#and some of them are such solid plotlines 😵

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Fountainhead review

Book review! The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand! Awful person! I know 😵 but damn this bitch can WRITE. She has a lot of interesting takes, some that I really agree with and others where I'm like- "what kind of hateful kush are you smokin??" 

~hella hella spoilers below and mild ones in the slides~

The story is essentially the path of two architects throughout their lives. Howard Roark, shunned genius, artist, sexy luvr boy and Peter Keating, who is basically just a dude who only ever focused on living for prestige and what *other* people wanted to see. As foils of each other they represent a conflict Rand brings up again and again- that the human race is composed of two groups: people who are original and driven, with a vision that will change the world / their industry (Howard) and the rest of 'em. Men who are awful, hateful impersonators who will only jump on the bandwagon once it's become popular (Peter). 

The novel manifests this conflict slowly and in numerous different ways but always contrasting Howard and Peter as the paragons of either group. Parallel lines running to their conclusion, contrasting each other the whole way. 

Peter never makes a decision for himself and the couple of times that he is tempted to actually follow an original idea and be true to himself, he betrays it by pursuing some manifestation of prestige. At the beginning of the book he is always shown to be beautiful, well-liked, and successful but by the end, he has been divorced and is a bloated alcoholic without any architecture contracts to his name. 

Roark makes the opposite journey. He is kicked out of uni for being too radical and spends a number of years struggling to get any contracts to his name. He never gives up, continuing to design his buildings his way even as he is shunned and sabotaged, and ostracized from society. By the end, he had designed the tallest skyscraper in new york and is married to Keating's ex-wife. 

 So, now that the basic plot is out of the way, is this book any good? YES. A solid 8 out of 10. 

The positives: 

The writing is *chef's kiss*. Phenomenal metaphors and imagery ("cadaverous youth") and long plotlines that weave in and out of each other (grr martin has nothing on her). 

Every character is a crystallized version of a particular facet of humanity that Rand tries to showcase. None of them are throwaway characters. 

The romance is some of the best I've ever read. Slow burn and fast-paced, hidden and blatant, said and unsaid. Heartbreak and fizzle and reignition and bizarre turns of fate. When I got bored of the constant politics, the romance always reeled me back in. 

Now the bad : 

She is just preachy as hell at some parts and has awful takes. Droning on and on about how horrible people who receive welfare are and how nature only exists so that man can pummel it into raw material. 

I felt guilty some of the time! Like I was this loser dude that was going to become like Keating and I needed to be more true to myself. Altho that is a v personal take and probably reflects me more than the writing. 

There is a rape scene that I just don't think adds to the plot at all. 

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I read this book because I have always heard about Rand and a couple of people I respect read it and had a lot of good things to say. I'm glad I did. I think anyone who undertakes this tome of a novel (694 pages!!) will walk away a bit quieter, prolly quit their job and apply to college, and buy the next architect they meet a beer.