The Expression Hub

Author: Ayn Rand

Genre: Philosophical fiction

“There is no great genius without some touch of madness.”

Aristotle

Well as I told you in the earlier posts I am always in the search of interesting content so here I am with the find of the week. Yes its ‘Fountainhead’ by the world famous author Ayn Rand.

Well for the uninitiated, Ayn Rand is an author who always writes stories in favor of the capitalist America. She is always like capitalism is and will always be a better model of economy than socialism. By the way you cannot completely blame her completely, given the time period to which she belonged.

The book revolves around 4 main characters namely Howard Roark, Dominique Francon, Gail Wynand and Ellsworth Toohey. Howard Roark is an eccentric guy who has been thrown out from the Stanton Institute of Technology. The reason being his unique approach to the field of architecture. The guy always thought ahead of his times , while his contemporaries still languish in the medieval themes. He is mocked for his genius yet he does not pay heed to the criticism.

His genius is appreciated by a very few people in the line of his work. This includes Dominique Francon, Gail Wynand and Ellsworth Toohey(he regards Roark as a genius who is a threat to him ). Roark is warned of all the perils he has to face if he were to stand by his values. Roark is not scared and faces it all- rejection. criticism , hunger as long as he gets his way.

He even faces imprisonment just because he has to have his way. That is his passsion towards the field of architecture. He is of the belief that the medieval themed gothic buildings are not going to stand the test of time. There will be a time when his genius will be recognized by the world. So he just keeps defying the conventional methods.

The rest of the story is about his struggle and relation with other people in the story. The book sends out a powerful message though- come what may be you can face it all if you are truly passionate about the work you do. The character of Howard Roark seems super manly . It seems as if he is so passionate about his work that he does not think what others are saying to him. He just keeps on doing his work in the manner his mentor Henry Cameron did.

Though the book is a good read, it does get sluggish at times. You do feel that the author has tried stretching the story line at times. But overall the story is fascinating. You do feel for Howard Roark and his struggles.

So do read the book and tell me about what you think .

Rating:***

Que: Name the newspaper where Dominque Francon worked.

a. The Washington Post

b. The New York Times

c. The New York Banner

d. The New Yorker