I am a discriminating reader. When I study or read about a certain philosophy, I don’t immediately believe all the ideals it presents—no matter who the proponent of it may be. I don’t instantly debunk all of them either, if I find one particular ideal I don’t like. Comprehend, weigh things, filter: that’s what I do. Don’t buy everything the speaker is selling. Keep the ones you can live by and throw the residue away if you can’t apply it in real life.
I did the same process in reading
The Fountainhead. I said in a previous post that I accepted some ideas from it, mulled over others, and also discarded some. I don’t call myself a pure objectivist or a romantic realist because I don’t subscribe in all the beliefs of their system—yes, unlike a regular Ayn Rand lover. The problem with most readers of
The Fountainhead is that they consider the book with only the extreme opposites of the spectrum as positions: you either love it or hate it. No gray area.
I encountered people on the net that expressed their opinions about the book. Almost all of them made me flinch. Those who claimed to love it were just looking on the positive side, calling themselves objectivists and act (and talk) like self-important zombies. Those who hated it…well, they hated it because they didn’t concur with the “preachy” Rand.
I loved the book, but not blindly, and it’s not because I embrace all the principles of Objectivism. It’s mainly because everything in it—whether you agree or not with Rand’s ideas—will make you think. There’s not a single scene there that isn’t thought-provoking; a hungry mind wouldn’t starve while holding this book because it’s basically a seven hundred-page assemblage of food for thought (with astonishing convo’s and groan-inducing scenes on the side to quench your thirst! My kind of menu, my kind of nutrition! *winks*)
I acknowledge its flaws. The characters, for instance, are not the regular characters you would expect to meet in regular fiction. As I said in a previous post: “I couldn’t help but think if the characters were…well, not characters at all, but anthropomorphic representations of ideals.” I have to agree that most of the time the characters appear to be mouthpieces of the author. With the exception of the four main characters, some are well-developed. Case in point: Steven Mallory. He's the best character in terms of being “real”. He’s sort of a younger version of Roark, but much weaker and more human.
But come to think of it,
The Fountainhead is not your regular fiction. I’ve always asked myself: “Is it a literary philosophy or a philosophical literature?” Many bashers have pointed out that the story’s just a thin skin cloaking the main core, which is Rand’s philosophy. I beg to differ. I loved the story. Objectivism is its backbone, yes; the flesh, the heart, and other structures that complete the framework would be the story. It’s there, you know. It has its elements and devices, and those have their functions different from that of the spine.
In the United States,
The Fountainhead and its renowned successor,
Atlas Shrugged, are placed on the curriculum of most colleges/high schools. They’re kind of equivalent to our
Noli me Tangere and
El Filibusterismo, but more controversial and difficult. You know how Rizal got his beliefs and message across to readers by telling the story of Crisostomo Ibarra who later became Simoun. Every character, every event signifies something—it appears like almost everything is an innuendo—yet the story is still there.
Anyway,
The Fountainhead's a great read, and even now that I’m starting another book, I can’t help but go back to the tome for some mind-squeeze. This might sound like my other review, but I’ll still say I recommend this to everyone. And, reiterating what I said in the beginning: philosophers and writers are businessmen. Wholesale of literary content wouldn’t be wise in this case, so do some critical retailing and you’d definitely benefit from it. ;)
--and for a bit of TFH-spazzing..
I drew on the cover of one of the notebooks I just bought, and it's inspired by
The Fountainhead. There's Roark (red hair), houses, buildings and skyscrapers, Dominique's naked statue, Roark standing on the edge of a cliff (find it, find it!), some quotes from the book, and the outlines of the unfinished building on the book's centennial edition. I still don't know what this notebook will be for, but what the hell. XD
Hee. Sorry. This is the main reason I don't want to get so much into any fandoms....:)) To those who're reading this, I apologize if you're trying to find something else to read about aside from
The Fountainhead. I know I've been talking about it so much lately. It ate up a large chunk of my fangirl heart. :D
I'll
try to make this the last one. ;)
