I read The Fountainhead as a teenager upon the recommendation of a friend. At the time I liked it - I saw it as simply a story about an individual who stood up for what he believed in. I was pretty much clueless about Rand and Objectivism at the time. I read this one later and had a lot harder time with it, as I found it to be nothing more than a vehicle for Rand to espouse her philosophical beliefs. Not much of a novel.