The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand - Book Review

Ayn Rand, one of the most prominent thinkers of the mid-20^th century, is credited for formulating the philosophical concept called objectivism.

She promoted this philosophy strongly through fiction and non-fiction works throughout her life. The Fountainhead, which was finally published in 1943 after being turned down by several publishers, is the first of her two greatest hits.

The novel’s protagonist, Howard Roark is a talented architect who firmly believes that individualism is the only way of life. He equates conformity to mediocrity and a lack of originality.

He considers his architecture as an extension of himself and suffers due to society’s inherent ability to appreciate individualism. He gets thrown out of his university and faces several hurdles in his pursuit of excellence. However, his will and massive ego keep him going.

Roark’s former classmate, Peter Keating embodies everything that the hero hates.  Keating’s conformity and tendency to follow a popular trend rather than pursue innovation make him a highly successful architect.

The novel features three more intricately woven characters - Dominique Francon, Roark’s (not just his) romantic interest who emerges to be a different personality every time she appears in the story, Ellsworth Toohey, an influential architecture critic who keeps the readers guessing about his intentions until the very end, and Gail Wynand, a tabloid publisher who starts as Roark’s friend but ditches him eventually to safeguard his own interests.

The story develops as a battle of a free, creative, and individualistic soul against a mundane common school of thought. The protagonist is the epitome of the former philosophy that collectively comes to be known as objectivism while the mundane part is represented by Keating. The novel comes out as a nice mix of love, lust, greed, betrayal, ego, will, and of course, individualism.

The Fountainhead is revered by most architects even now for its coverage of the subject. However, the sheer brilliance of the book lies in its ability to challenge your preconceived notions and believes to such an extent that some of them could be changed forever. It takes some effort to complete the book but if you do, it can be highly rewarding!