders of totalitarian neo-fascist regimes are popular. And the point is not at all in them as leaders, but in millions of people who are lazy in mind and thirst for the strongest possible power over themselves, since only it, strong power, can solve all their personal problems without delay and provide the opportunity to satisfy all their base instincts.

Howard Roark, the main character of the novel, sees his personal well-being in his favorite work and in doing it as he sees fit. He's an architect. He proposes house designs, but society does not accept them. Society demands traditional solutions. However, Roark does not give in to the general trend and, complicating his personal life, fights for his right to creativity. So, maybe he cares about the people who will live in his houses, and for their sake he suffers and suffers?

Howard Roark is an egoist of the highest order. People in his life play a secondary role. He finds personal happiness and well-being in the very process of creation. Not in the name of anyone or anything, but only in the name of yourself! He, like any true creator, does not expect praise and recognition from others. He does not work for their sake and not for the sake of their gratitude. He has already received the highest satisfaction from work in the process of work itself and can endlessly enjoy contemplating the creation of his mind.

“The main purpose of this book,” wrote A. Rand, “is the defense of selfishness in its true sense.” But the author not only defends egoism, she argues that the ego of the individual is the source of human progress.

Ayn Rand's ideas will seem new and controversial to many. We are ready to enter into a discussion with anyone interested. By the way, after the first advertising publication in the newspaper “Book Review” (November 1993), the publishing department of the Association of Businessmen of St. Petersburg received many letters from Russian citizens with requests for books by A. Rand. With the help of these books, Russians hope to gain the ability to withstand life's difficulties and the strength of spirit leading to personal happiness and well-being.

We are firmly convinced that Ayn Rand's ideas will help everyone who accepts them with their minds.

(introductory fragment of the book)

“In an absolute sense, an egoist is by no means a person who sacrifices others. This is a person who is above the need to use others. He gets by without them. He has nothing to do with them either in his goals, or in the motives of his actions, or in his thinking, or in his desires, or in the sources of his energy. He is not for other people, and he does not ask that others be for him. This is the only form of brotherhood and mutual respect possible between people.”

Howard Roark

What is the book “The Source (in 2 volumes)” about?

The main characters of the novel - architect Howard Roark and journalist Dominique Francon - defend freedom creative personality in the fight against a society that values ​​“ equal opportunities"for everyone. Together and alone, with each other and against each other, but always in defiance of the crowd. They are individualists, their mission is to create and transform the world. Through the twists and turns of the heroes' destinies and a fascinating plot, the author conveys the main idea of ​​the book - the EGO is the source of human progress.

Why The Fountainhead is Worth Reading

• For several decades, this philosophical novel has remained on the world bestseller list and has become a classic for millions of readers.
• The plot is fascinating and unpredictable, and the philosophical ideas are presented clearly and simply.
• Reading “The Source” will help in the future to truly understand the ideas of the novel, as well as the philosophical and journalistic books of Ayn Rand.

Who is this book for?

For anyone who wants to get acquainted with the philosophical ideas of Ayn Rand or just read an interesting book.

Who is the author

Ayn Rand (1905–1982) - our former compatriot who has become a cult American writer. Author of four best-selling novels and numerous articles. The creator of a philosophical concept based on the principle of free will, the primacy of rationality and the “morality of reasonable egoism.”

Source

Editor's choice - choice of the editor-in-chief

In my opinion, the best place to start getting acquainted with the work of Ayn Rand is with the novel “The Fountainhead.” Its plot is fascinating and unpredictable, and its philosophical ideas are presented clearly and simply.

Reading “The Source” will help in the future to truly understand the ideas of the novel “Atlas Shrugged,” as well as the philosophical and journalistic books of Ayn Rand.

...

Alexey Ilyin, General Director of Alpina Publishers

Frank O'Connor

[It should be noted that the names of characters, toponyms, names public organizations, companies, names of buildings, periodicals etc., directly related to the plot, are mostly fictional in Ayn Rand’s novel.]

Preface

Dear reader, in your hands is the first volume of Ayn Rand’s famous work.

The novel “The Source” clearly defines the author’s life position and shows the foundations of her philosophy.

However, a lover of exciting reading need not be afraid - there are no boring philosophical discussions in the novel. Despite the impressive volume, the plot is captivating from the first pages and it is very difficult to stop reading without knowing how one or another of its twists will end. And yet, The Fountainhead is largely a philosophical novel.

Rand said, “If all philosophers were required to present their ideas in the form of novels and to dramatize the precise, clear meaning and consequences of their philosophy in human life, there would be many fewer philosophers, but many better philosophers.” It is not surprising, therefore, that philosophical ideas interested her only in the sense in which they influence the real existence of man. By the way, Rand added to this that people themselves interest her only in the sense in which they refract philosophical ideas in themselves.

As a philosopher, A. Rand introduced a new moral theory, and as a novelist, she skillfully wove it into a fascinating work of fiction. What is the essence of this new morality?

