Book Review: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

Book - The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

Published - May 1943, Bobbs Merrill

Rating - 4/5

Summary

The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand’s controversial novel, tells the story of the desperate battle waged by architect Howard Roark, whose integrity was as unyielding as granite… of Dominique Francon, the exquisitely beautiful woman who loved Roark passionately, but married his worst enemy… of a fanatic denunciation unleashed by an enraged society against a great creator. Its theme is one of the most challenging ideas ever presented in a work of fiction – that a man’s ego is the fountainhead of human progress.

(Source - Preface in the book )

I picked up this book by mistake. Yes! I went with an intention to buy ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ but instead asked for and bought ‘The Fountainhead. I always used to get confused between these two books. Don’t ask how. Because I have no possible explanation as to why I get confused between these two titles that clearly don’t look or sound similar. Though, after reading it, I am so glad I picked this book. (I will soon buy ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird.’)

Anyway, moving on to the review.

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand is superb!  

It’s hard to describe in mere few words what this book is about as it’s too layered to explain. If I were to describe in simple words, I would say it is about a man’s (Roark) hardship to achieve his goals, his struggle against mediocrity and the backlash that he faces from the world.

Roark is an aspiring architect who is considered as arrogant and disrespectful. But what he really is - a strong man who has  great conviction and hates to conform to the norms. He is a free thinker, not afraid to question even the stalwarts in architecture and has immense respect for his craft. That quality of his, manages to annoy people because he is not someone who will take orders without any reasoning or do something that he doesn’t believe in. On his journey towards becoming an architect, he meets:

• Dominique Francon- a beautiful and powerful woman, the woman he loves

• Peter Keating - who follows the conventional path, believes in pleasing others rather than questioning. All in all a perfect fit in the society of copycats and mediocre.

• Gail Wynand – an intelligent man who loses his integrity and gratitude after he comes face-to-face with the harsh reality of life. He goes on to build a business empire that often involved using wrong means; someone that Roark never imagined will be his friend.

• Ellsworth Toohey – shrewd, manipulative and ruthless man who derives pleasure from controlling people.

It is one of the rare books where a writer manages to build not just one but almost six to seven strong characters. I could feel the rage and helplessness that Roark felt. I wanted to slap Toohey hard and strangle at times. :D I felt like mocking Keating but ended up feeling sorry for him (but not in a good way). I understood Dominique’s frustrations, passion and need to punish herself. I hated than empathized with Wynand. I sympathized with Catherine. 

Rand managed to make me think and unlearn lot of things that I believed were right. Even the most negative characters will say something so smart that it will make you go ‘I hate him. But he makes sense’. That’s the magic of Ayn Rand’s writing.  After every few pages, I just sat and wondered how on earth one person can think of so many wonderful things to write. How could she justify each character that is poles apart from each other?

What I didn’t like in this book was Roark’s Orange hair!!! :D So while reading I imagined him with dark brown hair. :D Also, the fact that Roark forced himself on Dominique, which amounts to rape. I failed to understand why a strong headed and independent woman like Dominique was okay with being raped and end up falling for the same man. This part of the story is very confusing and misleading. It's a work of fiction so maybe she wanted to portray them as eccentric and masochistic between the sheets. Who knows?

The Fountainhead has equal number of readers who passionately love and hate it.  I was surprised to find quite a few in-depth negative reviews of the book. But I believe the book won’t appeal to everyone because Rand has not taken a middle ground. She focuses on extremes – black and white - instead of talking about grey shades. She has taken a stand and sticks to the philosophy that she believes in rather than trying to please everyone and taking a safer route. There are flaws and then there amazing revelations and insights. I chose to focus on the later. Maybe that’s why I loved the book.

The book is powerful but can also be misinterpreted and misused. It has the ability to influence those who live in the illusion that they possess great talent but the world doesn’t recognize it. When in fact what they need to get is a reality check. Every delusional person can use this book as an argument against all those who reject him or her. They would call themselves Roark and call the ones who criticize them - Toohey. 

About the writer - To write such an extensive (almost 700 pages) book, that too around 70 years back when there was no Internet, speaks volumes about the ability of the writer. Ayn Rand relied on books available in the library and people who could share valuable inputs related to the subject. She read several biographies and books on architecture. What more, she worked as an unpaid typist in the office of an architect to learn the nitty gritties of architecture.

Her sentence construction, her choice of words and her thought process are truly inspiring and remarkable. Even after several decades, the book is still loved and enjoyed by many. In the special edition copy, Rand quoted Victor Hugo, "If a writer wrote merely for his time, I would have to break my pen and throw it away." And she has been proven right. She has written something that is still relevant, even after 70 years! I have read many books and many writers have amazed me by their language skills but Ayn Rand takes it to another level. So much so, that I wish I could meet her, talk to her, listen to her and ask her how did she managed to write something like 'The Fountainhead' and her other books.

Overall, it is a must read!! To fully grasp and understand what all this book talks about, reading only once is not enough. I have read it only once and I know for sure I will be reading it many times in the near future. And I know that each time I will discover something profound that I had missed earlier. The book is a pure delight for readers and writers alike. No wonder, Ayn Rand reached the pinnacle of fame with this book.  

FYI a movie was also made on this book. I have only seen the trailer on YouTube and wasn't impressed by it. The actor (Gary Cooper) cast as Howard Roark is a total misfit and ruins everything. In the film, Roark looks old and angry. The actor didn’t fit the description mentioned in the book nor the one in my imagination. I guess it's right - 'The book is almost always better than the movie!!'