The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

“To say "I love you" one must know first how to say the "I" ” 

A must read.

There are few books that force you to think hard about your life, your goals and the world around you. The Fountainhead definitely falls in this category.

This is a story about a talented architect, Howard Roark, who believes in himself and refuses to compromise with his work, refusing any sort of collaboration project and ignoring suggestions about his work. He believes that the end result of one man's effort can be used as a starting point by others but an idea that is formed by mixing together several ideas, isn't half as good as the original ones. His radical and uncompromising attitude causes Roark a lot of hardships, which he faces with the attitude of a stoic. At the same time, Gayle Wynand, a man just as talented and determined as Roark, publishes in his newspaper whatever the public wants to read. Unlike Roark, he doesn't believe in expressing himself through his work. So at one hand you have a media mogul, content to sit back and let people read what they want, not interested in sharing what he believes, only in making money and on the other, you have Roark, the man who believes in working for no one except himself and who won't do anything he doesn't like to do, no matter what the consequences. The contrast in the beliefs and the lives of these two individuals forms the basic plot for this novel.

You can't help but love both of them. Roark and Wynand seem like brothers who chose different paths in life and are now set for collision. Other characters like Toohey, Dominique and Peter will remind you of certain people around you. Remember the boy who wanted to be a painter but is studying science under family pressure? He's Peter Keating (or will be unless he changes his dreams or his profession). The confused boy who always does what others tell him to? He's a representative of the confused masses, lost and gullible.

The greatness of this book lies in the way it makes major philosophical commentaries, without being the least bit boring. Rand talks about the need for individualism and independence, she criticizes altruism and subsidies based on need, and she does all this with flair. As a reader, I never felt bored of this novel. Even during the philosophical parts of the text, my interest never waned. The examples given in the book, the situations created are all practical and while reading it, we are often reminded of real life incidences where these things do occur.

 Reasons to Read it:

• Few philosophical cum literary texts are as absorbing as this one. It's an unputdownable read
• The strength of Rand's beliefs in the greatness of man and his indivualistic abilities, shines throughout this book. It's an inspiring read.
• It's a love story far better than twilight and the dozens of other novels doing rounds lately. Believe me.
• Filthy rich and powerful Wynand, claims to be the most selfless person on earth, for in his whole life he has never asked anything for himself and served the people whatever they wanted. Are his claims of selflessness justified? Who is wrong, Wynand or Roark? You will have to read this book to find out!

Memorable quotes:

“Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most important is nothing to them; nothing, not even a sound they can recognize.” 

“I love you so much that nothing can matter to me - not even you...Only my love- not your answer. Not even your indifference” 

“I don't wish to be the symbol of anything. I'm only myself.”  

"Genius is an exaggeration of dimension. So is elephantiasis. Both may be only a disease.”

 
 “When I can’t fire anyone I wish on my paper, I’ll close it and blow up the God-damn building”

 I could go on and on with the memorable quotes for this one. This is one book that deserves to be read again and again. Because the ideas propounded in it are deep and most people won't get them entirely in the first read. There are flaws in Rand's philosophy but they aren't so obvious here as in Atlas Shrugged.I will discuss them when I review that book. Still, this is one book worth pondering over.