The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

so if anyone (besides Austin Nichols) had given me a recommendation of this book i wouldn't have even thought about reading it because the words "idealism, objectivism, and architecture" just aren't interests of mine, but because Austin Nichols did give a description of The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand i just had to trust his beautiful self and dive into this 700+ page book! so far i must say that i've been completely surprised as to how intrigued i've been by the characters and the storyline. i just might go as far to say that "Howard Roark is the most complex and compelling character i've ever been introduced to by a writer!!" I LOVE THIS BOOK!! i may only have read 60 out of 700 pages so far, but i've been glued to every single one of them!! and believe it or not, Ayn Rand's theories about idealism and objectivism aren't as difficult to understand as i thought they'd be. one of my favorite quotes from Howard Roark (an aspiring architect) is when he describes the way he views the world around him and how he wants to change it through architecture and mold it into something beautiful, but his professors keep telling him that there are rules and traditions that must be followed when designing a building. Howard Roark's reply is:

"Here are my rules: what can be done with one substance must never be done with another. No two materials are alike. No two sites on earth are alike. No two buildings have the same purpose. The purpose, the site, the materials determine the shape. Nothing can be reasonable or beautiful unless it's made by one central idea, and the idea sets every detail..."