Book - The Fountainhead
Great novels empower you to see the world in a new and unique light. You’re able to look at, compare, and evaluate the trajectory of individual lives facing the forces of good, evil, and indifference. As with all great art, literature builds a model of life from the viewpoint of the author.
Consider Ayn Rand’s great novel, The Fountainhead. For my money, it’s the best self-empowerment book ever written. It shows the career trajectory of six individuals: one who is true to his soul and highest aspirations; one who sells his soul for fame; one who sells his soul to the mob; one who discovers her soul; one who loses her soul; and one who is a soul killer.
As a reader, you are immersed in the life of these individuals, giving you a crystal clear view and understanding of how and why their lives end up as they do. Its power lies in the art of Ayn Rand’s storytelling. It brings to life what would take a library of philosophical treatises to convey. It shows us.
The Fountainhead is one of the very few novels that could fit the designation of being a good self-help book. It’s the story of an uncompromising and supremely talented architect, Howard Roark, who faces challenges that would make many give up. Yet, Roark has what Rand called “a first-handed” approach to life’s decisions.
A “first-handed” approach means that a person does not seek nor depend on others to choose for him or her. Other characters in the book base their life choices on a “second-handed” approach, meaning that they fundamentally rely and depend on others to reward and justify what they do.
The Fountainhead presents the career trajectories of six main characters including Howard Roark. A fellow architect seeks the adulation of fame. A newspaper magnate tries to gain political power by catering to the lowest common denominator. The woman who loves Roark doesn’t believe he can succeed… so she works against him. Another young woman tries to do her best by living up to the advice of her soul-killing uncle. He, in turn, does everything in his repertoire of hate to destroy Roark.
by Ken West. Program Manager at The Fusion Group. Author of Achieve Your Purpose.