After two-and-a half days of continues reading without sleeping and eating I have successfully finished reading “THE FOUNTAINHEAD”.
I know I now deserve a sleep. I know I must give my eyes some rest. I know my back is tired of sitting and my legs need some movement. Nothing mattered; I started writing about my experience reading it.
I am not here to write a review on the book, a good amount of googling will help you with this. I am sure great many souls would have done this work about 25 years back.
I don’t know how exactly I feel! I don’t know what amazed others over this book? But, I certainly know what amazed me. I am not sure if what I like is to be liked only by me or should it be liked by others as well? I am sure I don’t want to blindly quote what others did and feel what they felt just because they did.
If I were Howard Roark, I would have not have bothered of what others would think of this. Or, even worse, I would have not even given a thought about others. There will be no others to me.
I will love, I will respect, I will acknowledge, I will surrender and yet will not let others bother me. Good or bad will have the same effect in me. To be precise, there exists no good and no bad, why think of it and feel happy or sad. Every thing will seem vicious to me.
I will be a noble soul par excellence. I will be the very beginning for a beginning. I will be the end for ends. I will be a man as a man should be. Self sustaining, self confident, unconditioned and most of all I will live for my self.
It was a momentary pleasure to think myself as a poised, calm and self contend man. I wish there exist someone in this world just like Him. And I wish to see him before I die.
This character will live with me through my life. May be because of the way he was described (I am not reviewing, it’s just my feeling). Each and every word he used was calculated, precise and apt. None of it could be felt it was not necessary.
I am sure a great deal of complement should go to the other characters. They were well characterized, in a way that they can highlight the character of His. They were equally competent and challenging. Their efforts in trying to challenge his temper, his patience, his eager and his every thing made Him express his character intensely, hence untouched and undefeated.
Few areas I enjoyed and smiled are:
(I am writing these because I can read and enjoy them when ever I needed)
- With his Dean in the office room after getting expelled;
Dean: “You are dangerous”.
Howard: “To whom?”
- With Cameron after few days of joining as a draft’s man:
Cameron: “You’re opening yourself up, Roark, for each and every one of them”.
Howard: “But I never notice people in the streets”.
- With Miss. Francon when he was working in the quarry;
Miss. Francon: “Why are you always staring at me”?
Howards: “For the same reason you have been staring at me”?
Miss. Francon: “I don’t know what you are talking about?”
Howard: “If you didn’t, you’d be much more astonished and much less angry, Miss. Francon.”
- Again with Miss. Francon in the party at Kiki’s:
Miss. Francon: “You’re wrong about Austen, Mr. Roark. He’s very successful. In his profession and mine you’re successful if it leaves you untouched.”
Howard: “How does one achieve that?”
Miss. Francon: “In one of the two ways: by not looking at people at all or by looking at everything about them.”
Howard: “Which is preferable?”
Miss. Francon: “Which ever is hardest.”
Howard: “But desire to choose the hardest might be a confession of weakness in itself.”
Miss. Francon: “Of course. But it is the least offensive form of confession.”
Howard: “If the weakness is there to be confessed at all.”
- With M. Toohey after the suit with Hopton:
M. Toohey: “Mr. Roark, we’re alone here. Why don’t you tell me what you think of me? In any words you wish. No one will hear us.”
Howard: “But I don’t think of you.”
- With Mr. Wynand regarding the Wynand Building:
Wynand: “You stubborn bastard.” (With chuckle and surrender)
His character has been explained so well that there is just a hair line difference between him being arrogant and him being innocent. There were many pages that spoke none about Him. I will want to skip through all those pages and read the pages that had the name Roark or Howard typed in it.
There are many more I like about this character. There is nothing about him that is not being liked. All the characters were in its place as said earlier. They helped Him illuminate. I would not say it is a hero centric story and the story revolves around him. It is taken in a way that you will feel His important throughout.
“He is a young man against the world.”
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