Russian people were taught from childhood (both under the Bolsheviks and long before their revolution) that the well-being of the community, fatherland, state, people and something else like that is immeasurably more important than his personal well-being, that to achieve personal happiness, regardless of the interests of a certain collective, means to be selfish. And this, of course, is immoral, that is, very, very bad.

Ayn Rand categorically and without any reservations rejects the priority of anyone's interests over the interests of the individual. “I swear on my life and the love of this life,” she wrote, “that I will never live in the name of another person and will not force another person to live in my name.”

It would seem that everything is simple: live for your own pleasure, achieve well-being for yourself. But what is it, this well-being? Eat deliciously and sleep sweetly? But the fact of the matter is that freedom is not at all necessary for such well-being. Moreover, it prevents you from receiving primitive pleasures from life, forcing you to think, make decisions, take risks and be responsible for your actions, at least to yourself.

Apparently, it is no coincidence that the leaders of totalitarian neo-fascist regimes are popular. And the point is not at all in them as leaders, but in millions of people who are lazy in mind and thirst for the strongest possible power over themselves, since only it, strong power, can solve all their personal problems without delay and provide the opportunity to satisfy all their base instincts.

Howard Roark, the main character of the novel, sees his personal well-being in his favorite work and in doing it as he sees fit. He's an architect. He proposes house designs, but society does not accept them. Society demands traditional solutions. However, Roark does not give in to the general trend and, complicating his personal life, fights for his right to creativity. So, maybe he cares about the people who will live in his houses, and for their sake he suffers and suffers?

Howard Roark is an egoist of the highest order. People in his life play a secondary role. He finds personal happiness and well-being in the very process of creation. Not in the name of anyone or anything, but only in the name of yourself! He, like any true creator, does not expect praise and recognition from others. He does not work for their sake and not for the sake of their gratitude. He has already received the highest satisfaction from work in the process of work itself and can endlessly enjoy contemplating the creation of his mind.

“The main purpose of this book,” wrote A. Rand, “is the defense of selfishness in its true sense.” But the author not only defends egoism, she argues that the ego of the individual is the source of human progress.

Ayn Rand's ideas will seem new and controversial to many. We are ready to enter into a discussion with anyone interested. By the way, after the first advertising publication in the newspaper “Book Review” (November 1993), the publishing department of the Association of Businessmen of St. Petersburg received many letters from Russian citizens with requests for books by A. Rand. With the help of these books, Russians hope to gain the ability to withstand life's difficulties and the strength of spirit leading to personal happiness and well-being.

We are firmly convinced that Ayn Rand's ideas will help everyone who accepts them with their minds.

...

D. Kostygin

Part one

Peter Keating

Howard Roark laughed.

He stood naked on the edge of the cliff. At its foot was a lake. A splash of granite shot up into the sky and froze over the serene water. The water seemed motionless, the rock seemed floating. It felt the numbness of the moment when one stream merges with another - the oncoming one - and both freeze for a moment, more dynamic than the movement itself. The surface of the stone sparkled, generously licked by the sun's rays.

The lake seemed like just a thin steel disk, filigree cutting the cliff into two parts. The cliff went into the depths without changing at all. It began and ended in the sky. The whole world seemed to hang in space, like an island swaying in the void, anchored to the feet of a man standing on a rock.

He stood against the sky, straightening his shoulders. The long straight lines of his strong body were connected by the angles of the joints; even the relief curves of the muscles seemed to be broken into tangents. Hands with palms outstretched hung down. He stood, feeling his squeezed shoulder blades, tense neck and the heaviness of blood rushing to his palms. The wind blew from behind - he felt it as a groove on his back - and ruffled his hair, not blond or brown, but exactly the color of a ripe orange peel.

He laughed at what had happened to him that morning and at what was yet to come.

He knew the days ahead would be difficult. There were still unresolved issues; it was necessary to develop an action plan for the near future. He knew that he had to take care of this, but he also knew that he would not think about anything now, because in general everything was already clear to him, general plan actions had long been determined and, finally, because here he wanted to laugh.

He just tried to think about all these questions, but got distracted by looking at the granite.

He was no longer laughing; his gaze froze, absorbing the surrounding landscape. His face was like a law of nature - unchanging, inexorable, without doubt. The face was distinguished by high cheekbones over thin sunken cheeks, gray eyes, cold and intent, a contemptuous, tightly compressed mouth - the mouth of an executioner or a saint.

He looked at the granite, which, he thought, would be dismembered and turned into walls, at the trees, which would be sawn into rafters. He saw stripes of oxidized rock and thought about the iron ore underground, when smelted, it would become new life, with steel structures soaring towards the sky.

These mountains, he thought, are here for me. They are waiting for a jackhammer, dynamite and my voice, waiting to be crushed, blown up, split and reborn. They long for the shape my hands will give them.

Then he shook his head, remembering again what had happened this morning and how he had a lot to do. He walked to the very edge of the ledge, raised his hands and dived down.

