It is rather awkward for me, but even though I devoured the Fountainhead, I am having trouble putting it into words. It is a tale that compelled me to keep reading, just to see whether justice was served. The book is divided into 4 Sections that don't necessarily correspond to the characters after which they are named. All 4 central characters rose from a low income background to something. Howard Roark is the hero, a revolutionary architect who builds only in his own style, he refuses contracts when the client demands an ancient styling. His mentor is the skyscraper visionary Henry Cameron, a man who lost his clients out of this very attitude. Howard is Ayn Rand's ideal man, unfazed by criticism merely because he sees the world as it is, and it does not merit his attention. When asked by Peter Keating what Roark thought of him, Howard replies, "I don't." Peter is a parasite, a member of the catagory of the "second-handers". There are two kinds of people in the world, those who create and are martyred by the second-handers who are outraged by the change in the status quo - it shows that the second-handers have not been the leaders. The second handers then adapt the idea and technology as the status quo, making them appear to be the saviors of humanity. Keating steals credit for the creativity of others. He both hates and needs Howard, as he is the only one with whom Peter can afford to be transparent, given that Howard already knows him to be a fraud. Peter power plays and manipulates others to try to get ahead in life. When at the top of his career, Peter realizes that now he must stay there at all costs, avoiding being exposed to the world as Roark knows him.
Gail Wynand is a newspaper tycoon, his paper, the New York Banner, is a daily document of what the public wants to read, see, and hear. Wynand bound his soul to the paper, and presents both to the public for its entertainment. His only weakness is a private admiration for those who haven't sold their soul. He is determined to break these people to test whether they are truly incorruptible, or merely putting up a front. He derives a sadistic pleasure by molding them in his images. He has a personal art gallery full of pieces that he was determined to keep for his eyes only. Gail hates to meet the artists, knowing that he would desire to break them as he broke himself. One of Wynand's columnists in the Banner is Ellsworth Toohey, a man who has gathered a cult following for being an authority on art as well as for living a lifestyle of simplisitc impeccability. Wynand did not try to break him, Toohey is both disappointed and amused - Gail didn't consider him to be a threat or he would have done so. Toohey is the most frightening character in the book, his motive behind why he does what he does is so glaringly obvious so as to seem impossible by its sheer audacity. Nothing Ellsworth says is in itself wrong, it is how and where he chooses to present the words that is disturbing. He settles for nothing short of dismemberment of what is virtue by redefining what is praiseworthy in the realm of art. He raises mediocre talents like Keating to be thought of as great, while omitting mention of Roark in his column as if saying that Howard is not worth noticing. By equating non-talent being on par with talent, Toohey makes the term "talented" become null and void, having no meaning.
In short, I read this book in horrified amazement. I did not particularly like any one character - I felt forced to sympathize only with characters when they were played, recoiling against those who wielded others. Gail was the character I respected the most, merely because he hid nothing. I personally can respect more the evil that knows and openly tells the world not to trust him, than the Toohey's of the world who hide their rottenness behind the facade of virtue.
Gail Wynand is a newspaper tycoon, his paper, the New York Banner, is a daily document of what the public wants to read, see, and hear. Wynand bound his soul to the paper, and presents both to the public for its entertainment. His only weakness is a private admiration for those who haven't sold their soul. He is determined to break these people to test whether they are truly incorruptible, or merely putting up a front. He derives a sadistic pleasure by molding them in his images. He has a personal art gallery full of pieces that he was determined to keep for his eyes only. Gail hates to meet the artists, knowing that he would desire to break them as he broke himself. One of Wynand's columnists in the Banner is Ellsworth Toohey, a man who has gathered a cult following for being an authority on art as well as for living a lifestyle of simplisitc impeccability. Wynand did not try to break him, Toohey is both disappointed and amused - Gail didn't consider him to be a threat or he would have done so. Toohey is the most frightening character in the book, his motive behind why he does what he does is so glaringly obvious so as to seem impossible by its sheer audacity. Nothing Ellsworth says is in itself wrong, it is how and where he chooses to present the words that is disturbing. He settles for nothing short of dismemberment of what is virtue by redefining what is praiseworthy in the realm of art. He raises mediocre talents like Keating to be thought of as great, while omitting mention of Roark in his column as if saying that Howard is not worth noticing. By equating non-talent being on par with talent, Toohey makes the term "talented" become null and void, having no meaning.
In short, I read this book in horrified amazement. I did not particularly like any one character - I felt forced to sympathize only with characters when they were played, recoiling against those who wielded others. Gail was the character I respected the most, merely because he hid nothing. I personally can respect more the evil that knows and openly tells the world not to trust him, than the Toohey's of the world who hide their rottenness behind the facade of virtue.
I don't agree with, I don't like, but I shall admit great respect for The Fountainhead.
Yes, this is a spoiler for the book at large, but I would only advise reading this work to those who are strong in the faith. It is a work that denies the existence of God, takes his name in vain, but still cannot refrain from praising and glorifying the spark that resides in man, that spirit that reflects facets of the God whom I serve. Though they refuse to acknowledge Him with their mouths, they exalt Him with their lives. A godless life is one without meaning or plot, somewhat like the Plague, by Albert Camus. That is a book in the tradition of the existentialist movement of Absurdism - a potraying of the everyday as unremarkable and devoid of supernatural involvement. Atheism is a belief that god does not exist, and must therefore be declared to the world as not worthy of existing. We have only this life.
"I release you from my service, now go and die in whatever manner seems best to you."
Yes, this is a spoiler for the book at large, but I would only advise reading this work to those who are strong in the faith. It is a work that denies the existence of God, takes his name in vain, but still cannot refrain from praising and glorifying the spark that resides in man, that spirit that reflects facets of the God whom I serve. Though they refuse to acknowledge Him with their mouths, they exalt Him with their lives. A godless life is one without meaning or plot, somewhat like the Plague, by Albert Camus. That is a book in the tradition of the existentialist movement of Absurdism - a potraying of the everyday as unremarkable and devoid of supernatural involvement. Atheism is a belief that god does not exist, and must therefore be declared to the world as not worthy of existing. We have only this life.
"I release you from my service, now go and die in whatever manner seems best to you."
- Denethor, LOTR Return of the King
Falchion
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