The Fountainhead

by Ayan Rand

Fountainhead starts as a stimulating book, becomes inspiring, even galvanising, untill it becomes preachy!

The book revolves around the extremes between five main characters: An idealist protagonist Howard Roark, driven by an uncompromising drive to be his best self through his work; A fierce conformist, Peter Keating; Dominique Francon, "the woman for a man like Howard"; Ellsworth Toohey a seemingly meek intellectual, with great power and a conniving way of exercising it and finally Gail Wynad, a man who could have been Howard, but he decided to sell his soul to power.

The extremes are excellent for conveying Ayan's convictions about an ideal human. Howard Roark's innocent pursuit of achieving his best self is beautiful and inspiring. Peter Keating's conformist attitude and unsatiable drive to be validated are reminiscent of many people's dilemmas (primarily white-collar professionals). The contrast between the two is engaging and portrayed well. But the highlights of the book stop here for me. The rest of the characters seem to be there to make this contrast excessive. Ayan appears to have not thought much about being consistent about her characters either. And the most irksome is the portrayal of Dominique Francon. It evades me how a character who understands and shares the same worldview as Howard Roark could depend on seeking self-worth through someone else (first Howard and then Gail). It is also hard to miss the red scare in Ayan's portrayal of Toohey. The notion of an ideal life consisting of a fanatic creative pursuit becomes preachy and repetitive about halfway through the book.

Despite all its irks and quirks, The Fountainhead is a book worth reading. It is not easy and is not the most entertaining, but it delivers a lot to ponder.