Howard Roark The Fountainhead concept sketches

started reading The Fountainhead as an intellectual exercise, and am rapidly losing sentience as I progress

lana del rey music really is so dominique francon 

The Fountainhead (King Vidor, 1949).

Dominique, Gail and Howard in The Fountainhead (1949)

Whatever gender Roark and Dominique have I want it

Ayn Rand Sucks Eggs, and I’m Reading her Novels Out of Boredom

 Some time ago I picked up copies of Ayn Rand’s novels (Anthem, The Fountainhead) for free in undergrad. They’re old 1964 paperbacks, and I liked the covers. I also bought a copy of Atlas Shrugged (from a charity organization just because that spits in the face of Rand’s philosophy) along with a copy of Marx’s Capital so I could have a funny bookshelf. Anyway, I have a lot of time on my hands so I decided to read through these three books. I’ve read Anthem, which is actually a pretty good story save for the last two chapters where Rand spews out her screeds, but today I’m writing about The Fountainhead. 

For you see, I read the first chapter of The Fountainhead last night and HOO BOY does this thing seem like it’ll be a funny time.

Anyway, sometimes I’ll write down thoughts on this book here. Here’s my thoughts on chapter one:

-- Howard Roark is autistic. 

-- No, seriously. Howard Roark is one of the only characters I’ve read that instantly feels like he’s not only on the spectrum, but is just t u r b o autistic. Like, do you remember Maud Pie from Friendship is Magic? That’s how Roark acts almost all the time. The guy hyperfixates on one specific thing constantly and at one point in this chapter he almost misses a meeting with the dean of his college because he was too busy hyperfocusing on a drawing he was trying to fix. He’s so hyperfocused that the chapter ends with him not caring that he’s been expelled and just imaging a glorious building made out of granite standing tall against a sunset, because this man loves him his buildings. His voice is described as rather monotone, he doesn’t really understand or care to understand social cues, has zero interest in learning anything that doesn’t relate to his special interest, etc. -- this guy is on the spectrum.

-- I just think that’s neat, speaking as someone on the spectrum myself.

-- Howard Roark also apparently just oozes menace to everyone who isn’t the narrator so far. What makes this funny is that the narration doesn’t give a single reason and, if anything, actually says everyone feels scared of Roark for no reason at all. Utterly strange choice.

-- This is pretty funny because Rorak just draws modernist buildings and does literally nothing else outside of swimming in a lake sometimes, at least in this chapter. Roark is just vibing and this scares everyone around him for no discernable reason, and the book ACKNOWLEDGES that there’s no reason for people to be scared of him.

-- Howard Roark is the living embodiment of that “WOMEN FEAR ME FISH FEAR ME MEN TURN THEIR EYES AWAY FROM ME” hat.

So, this means that so far this is a book about an autistic little guy vibing and hyperfocusing so hard it gets him kicked out of school. It’s a strange opening but I want to see what this little guy gets up to next, because this chapter feels like a gloriously unintentional cringe comedy.

This is the cover for my paperback edition, by the way. I had to look for it for a while since the actual copy doesn’t have a copyright or printing date in it(!). 

"Why is it so important, what others have done? Why does it become sacred by the mere fact of not being your own? Why is anyone and everyone right, so long as it's not yourself? Why does the number of those others take the place of truth? Why is truth made a mere matter of arithmetic, and only of addition at that? Why is everything twisted out of all sense to fit everything else? There must be some reason. I don't know. I've never known it. I'd like to understand."

- The Fountainhead (1943)

Some of my favorite excerpts from Ayn Rand's work

Ayn Rand, born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum, February 2, [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982

---

A note:

I realize Ayn Rand is problematic, but I love The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. If you’ve read these books and want to talk about them, let’s do it! If you haven’t read the books or any of her work, don’t try to talk to me about her books or her work.

---

Do you ever look at the people in the street? Aren’t you afraid of them?  I am.  They move past you and they wear hats and they carry bundles.  But that’s not the substance of them.  The substance of them is hatred for any man who loves his work. - The Fountainhead

I could die for you. But I couldn't, and wouldn't, live for you. - The Fountainhead

She thought how strange it would be if she ever said 'Hello' to him. One did not greet oneself each morning. - The Fountainhead

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." Roark: "But I don't think of you.” - The Fountainhead

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists. It is real. It is possible. It's yours. - Atlas Shrugged

She did not know the nature of her loneliness. The only words that named it were: This is not the world I expected. - Atlas Shrugged

Don't think of them now. Never think of pain or danger or enemies a moment longer than is necessary to fight them. You're here. It's our time and our life, not theirs. Don't struggle not to be happy. You are. - Atlas Shrugged

I feel like this is how Howard Roark wants us to see him:

But IRL dude can’t find the clit of a cartouche.

Ayn Rand dorks now own Subway, Arby's and Jimmy Johns

(if I didn't have to get to work, I'd put a long sandwich here) Subway officially closed the deal today to be bought by the same company that owns Cinnabon and the Cheesecake Factory as well as all those sandwich chains. What's the name of the company? Roark Capital. According to their website, they're named for Howard Roark, the hero of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead:

"Our name signifies our admiration for the qualities embodied by Howard Roark but, as a firm of diverse viewpoints, it does not signify adherence to any particular political philosophy. 

"Howard Roark's unwavering commitment to his individualistic architectural style put him at odds with the then entrenched powers and prevailing popular whims. While many of his peers surrendered to those powers and whims to attain fortune and fame, he refused to succumb and stayed true to himself and his work, at great personal cost.  Eventually, the prevailing architectural elites were exposed as frauds, and Howard Roark was vindicated and celebrated as visionary."

These weird nerds now own a depressingly large number of restaurants that were in competition with each other for a long time.

Why I Would Choose to be Howard Roark from Ayn Rand's 'The Fountainhead'

If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?If I could be a character from a book or film, it would be Howard Roark from Ayn Rand’s novel “The Fountainhead.” The reason for my choice is that Roark embodies many of the qualities and values that I admire, such as creativity, integrity, and individualism. His commitment to his vision and principles serves as a source of…

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Look i have a long rant in my drafts rn but essentially it boils down to the fact that Tumblr as a culture has evolved to talk about all media like it's fanfiction and i don't think i can properly explain why that bothers me so much beyond the fact that it makes people fucking annoying about everything

i wish for you whatever you wish for israelis

You're so sweet on me, bro. I also wish you a home and feelings of safety, belonging and a place in the world without the need to resort to an imperialist-backed genocide which wipes a city off the map to get it.