The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

This morning at 8:00 I finished the novel, The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand. It does not have a tragic ending like We the Living. Little bit about the book before I start my views.

There are five main characters in the book:

• Howard Roark: He is the protagonist of the novel. He represents the views of Ayn Rand. He is an architect who works on his own terms. He is a modernist. Due to this, he struggles to establish himself.

• Ellsworth Toohey: He is the antagonist. He is a collectivist and preaches altruism. He represents everything that Howard Roark despises and vice versa.

• Dominique Francon: She is the daughter of Guy Francon, the owner of one of the biggest architect firms in New York. She is in love with Howard Roark.

• Peter Keating: He is everything that Howard is not. He pursues the career because his mother tells him so. His success is temporary since he does what pleases others.
• Gail Wynand: He is a big newspaper tycoon. Roark and he become very good friends, but Wynand's need of others ends the relationship.

There is so much in the novel that I am not going to summarize the story. I enjoyed listening to novel. Ayn Rand's theory "Objectivism" can be seen throughout the novel, and through Howard Roark. In the end, Roark's speech explains Ayn Rand's theory. As I listened to it, I realized I was nodding my head and was agreeing with every single word. The theory is 100% true when it comes to creation and destruction; however, there is more to the world than that. Even though I agreed with the novel, I don't think I completely agree with what she preaches. I feel that we need others for support and survival and we must depend on others. One must be selfish but to an extent where others are not hurt. When a person crosses that line, then relationships end and suffering begins. I said enough about my views in the review of We the Living so I am not going to repeat that again.

Overall, this book was great. I am still debating if this book is going to be one of my favorite books or not. I think I will give it another read and then decide. I will give this book 9.5 out of 10.

I think I am going to take a break from listening to the books until next week. As I say this, I have three audio books in my car. But it has been a while since I listened to some good music during my commute and I think I will do do that Thursday and Friday. Monday I am off..yay!!! Tuesday I will pick up another book. Good bye for now...