THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand
(Original Version: Bobbs-Merrill: New York, New York. 1943.)
(Modern Paperback Version: Signet: New York, New York. 1996. 705 pages.)

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Cover Artist: Nicholas Gaetano. The above picture is Copyright © 1996 Signet Books, Inc. Used with Permission.

In the hustling-bustling world of 1920s New York, there are various methods to get ahead. Some parasitically live off of others, stealing their ideas and expecting others to make their decisions for them. Others try to climb over others, using their fellow men as crutches. Some blame all of this hooliganism on "selfishness," and prescribe selflessness as a cure. Some try to find a balance between feeding off of others and serving them. For years, this went on, until one day . . . one man dared defy the entire system. . .

This man lives off of the efforts of no one but himself, but he does not pledge his life to community service, either. He is an architect who designs the greatest buildings in the world, and, for this, he is despised. This character shocks the moral consciousness of the the entire community, simply by living peacefully his own way in all facets of life, from work to leisure to love. His name is Howard Roark. This is the story of the man who challenged the entired world . . . and won.

During the historical period of the 1920s through the 1940s, architects are expected to emulate the designs from the past in their own buildings, using Roman, Gothic, or Renaissance styles. Roark, on the other hand, designs buildings to be useful, and stresses substance over useless ornamentation. He ignores everything his professors taught him in architecture school, refuses to join the Architectural Guild of America, and is the outcast of the industry for his "impudent" refusal to conform or even compromise with mediocrity. His works are new and great, and therefore unappreciated. Not that he cares, since he's not concerned about what most people think of him.

But The Fountainhead is about so much more than nonconforming. It's the most radical defense of individualism ever, second only to Atlas Shrugged. It's the story about a man's right to exist FOR HIS OWN SAKE; that he need not justify his own existence through others' acceptance or through how useful he is to others. Roark dares to challenge those who demand that he only deserves to live if he "serves his fellow man", and, unlike most people, respects no authority other than that of his own independent judgment. He will not sacrifice that which he values most (his life and his work) for the sake of things that he values less (strangers and the welfare of people he dislikes). Along the way, he faces many obstacles. Roark has many enemies, among them rival architect Peter Keating, who represents the parasite who lives off others for his "own" sake. He conforms, gives lip service to altruism, and would rather unquestioningly believe in the conventional wisdom on faith, than logically ask what makes a certain statement correct. Keating is egotistical in the commonly accept meaning of the word: he brags, boasts, expects others to feel inferior. Also like a regular phony, he tries to mask his own "selfishness" by giving lip service to "living for the community." Keating fits the traditional defintion of "selfish," but the story demonstrates that all of his ruthless, antisocial behavior to be a result of a certain senese of selflessness. It's very shocking, but it rings true all the way.

Ellsworth Toohey is the most selfless man in the story, . . . which is exactly why he's the most evil. The most powerful sociologist and architectural critic in the land, he preaches everything that is collectivist and anti-individualist. In the realm of cooperation, he tells people to compromise and conform. As a pefect egalitarian, he makes achievers feel guilty for "unfairly" having or doing better than other people. He tells people that it's arrogant to simply think for oneself, because it ignores the group, and it is the people "as a whole" who know best. And, of course, he preaches "selfless service to the community" as the highest virtue one can achieve. In the political arena, he favors antitrust laws and all of the regular busines regulations, since "dog-eat-dog competition" breeds "greed and selfishness."

Yet those who menace Roark the most are not these two evil characters and their cronies, but two people who are actually good. One of them is Dominique Francon--the woman he loves. She thinks for herself, but differs from him in one important respect: she expects him to lose. She believes that his enemies are too powerful for him, and that he should therefore give up before they crush him and ruin him. To save him from such a fate, she tries to make him give up. Another heroic opponent of Roark is ingenious newspaper publisher Gail Wynand. Wynand is also like Roark, but differ from him in another respect: he compromises with the lowest common denominator (the Toohey fans and the masses he despises). His editorials reflect the opinions of his readers; not his own. He conforms with the masses, and even assists Roark's enemies, among them Toohey, by hiring them to write for his newspaper, since he thinks that their opinions reflect the public's. Why does Wynand do all this? It gives him wealth and the economic ability to do whatever he wants. By compromising his principles in this way, he believes, he has gained power over the public, and will use his influence to one day enlighten them with his own opinions. Wynand claims that he is compromising with evil for heroic ends. In other words, he's a sell-out under the impression that he holds dominion over the Egalitarians and the trustbusters he hopes to oneday fire. But does he really? When he finally wishes to speak his own mind, will his public really listen to him?

Presented the novel is a series of interrelated, intertwining stories dealing with the major life decisions of Roark, Keating, Toohey, Dominique, and Wynand. It details Roark's being expelled from college for "impudence", to his working with his washed-up childhood idol Henry Cameron, to starting his own architectural firm, to being driven to bankruptcy by the efforts of Toohey and his minions, to a life of manual labor in order to save money to re-start his firm to his comeback, to his final explosive stand against all of society. We also see Dominique's attempts to sabotage his career in order to "save" him, as well as the rises and falls of Keating, Toohey, and Wynand.

Along the way we meet a host of unusual characters: A selfish man who benefits the entire city, a humanitarian who does everything in his power to debase humanity, a "normal" coward who gives up his own dreams in order to feel safe within a group, and an original thinker who compromises his principles and pays for it in the end. There's also a character who behaves in a manner remarkably similar to that of real-life millionaire Andrew Carnegie. Not surprisingly (to me, anyway), this character is a villain, though he's only a puppet in Toohey's schemes. You'll be blown away by the explosive climax, and Roark's spectacular courtroom speech in front of all his enemies and allies alike. And don't expect Roark to lose. Geniuses like him deserve to win, and, in the world of Ayn Rand, they do.

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