"Oh, And One Other Thing: Don't Get Too Excited About The Fountainhead"

^That's a John Green quote. In case you were wondering.

So I typically value John's opinion quite a bit. I think he gives excellent advice, and I am one to take excellent advice.

But, on the subject of The Fountainhead, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disobey John's wishes. I am very excited by The Fountainhead. Though, I suppose, I have not entirely rejected John's advice. Though I love the book's message, I am not solely excited about the idea of selfishness, or individuality, or independence. I am excited by the quality of writing of this book.

I always forget how much I love good books. I have read far too many mediocre young adult novels when I could have been reading true works of fiction; true works of art. The Fountainhead is just that. It is complex and detailed and long. The characters are rich and varied, though highly unbelievable and unreal. Still, it's sometimes nice to just read about extreme, impossible characters. Though, I argue, Rand does not write entirely in black and white.
Austen Heller, Kent Lansing, Mike Donnigan, Roger Enright... They're all fairly normal characters. They don't have excessively lofty ideals, nor are they ignorant or cruel. Heller is a journalist who appreciates individuality, but does not live for it. He writes, partially, to please his readers (the public), yet also maintains his integrity. Kent Lansing fights for the Aquitania Hotel, but yet also lives and functions in the real world, understanding that all people are not good or intelligent. Mike is just a good 'ol guy. He's probably the most thoroughly normal character. When Roark first meets him, he's working on whatever big building project comes up, meshing with society and adapting for each job. Yet, he recognizes that some architects are truly great, such as Roark and Cameron. He then has the strength and integrity to support the. Roger, too, is normal. He simply likes Roark's designs. Not because they're original, but because he likes them.
I like that the book isn't all extremes. Guy Francon, John Erik Snyte and a few other characters who are not necessarily protagonists, are also normal. I just want to highlight this. One of the only criticisms that Rand gets for her books is that the characters are sometimes too fantastical. They aren't really, though.

Also, in terms of the architecture, which I know is just the... medium (or something) used to present the idea of individuality, I sort of find myself not loving Roark's architecture. I mean, I like practicality, but I also like uselessness. I like narrow, dark halls and oddly shaped corners and asymmetry. When I was living in Arizona, I stayed in a very Roark-like house. It was big, open, practical, attractive and unlike any form of classical architecture. But it was too perfect and light. I used to sit inside my closet just to have a small, dark space that was less perfect. Yes, I am weird as hell. Also, I like some classical architecture stuff. I like old buildings, and I like fake-old buildings as well (though not as much).
I know the architecture itself is not very important, but I just thought I'd mention that.

Roark. How come he can rape someone and no one cares? Though, fun fact, if the average person lists their top 5 sexual fantasies, a rape situation, on average, falls at number 2 or 3. This includes situations in which the fantasizer is the rapist, the rapee, or (for gay men particularly; I find this very funny) the "organizer" in a gang rape situation. Yay fun facts about sex! (See my next post, haha.)
But anyway. I think it's funny that Roark is so perfect that no one even seems to care that he's a rapist. Nope, that's cool. Whatever.
Yet, Roark is, at the same time, really attractive. God, I couldn't imagine dating someone like that, but he's such a perfect pedestal-crush. Until the pedestal gets crushed. Hopefully it's not Doric. (Heh. Heh. I managed to make 2 bad jokes about that. This is bad.)

Also, I don't dislike Peter. Or Toohey. I feel like you're supposed to, but I don't. I mean, Peter's a wimp and Toohey's a jerk, but their actions are understandable.

Yeah. This is REALLY all over the place. More so than usual.

This was a summer reading book, so I had to write a few essays/make a few charts for it. Whee. My "informal" essay on Objectivism is actually kind of funny. It's not very good, but I used a lot of vocab that I learned in my philosophy class. Though I had to take out my description of Roark's epistemological and ontological processes. I was a little disappointed about that.

*abrupt ending*

Total Book Count: 68
NonFic: 22 (32.35%)