The Fountainhead: Howard Roark: 1-3

I have to admit, Parts 2 and 3 were a bit heavy going, with twists and turns that are either illogical or iron-bound by logic. The moderately heavy philosophizing didn't help, perhaps because I don't relate much to an outlook that proclaims, You can tell I love mankind because I consider most men to be dreck. Happily, the beginning of the final part is refreshing.

We start in 1935, with an introduction to a Pennsylvania resort that Howard Roark has nearly completed. It sounds like a wonderful place, with well-spaced private cottages that complement the terrain. Then we backtrack to 1933, when Roark is given the commission.

He has heard about plans for a resort in the Monadnock Valley and pays a visit to the leader of the project, one Caleb Bradley. Roark quickly sizes Bradley up as the type who would never go for Roark's sort of work, but he is surprised when he is called back for an interview with the board. He lays out his vision of a resort for the middle class, with inexpensively made pools and tennis courts and plenty of privacy. Roark makes his usual demand of total control over the design, and he is sure these jokers will turn him down; but to his surprise they sign him up and send him on his way to build the resort. He gathers his friends, including Mike and Mallory, and the resort becomes a labor of love. All the while, Mallory is suspicious. But the resort opens to little fanfare and quickly becomes a success. Roark is called off by Kent Lansing to complete the Aquitania Hotel in New York. And other commissions come along.

Then the Monadnock bubble bursts. The board had sold shares of the project amounting to 200% ownership, and then they had hired an architect with a history of eccentricity, failures, and thwarted projects. The man was sure to fail, and no one was more appalled than Caleb Bradley when his venture became a success. Hmm, I wonder if Mel Brooks read The Fountainhead?

With the unexpected success of Roark's resort, his architectural genius begins to get recognition. Austen Heller writes a laudatory article about the project, and Roark is recognized by the A.G.A. and even gets an exhibit in the Museum of the Future. He is invited to join a group of architects designing the 1937 World's Fair, but he insists on designing the entire exhibition himself; which is to say, he is passed over.

But then Gail Wynand invites him to design a country home for himself and his wife Dominique. Roark goes to Wynand's office, and the two übermenschen bond. After the meeting, Wynand has an aide pull together all clippings published about Roark by the Banner.

They meet again on the land where the home is to be built. Wynand: I'm not going to apologize for the hatchet job the Banner did on the Stoddard Temple. Roark: No prob. Wynand: Really? Roark: Really-dealy.

They bond some more. Wynand even unwinds and talks about his childhood, and the time he was beaten to within an inch of his life.

A month later, Roark has his drawings ready. Wynand is more formal; he has swallowed any traces of any bonding which might have happened between the two of them. He explains the brutal facts of life to Roark. There are two alternatives. One, Roark declines the job, in which case Wynand uses his clout to make sure Roark never gets a commission again—never even gets a job as a quarryman again. Two, Roark accepts the job to build the home in the design of Roark's sole choosing, and he also signs an exclusive contract with Wynand obliging him to design future buildings in styles specified by other interested parties; Roark will be making Tudor, Renaissance, and Gothic building according to other men's directions. Roark says sure, I can do that, and by the way, here's what I will end up building for your country home—drawing a hybrid monstrosity of styles that only the most tone-deaf of architectural critics could applaud. Wynand: Wow! That took guts! How do you know I won't accept your garish design and bind you to horrible labors for the rest of your life? Roark: I trust your integrity. Wynand: Ha! I have no integrity. Roark: Yes you do. Wynand: (folds)

So Roark agrees to build a home for Wynand and Dominique, and he will not be bound by any contract afterward. Wynand: Come have dinner with us tonight. I haven't told Dominique anything about the house or who is building it; it will be a surprise. Roark: Yes it will.