The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand has been one of my favourite books for a long time, and featured recently on my It's Nice That bookshelf, but I forgot to mention it was also released in 1949 as a film.
Howard Roark is Ayn Rand's embodiment of the human spirit, and his struggle represents the triumph of individualism over collectivism.
I find this an ever-increasingly relevant thought, as we work for ourselves, by ourselves and produce things that are not lost by anyone except us.