The Fountainhead Review

Title: The Fountainhead
Author: Ayn Rand
Pages:706
Release Date: September 1st 1996
Genre: Objectivist fiction

Summary: Rand's hero is Howard Roark, a brilliant young architect who won't compromise his integrity, especially in the unconventional buildings he designs. Roark is engaged in ideological warfare with a society that despises him, an architectural community that doesn't understand him, and a woman who loves him but wants to destroy him. His struggle raises questions about society's attitude toward revolutionaries. The book addresses a number of universal themes: the strength of the individual, the tug between good and evil, the threat of fascism (source: Goodreads.com).

My Reaction:

The Fountainhead is one of the most self-involving books I have ever read. As I was reading it, I was caught entirely off guard by the amount of time spent just thinking about the plethora of philosophies and ideas that Ayn Rand has so gracefully crammed into this exquisite work of art, more commonly referred to as a novel.

She had me entranced in the first couple paragraphs with her fastidious attention to all the smallest describing metaphors that make the book really come to life inside the reader's imagination, while still being an obvious product of her own creation. Miss Rand absolutely stays true to her own views in this book and gives the reader a round-about look into the mind of a political and philosophical genius through the contrasting values of her characters.

Though the main character in this novel is Howard Roark, the views and philosophies of all the other characters in the book are so well thought out that you really not only get to see yourself somewhere in the book, but you can often see what you would like to be.

As her main character and object of self made idol worship Howard Roark is a man of absolute and solid integrity; it doesn’t take long at all until you can see that this is the characteristic that the author values most, and it isn't much longer until you can see why. Despite being longer than most books (and at 704 pages it takes awhile to read), you’ll find that this book is rarely lacking in some sort of excitement. The only downside to this book is that it is certainly not for all ages, but aside from that, this book is a ten out of ten and something for all readers to look forward to and all authors to look up to.

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