It would not have taken much time for the publishers who rejected the Fountainhead to bite the dust, as it went on to become one of the classics of modern literature. Such was the popularity of the book that it created ripples and dominated all the proceedings in every literary circle one would ever know. The Fountainhead took everybody by surprise and created a hysteria of sorts. In fact it is considered a must read, and in our family it’s a legacy everyone shares and would continue to do so.
What makes the author so special; Why is Fountainhead an unparalleled classic of all times; How is Howard Roark the protagonist, different from us are questions whose answers are endless.
The plot begins with two young architects, out of graduation and ready to take over the world. Now here comes the most interesting aspect, one of them (Peter) to be very specific is a guy who always lets others dictate terms to him, while Howard Roark is the one who cares a damn about the society and always does what he is good at – Being sensible.
The way Peter tries to emulate Howard in work and the way he transcends between helplessness and selfishness was explicitly narrated by the author. Many book freaks, when they read Fountainhead– try to relate themselves to Howard Roark . This I would call the Fountainhead effect. One cannot blame this tendency of the readers; In fact this continues with her next best novel “Atlas Shrugged”.
There is a lot more to Fountainhead than the status symbol tag attached to it. I have observed that majority of the people read this book, because they think that if they don’t they would be left lurking in the dark or they would not be considered avid book readers.
I finally request all book lovers of Fountainhead to give credibility to the content and it’s relevance even in today’s corporate world.