The Fountainhead

Howard Roark is an aspiring architect who has no interest in copying the styles of earlier eras.  As such, he is expelled from the Stanton Institute of Technology.  His roommate, Peter Keating, graduates at the top of the class and is instantly hired by the prestigious architecture firm of Francon & Heyer.  Roark finds himself employed by Henry Camden, a formerly prominent architect.  Keating rockets to prominence and success mostly through political maneuvering while Roark eeks a living.  At one point, Roark accepts a job at Francon & Heyer.  Throughout his trials, it is evident that Roark is the competent architect who designs Keating's most successful projects.  Roark is often thwarted by his own intransigence regarding his work.  He builds in his style or not at all.  Though Roark is The Fountainhead, his story is largely told by the people who surround him: Dominique Francon - the woman who loves him, Peter Keating - the man who fears, hates, and admires him, Gale Wynand - a newspaper man who becomes a disciple.  Roark hardly speaks through most of the book, and when he does it is a philosophical lecture to one of his adherents.

Reading the book, it is strikingly visual.  Rand sets scenes with sharp edges and paints her characters vividly.  One can easily see the characters as Art Deco reliefs on the side of Rockefeller Center.  Roark's style calls forth Frank Lloyd Wright, who has often been viewed as a model for Roark.

This is a philosophy book that tackles individualism vs. collectivism, creators vs. second-handers, conformists vs. non-conformists.  Roark is the Christ figure, the perfect individual who is without sin and incorruptible.  He has his adherents and his vocal critics.  Keating, who is a conformist, both hates and admires Roark.  The lead conformist is Ellsworth Toohey, an author and columnist who promotes the mediocre while decrying the exceptional.  It may sound ludicrous that Toohey would gain a greater following than Roark, but he calls for selflessness and altruism.  The unyielding Roark can never be viewed as selfless or altruistic.  Individualism is selfishness personified, according to Toohey.

The book hints at the themes to come in Atlas Shrugged (1957).  Toohey is a self-declared socialist, a perfect cog in the government that caused John Gault to engineer a strike against it.  It is a very long book, but it is never boring.  Roark and Dominique are often difficult to fathom, giving the story the quality of a fable; real people don't do such things.

Highly recommended.