Having crossed the lake, he climbed out onto the rocks on the opposite shore, where he left his clothes. He looked around regretfully. For three years, since he settled in Stanton [By "famous... Stanton Institute of Technology" obviously means the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in Cambridge (Massachusetts). The Institute was founded in 1861, the new building has occupied it since 1915], whenever he could find an hour, which did not happen often, he came here to relax: swim, rest, think, be alone, take a deep breath. Having gained freedom, the first thing he wanted to do was come here again. He knew that he saw these rocks and the lake in last time. This morning he was expelled from Stanton Institute of Technology's school of architecture.

He pulled on old jeans, sandals, and a short-sleeved shirt missing most of its buttons, and walked along the narrow path among the boulders to the path that ran down the green slope to the road below.

He walked quickly, descending the long, sunlit road with the free and casual grace of an experienced walker. Far ahead lay Stanton, stretched along the coast of Massachusetts Bay. The town looked like the setting for a pearl - a famous institute rising on a hill.

Stanton started out as a dump. A sad mountain of garbage rose among the grass, smoking faintly. Tin cans glittered dimly in the sun. The road led past the first houses to the church - a Gothic temple covered with tiles painted blue. Along the walls of the building, strong wooden supports were piled up, supporting nothing, and stained glass windows with a rich pattern of artificial stone sparkled. From here the path opened into the depths of long streets bordered by elaborate, pretentious lawns. In the depths of the lawns stood wooden houses of ugly shape - with protruding gables, turrets, dormer windows, bulging porticoes, crushed by the weight of gigantic sloping roofs. White curtains fluttered across the windows, and an overflowing trash can stood by the side doors. An old Pekingese sat on a cushion next to the front door, drool flowing from his half-open mouth. The diapers fluttered in the wind between the columns of the porch.

Source Ayn Rand

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Title: Source

About the book “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand

Alisa Zinovievna Rosenbaum was born in Russia, but in 1925 she left for the USA. In America, she continued her studies and eventually decided to stay there, receiving American citizenship. It is worth noting the fact that the future writer and philosopher left Soviet Russia. She saw first-hand all the delights of “developing socialism.” Probably, it was precisely this period in socialist Russia that influenced her future work.

Alisa Zinovievna probably personally saw how under socialism a person’s personality, his personal “I” are suppressed, how the government tries to turn all its citizens into a “gray, obedient mass.” Having become a US citizen, she gets the opportunity to develop herself as a writer and philosopher. True, in order to make a name for herself, she had to work hard, because recognition did not come to her right away.

The novel "The Fountainhead" was written under the creative name of Ayn Rand in 1943. The work was not immediately received positive reviews critics and it seemed to be unnoticed and irrelevant for readers. As a result, the novel will become a bestseller.

In the novel "The Fountainhead" Ayn Rand raises issues such as individualism, talent and genius, which fight against "dullness", careerism and against the desire to "be like everyone else and not be different from total mass people,” and for the desire to be free in all aspects.

The main character of the novel "The Fountainhead" is Howard Roark. He is an architect by profession, but in life he is a very tough person. For him, freedom means just having your own “I”, going your own way, and not following everyone else. The hero wants to create in his own way individual plan, completely disregarding the opinions of others, and he does not consider it necessary to consult with anyone on any issues. He has a great desire to change the world, but he needs to do it in the way that seems right to him, for himself.

The main character, Dominique Francon, also tries not to change her self. The relationship between Howard and Dominique is quite complicated. They have to encounter a lot of troubles and difficulties in their lives before finding true happiness and knowing love.

Ayn Rand also pays a lot of attention to minor characters in her book “The Fountainhead”. Using their example, the author shows that you can live without showing your “I”, without taking initiative and without fighting for your opinion. Such people live to please other people, ruining their destinies, lives and careers.

In The Fountainhead, there are characters who struggle for identity at the beginning of their careers, but eventually things change for them. They fail. And there is only one reason - the loss or abandonment of one’s self and the pressure of influential sections of society.

Ayn Rand very subtly and skillfully raises the topic of human meanness and baseness, as well as the unscrupulous methods of their activities. Main character Due to the activities of antiheroes, he falls into a trap; they want to destroy and crush him. And all this is done because Howard is simply envied, envied of his amazing talent and uniqueness. He is helped to confront the world by his beloved girl, Dominique, whose support and care works real miracles.

The book "The Source" is very fascinating and beautiful. Using the example of all the heroes, you can analyze yourself and your environment. You will definitely find among your friends those who are fighting for a place in the sun and those who are trying to prevent this, trying to make everyone a mere “gray mass”.

The main idea of ​​the novel “The Source” by Ayn Rand is the individuality of each person, the ability to defend their “I”, express themselves and resist the pressure of society. Perhaps, without such skills, neither science, nor art, nor anything will develop. Even society itself will begin to fall apart.

On our website about books you can download the site for free without registration or read online book“The Source” by Ayn Rand in epub, fb2, txt, rtf, pdf formats for iPad, iPhone, Android and Kindle. The book will give you a lot of pleasant moments and real pleasure from reading. Buy full version you can from our partner. Also, here you will find the latest news from the literary world, learn the biography of your favorite authors. For beginning writers there is a separate section with useful tips and recommendations, interesting articles, thanks to which you yourself can try your hand at literary crafts.

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