A deserved classic - Rated 
I can't remember now where I heard the name Ayn Rand but it was definetly only this year that I picked up on her. I was glad I remembered her was I was looking for something to read by someone I hadn't read. This book deserves the classic status - even if it is not that well known.
The story of an uncompromising architect pitched against a world which wants more of the same rather than individualism. He is ranged against those trying to bring him down because he challenges their positions of power, and those who are trying to bring him down because they don't want him to suffer when the world rejects him.
Written in the 1940's, set in the '20's and 30's, this novel still feels contemporary and highlights the constant struggle between the individual and the mass. It also echoes through the ages with the ghosts of people who have gone against the status quo, but, ultimately have produced ideas which have changed the way we think.
This book deserves to be read and, like one of Roark's buildings, there is not a word out of place.
A Romantic exploration of the soul - Rated
This novel is an essential read for any person interested in breaching the stagnant superficiality of today's capitalist controlled mechanical consumerism. Written in 1943, Rand's `spiritual' insights continue to expose the consequences of rigid conventions, status and power, altruism and ego in opposition to the reactionary individualism of originality. For Rand the success of those in power (i.e. corporations, politicians, media magnates, academics) to manipulate public opinion and control artistic creativity creates an unthinking, deluded population subservient to the needs of others. Rand describes these people as second-handers: `the man who cheats and lies, but preserves a respectable front. He knows himself to be dishonest, but others think he's honest and he derives his self-respect from that, second-hand.' The few individuals who notice and seek to transgress this form of control are treated with suspicion and in many cases ostracised and demonised. Their freedom (or selfishness) is `to ask nothing, to expect nothing, to depend on nothing.' All these elements are played out in Rand's acutely observed critique of human behaviour and personal motivation (`there's nothing as important about human beings as their relations to one another').
Howard Roark is the fountainhead, an original source of creative genius, uncompromising, indifferent to prevailing conventions (artistic, political, social) and driven by a loyalty to his own aesthetic principles, underpinned by a profound commitment to his inner self (this is the essence of Rand's Objectivism). These special qualities are contrasted with the cursory experiences of the `common herd'. For Roark the solemn appreciation of originality provides an incommunicable emotional response rather than a superficial materialist evaluation. Works of art are more than superficial compositions; they harbour the artist's innermost feelings and become an inexhaustible source of inner emotions. Roark's antithesis is Peter Keating, a scheming, sycophantic, fellow architect, who readily adopts personae to appeal to and influence those around him. Keating will sacrifice artistic integrity, personal love and happiness for a celebrity lifestyle, professional eminence and high profile commissions. The colourful relationship between Keating and Roark is a central and highly absorbing part of Rand's story.
Rand's 1920/30s setting is packed with showbiz glitz, upmarket speak-easies, economic depression, Faustian connotations and blinkered liberalism. And the device that binds these elements together is the tabloid press, principally the media empire of Gail Wynand and influential columnists like Dominique Francon and Ellsworth Toohey. The symbolism of trash journalism exposes the futile attempts of the masses to come to terms with originality (`literal-minded people, with a dry soul and a limited imagination'). Roark's designs are one example but the principle could be applied to many other artistic creations. Rand makes it clear that `fear', `need', `dependence' and `hatred' combine to oppose challenges to prevailing conventions: weapons of moral consciousness that deter original thought and betray individual honesty.
For me the most powerful aspect of the book is Rand's acknowledgement of the anonymous `few' who admire in silence, not willing to `take part in public issues'. These people do not want to meet the individual whose work they love. They exist to extract meaning from `man's proper stature' - not to betray it. Individual honesty requires a never ending journey involving new ways of approaching aesthetic experiences based on the need to absorb meaning, to shape purpose and to proclaim `man's glory.'
Rand's message has never been more relevant - Rated
Having well and truly stood the test of time, The Fountainhead is a fascinating novel which brilliantly contrasts the sobering vision of a world of ugliness with the uplifting story of how one man's integrity could conquer it.
