And Then There's A Twist

So I've decided God, Fate, The Great Entity Above, tried to tell me something a week or so ago. I've been having issues getting on-line. This meant that I haven't been able to read Louisa May Alcott, since my library has yet to get that book in (even though I harass them once a week). I was trying to read it slowly, to be honest. I really wanted to read it in paper form. But since I was unable to get to it without a great deal of maneuvering, I picked up a new book at the library while I was there with the kids.

I managed to score "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. It's a well loved copy (my way of saying it's been read lots and lots), and it's as thick as my husband's arm. Looking at it I was quite intimidated. I started reading it, though, because it's been so high on my list for so long. Let me tell you, there's nothing like the opening scene of a naked young man standing on a cliff to grab your attention.

I was afraid that I might have to slog through words and phrases that don't exactly carry through to today. Boy was I wrong! Yes, I'll admit there are times when it feels like Ayn Rand might be going on a bit, but those places are, for me, few and far between. The words seem almost timeless, and the themes of old guard versus new kid, of the struggle against change, of the suffocation of new ideas and expanding minds, are definitely pertinent in any time.

Architects Howard Roark (the young upstart) and Peter Keating (the young man who doesn't want change) are the same age, in so many ways are in totally different spheres of thought, and yet are so close in ideas at certain times. When my son asked me what the story was about, I realized it was so complicated that I couldn't really give him a quick synopsis. So I thought about it, and broke it down to this: Peter Keating works to live; Howard Roark lives to work.

I'm about halfway through "The Fountainhead" and am enjoying it immensly. It's very hard to give a brief breakdown of this story, as it's really very much about the struggle of the new evolving in the land of the determinedly staid. It's also the struggle of youth growing, and becoming, and following different paths in lives that, in many ways, end up parelleling each other. The cast of background characters that help to shape their lives, intrude upon their evolution, and, at times, who are used by the main characters for reasons of their own, are interesting, colorful, and very much three dimensional. You feel their struggle, too, as they come to terms with their lives and what their presence means to either Roark or Keating, or, at times, both.

So far, Keating's life has pretty much gone down the path he wanted. He's planned it all, and he's done what he needs to acheive the stature, recognition (which he believes is always due him), and money he deserves. He's very much self-centered, and I would actually despise him if I didn't feel sorry for him. I don't know if I'll continue to pity him, as he has a streak of ruthlessness that I'm afraid is going to make him unredeemable in the end.

Roark's life is...well, it is. He makes people uncomfortable because he's one of those people who honestly don't care what other people think. No, really, he doesn't give two cents for their opinions. In fact, he seems to be more sympathetic with the buildings he creates than with the people who inhabit them. While he isn't as "colorful" as Keating in his dealings with life, I can definitely relate to him much easier than I do with Keating. Roark knows what he wants to do, build modernistic homes, and he won't compromise, which drives people crazy. He knows he needs money to survive, but he would rather live in a cardboard box than give up his ideals.

So far, I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable this classic is. I'm definitely looking forward to curling up with this book tonight and reading another chapter...or three...or heck, four.