Book Review - The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

I find myself torn between a 5 star review and a 4 star review, so have gone with the lower. Rand does a brilliant job of framing up a cast of archetypes that serve to provide a literary backdrop for her philosophy of objectivism. The protagonist, Roark, is the superman, and is referred to as such at least once in the novel. Toohey, the antagonist, is the classic second-hand life - leveraging the power of society and not creating his own. Domanique is the archetype of the female power player - the perfect complement to Roark.

The book itself is over 600 pages of sometimes very dense writing. I sometimes found myself a bit mystified at the meaning of elements of the story, and some of the dialogue is extremely long, and reads more like a sermon or a philosophy text than a conversation. Having said that, the book will make you think about the role of the self and the creator in society - and whether the self should ever be subjected to societal pressures. Rand's view of the individual as the primary unit of being comes through loud and clear in the book - and the extreme elements of the characters that make the book a tough read make the message an easy one to grasp.

This should be on a short list of long books to read, and is worth picking up. Be forewarned, however. This book is heavy in terms of weight and weighty topics. Not a light or easy read at all.