The novel follows the lives of two very different architects. Howard Roark, the novel's hero and Rand's projection of an ideal man, is a visionary, indepentdently minded man who never loses the courage of his own convictions. His life is compared with that of Peter Keating, who never had any convictions in the first place. Forced in to architecture by his zealous mother, Peter foolishly pursues prestige and celebrity in the hope that he will find happiness by convincing the world that he has acheived something he never could. Roark, on the other hand, never needs anyone's approval other than his own, and shrewdly displays a complete indifference to the attempts of the embittered men who try to destroy him.
This novel's message of the importance of only ever measuring yourself against yourself is one that Britons today definitely need to swallow. As a member of our youth growing up in today's culture of celebrity, I find the state of affairs alarming. How many youngsters just want to be famous for the sake of being famous? How many people want to be a surgeon just for the prestige that comes with it? How many people want to work in the City just because they will make a ton of money? And how many of us want to be social workers, not for ourselves, but just so that we can say to ourselves that we have "made a difference"?
Howard Roark's story teaches the importance of treating oneself with the respect that one truly deserves. The media today is normally awash with reports of the crimes that one man commits against another. It's time we paid equal attention to the crimes we commit against ourselves.
a great read - Rated
This is a wonderful book that ties together the battle between conservative forces and the heralding of modernism and rational thought. It is also a romantic story of what people are willing to do for love and princeple in the face of indifference and hostility.
Ayn Rand aims arrows at the hangers on who hold society back and want everything run on there approval despite there ill founded opinions.
The characters Ellsworth Toohey and Peter Keating in body what is wrong with some parts of society, the former being a maladjusted creep who hides megalmania under intelluctual granduer and the latter who can't operate without Howard Roark'shelp and skill. As he is too spineless and lacking in talent and will prostute his friends talent for easy personal and professional gains.
The lover affairs are twisted in it the triangle between Keating,Roark and Domnic Wyland are a great section of the book
It cheers and ends with the deserving couple Howard Roark and Domoic Wyland being together...with a good few twists between.
A interesting and funny read, it has one liners and very good observations all the way throught it..
good...until you actually think about it - Rated 
Before I launch on a little critique, I'd like to say that The Fountainhead is enjoyable and a bit of a page turner. It's very easy to get caught up in it, and some elements of it are great (history of architecture, Roark's early career, etc etc), but I think that overall its slightly unsatisfying.
I really regard Ayn Rand as the Dan Brown of her day, only with something slightly more substantial to say (and a slightly better writing style). Her writing is very readable, but hardly brilliant. And her characters aren't very realistic, and the story rather contrived. I think whilst reading The Fountainhead it is rather fun and you kind of agree with her/feel sorry for Roark etc, but when you take a step back you can't help but think that Roark, Francon, Wynand and so on are all totally unrealistic people - the woman who is dead inside and wants to inflict social pain on herself? The tortured media mogul looking for artistic satisfaction? I think when you reflect on these characters, who make sense in the narrative, they seem vaguely preposterous.
Also, the ending basically defeats the whole point of the book, not to mention it being both totally unrealistic and unjust...
Also, the objectivist dogma she puts forward doesn't really seem at all practical - or, indeed, substantial.
She keeps saying how Roark designs objectively perfect buildings, which should be obvious to anyone who is not closed minded. Then she launches into a crusade against the 'second-hander' - anyone who copies what somebody has done before rather than coming up with their own ideas. Well...if something is objectively perfect, why the hell would you go and innovate on top of it? And really how many instances are there where one can objectively say something is better than something else? Buildings, yes, can be designed to let in more light, more floor space, fit in better with surroundings, etc, but how many other branches of life can one apply standards like this to?
Basically I think Rand tries to achieve too much with an idea which is at best impractical. The Fountainhead is good, but I wouldn't describe it as essential. Try Nietzsche for the philosophy, and Tom Wolfe for the stories, instead.
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