The beauty lies in the fact that nowhere does the book explicitly mentions about the philosophy. It seems to offer the reader an entrance to the passage of understanding the philosophy of objectivism. The book, in four parts, presents four characters and their lives, thoughts, ideologies, actions, a sketch of their being, if you may, to let the reader grasp the different personalities and their impacts on the world overall. The Fountainhead is set in the first half of the twentieth century in the land of opportunities, ‘The United States of America’. It is difficult to explain how a mere collection of words can do that to someone, but to know, you have to dive deep in that world. Every single time, I just opened the book, at whichever page, that didn’t matter, and I felt alive. That was my first reading, and since then, I have picked up this book many times, when I was down, when I was exhilarated when I doubted myself, when I was confident when I was dejected, and when I was jubilant. I finished the book in one sitting, unable to contain my excitement at the very ideas unfolding which I had always wanted to spell out but never had the words for. It was recommended by a college friend, with a claim that I will be a changed person after I am done reading it. I read it for the first time in the year 2006. The Fountainhead has been one such book for me. When it is one of those days when you just sit by the window with a cup of tea and a book, curled up, in your most comfortable T-shirt and Pajamas, life seems worthwhile! And when on such days you pick up a book that makes you look at everything and everyone in a different manner, inspires you in a manner that had always had a hazy form in your head but not the crisp outline you needed, makes you take notice of your abilities and constraints and of those around you, you know that reading is a privilege.

Peter keating the fountainhead