Ayn Rand and Leonard (AFT) Peikoff - Fountainhead

Life, as they say, is in the details. Few would agree with this sentiment more than Ayn Rand, who believed that the only purpose of human existence was to achieve personal happiness. In her breakthrough work,The Fountainhead, she painted her picture of the ideal man, and showed you just how he achieved purpose. In doing so, she's shown a better way to millions who have been enriched by her novels, including me.

Ever feel like something is fundamentally wrong with the world, but you don't know what? This described exactly how I felt going into my senior year in High School. I had turned away from the traditional values of society, and had nothing to replacement. For all the reasons given to me to succeed, not one of them seemed valid. I didn't care about making the world a better place. I didn't care about racking up points for the afterlife. I wanted to know just what the world had to offer for me, and why I should continue to live in it. I was on the verge of suicide; not because I couldn't deal with life, but just because I saw no reason to. Then I read The Fountainhead in my Senior English class, and everything changed.

In the main character of Howard Roark I saw a reflection of myself, of the person I could be if I found purpose. Roark found purpose in designing buildings the way he felt they should be, despite what was considered the "correct" way to do things. He set his own values, and didn't allow the pressures of public opinion to force him into compromise.

Roark triumphs in a theoretical world that it inherently just. He has to triumph over injustice, but sense and reason eventually win out. So in a way, this shows the world not as it really works, but as it should. I remain committed to the idea that the world could be this way. I do not consider myself an Objectivist, but a humanist. Anybody who feels that the route to happiness is a material one, and who believes in the value of human achievement should read this book.

Note: If you like The Fountainhead, check out Atlas Shrugged for a more in-depth explanation of Rand's philosophy.