"These two books could be used instead of economics and philosophy IMHO"

do not agree with your final statement.

why? because a young mind should be exposed to ALL ways of thought, especially philosophy.

so then, that young mind, can make him/her own choices, of what works for him/her.

but the problem is, that in the u.s.a., ayn rand is not even treated,
or even talked about in high schools, as a valid philosopher!

liberal and leftist h.s. teachers roll their eyes, at any mention of ayn rand.
'that evil crackpot novelist that creates only one-dimensional characters!
and rants for capitalism over socialism! who doesn't want socialism? evil, evil!

for today, in the u.s.a., and also most of the world, socialism has been so accepted,
that it is no longer hardly questioned as the proper way of life, in large groups.

however, reality, financial reality, has ALL these countries with socialistic philosophies,
have HUGE NATIONAL DEBT LOADS they carry, solely due to their beliefs.

and one day, maybe soon, all this world-banks pyramid scheme,
will shatter---starting from ANY OF MANY, weak bank/nation links.

"...I learn from it each time..."

this is the mark of a true masterpiece.

no matter how many times you read it, see it, hear it,
you still learn more, each and every time.

good image.
on how to stay focused on what matters most.

fountainhead boring??

well, it is possible if i was not an architect, as i am, maybe i would not find it as interesting as i do.

but it goes beyond architecture. because i consider the psychological passages on the make up of the INDIVIDUAL human soul, to be much deeper internal analysis, than what occurs in atlas, which concerns itself more with the actions and feelings of GROUPS of humans, rather than individuals.

fountainhead is a brilliant study of 4 individual psychological types. atlas is much more comprehensive and complex, however, it's main focus in not on individuals, it is on GROUPS.

and i am always much more interested in individuals than on any group.
hence, my preference of T.F. over A.S.

thanks for your 2 cents.

i understand what you are saying, but obviously do not agree.

but at least you made me chuckle with this one:
howard roark boring??
i am still laughing.

but don't get me wrong, i still consider atlas shrugged a great novel. could have used a bit of editing, in my opinion, to make it even better.

but for me, the fountainhead is the greater novel of the two, and for the same reason:
that i prefer stories of loners going against the entire world.

impressed by what you did.

have seen the 1949 film many times. i own it.

ayn rand wanted gary cooper and she got him, even though cooper was really too old for the part, and had trouble understanding some of the philosophical concepts.

"TOO NARROW IN THINKING," YOU SAY?
"YOU CAN'T COMPARE," YOU FURTHER SUPPRESS?

I CAN DO WHATEVER THE FUH I WANT.

that said, H.R. is at least 10 times more self-centered, self-sufficient and self-motivated than J.G., a young man who spends nearly an entire 1000 page, tiny print novel, running around all over, looking for more and more daddy figures to admire him.

the greatest representational line (what the book is all about) in T.F. occurs when toohey approaches roark at night, alone, on the sidewalk of a large construction site, and toohey tells roark (i'm paraphrasing here) that was a project he should have had, but he took it away from him. then he adds that he has also done this before, many times, taken many projects away from him, turning him into a pariah architect. then toohey asks roark: and i am going to keep doing it to you. so now that you know all this, tell me, what do you think about me? there is nobody around, no one will hear you except me. so, what do you think of me? and roark flatly tells him, in a calm voice:
"BUT I DON'T THINK YOU."
then he walks away.

now that, is true individualism.

and i'll go further:
compared to HOWARD ROARK's independent integrity, JOHN GALT comes across as the collective social worker for the creatively rich and powerful.