The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

I’m going to break my normal policy of not issuing spoilers when writing a book review. I found The Fountainhead an engrossing read. But as the novel progressed, I found myself questioning Rand’s beliefs more and more.

First, romanticizing rape disgusted me. No means no. Dominique wanted to be degraded and raped so it’s okay just doesn’t cut it. That the “hero” of the novel does it, makes it even more deplorable.

Second, Rourke destroys a public housing project under construction, admits it, explains his reasons for the destruction in court, and is declared  not guilty by the jury despite the fact he broke the law.  The fact that several contracts were broken during the construction, and Rourke’s vision of the building was destroyed in the process, does not justify blowing up the building.

Rourke, a gifted architect, will listen to what a potential client wants and then provides his drawings for the project he perceives the client needs. If the client cannot be convinced to build exactly as designed by Rourke, Rourke does not accept the job. Frankly, that’s as it should be. He doesn’t sacrifice his integrity and the client doesn’t accept a building the client doesn’t want. Frankly, that’s how it’s supposed to work. No surprise that Rourke has a hard time finding clients with the same vision. Exactly how is he the victim here?

Although Rand’s perceptions of good and evil differs from mine, I did find The Fountainhead worth reading. Frankly I found the practices of the New York Banner quite similar to the practices of today’s Fox News Channel. After finishing I discovered The Fountainhead is often a high-school reading assignment, which disturbed me somewhat because of the two items mentioned above. However, it is a fabulous tool for debate on good versus evil and their definitions as well as the ability of a few to influence/manipulate the masses.

If Rand hadn’t been so darn preachy, I’d have given this five stars instead of four. I definitely plan to read Atlas Shrugged.