The Fountainhead

'Twas slow to get it's claws in me, but then I read around 650 pgs in the span of ~5 days. I'd say I became reluctantly captivated.

I'm reluctant to discuss the parts of this book that I deeply related to as I'm not yet sure how to articulate my feelings on them in my post-thought-provoking-book haze.. as such I offer this much less interesting moral/literary critique:


She's painfully obvious, just like all her characters, and - in quite a similar manner - uses it to her advantage.

One common tool in her reportoire: she goes to far lengths to spin crafty dilemmas that leave one with no feasable choice but hers. She gracefully constructs a moral maze that, in actuality has no forks and leads only to where she wishes to lead you. I find it ironic that she would work in such a manner when she claims to value personal choice so highly. It seems paradoxical. It's almost damaging to the arguments at some points. She is sure of herself [her 'self'] almost to a flaw.

At times she harshly damages her own cause by beating a dead horse. She begins to appear maniacal as she repeatedly and overtly preaches through her character's dialogue.

She has an uncanny ability to ascribe respect to a person, act, or thing, without directly stating reasoning. Only that it "calls to one's soul" or "exists without boundary reason or purpose other than its own dignified existence." This is gross and horrendous relativism, on its face. While affirming such value in remaining true to one's soul, never does she make a solid stance on what a moral soul values. Perhaps in that, one can conclude her assertion is no true soul can be categorized as good or bad. Is that what defines a soul? Pure unbiased, unjudged existence. The recurring theme, isn't it?

It is my honest belief that she gives humans too little credit, though her unique brand of pessimism is defended respectably. Half of me finds her fighting on the side of justice and half of me cringes at her gross misrepresentation of common people. She tries to paint a grotesque picture of mankind with far too broad a stroke. The nature of man is by no means as black&white as she makes it out to be, only in this fantastical world she's created.

While part of me views her immediately as a rival on many principles, I'm grateful for a vivid new perspective, a wonderfully detailed collection of relatable characters, and am most of all for her demand for people's integrity above all else.



It's strange, the way some things seem to sneak into one's life at the most opportune moments, as if called out for..
I think I needed to know this story.