The Magus

One of those slightly idealistic books you probably have to read in your teens or twenties or you'll never quite get it (I lump The Magus in with Steppenwolf and The Dice Man, but to be fair, Fowles is a far better craftsman) -- anyway, I'd classify this as a sort of grand entertainment, the story of a young egocentric who has long pulled the wool over his own eyes and then finds himself...more

One of those slightly idealistic books you probably have to read in your teens or twenties or you'll never quite get it (I lump The Magus in with Steppenwolf and The Dice Man, but to be fair, Fowles is a far better craftsman) -- anyway, I'd classify this as a sort of grand entertainment, the story of a young egocentric who has long pulled the wool over his own eyes and then finds himself the victim of a crafty manipulative billionaire, and so we follow him from London to Greece and back to London in his addled quest for the girl (always, the girl). A great read if you can overlook (or even forgive) some of the overwrought 60s optimism and Jung/Joseph Campbell lite, but the important distinction which Lily/Julie's mother makes, late in the book, between "necessary" and "unnecessary" pain delivered between partners, has stayed with me for 20 years.   hide

Overwhelming book; once you've read it you'll never be altogether free of it again. Nicholas - educated young man , rather self-absorbed, uses his charm to manipulate women. On a Greek island (overtones of 'The Tempest' throughout), he is 'taught a lesson' by means of a long and complicated plot which constantly flirts with the supernatural. The last scene leaves you having to decide for yourself...more

Overwhelming book; once you've read it you'll never be altogether free of it again. Nicholas - educated young man , rather self-absorbed, uses his charm to manipulate women. On a Greek island (overtones of 'The Tempest' throughout), he is 'taught a lesson' by means of a long and complicated plot which constantly flirts with the supernatural. The last scene leaves you having to decide for yourself whether the campaign has worked or not - is Nicholas a better person, or not? Flawed, but overbloodywhelming just the same   hide

A delirious Mediterranean mind-f**k, The Magus is the story of an increasingly surreal and sadistic head-game. Nick, a disaffected young English schoolteacher working at a remote academy on the Greek island of Phraxos, becomes entangled with Conchis, a wealthy and mysterious recluse whose private compound shares the island with Nick's academy. Fowles's eye for detail has an almost...more

A delirious Mediterranean mind-f**k, The Magus is the story of an increasingly surreal and sadistic head-game. Nick, a disaffected young English schoolteacher working at a remote academy on the Greek island of Phraxos, becomes entangled with Conchis, a wealthy and mysterious recluse whose private compound shares the island with Nick's academy. Fowles's eye for detail has an almost hallucinatory intensity here; combined with the oppressive heat and interlocking mysteries of the island, the result is almost psychedelic: Profound, vivid, resonant, and bursting with archetypal imagery.   hide

First read this over 30 years ago (OMG), and I still come back to it every few years. The first time round, one copy was passed from friend to friend, each of whom disappeared and was not seen for two or three days until they'd finished it! Fowles slightly revised the ending of the original version, as people had been saying it wasn't very clear. I think he very craftily made the new ending...more

First read this over 30 years ago (OMG), and I still come back to it every few years. The first time round, one copy was passed from friend to friend, each of whom disappeared and was not seen for two or three days until they'd finished it! Fowles slightly revised the ending of the original version, as people had been saying it wasn't very clear. I think he very craftily made the new ending even more ambiguous! Spotting the original of Conchis's villa, from a boat sailing round Spetses (only 20 years ago, this time!), is still a special memory.   hide

I read my brother Daniel's copy, after it was assigned to him in college twenty years ago. Since then I've reread it three times. The opening can seem a little dry, but the reader is rapidly propelled into a fascinating hall of mirrors. The descriptions of the Greek island of Phraxos, where most of the story takes place, are brilliant and mysterious. One interesting element is that the...more

I read my brother Daniel's copy, after it was assigned to him in college twenty years ago. Since then I've reread it three times. The opening can seem a little dry, but the reader is rapidly propelled into a fascinating hall of mirrors. The descriptions of the Greek island of Phraxos, where most of the story takes place, are brilliant and mysterious. One interesting element is that the protagonist is not a nice person, and the novel is written in the first person, so we see everything through his eyes. "The Magus" tackles morality, religion, the nature of reality, history, sex, and the labyrinth of human experience. I usually don't read thick literary novels, preferring well-written SF or mysteries, but this novel has elements of both and is one of the most absorbing novels I've ever read.   hide

Smart and exciting, but weird and making feel sick sometimes..

I read the revisited version, which contained a few other storyline elements, a romantic connection, etc so I really don't know what the original was like.Nonetheless, the version I read was absolutely amazing! The story starts off very slowly and the first 200 pages or so don't have much action. The reader feels that they can clearly understand what each character is doing and...more

I read the revisited version, which contained a few other storyline elements, a romantic connection, etc so I really don't know what the original was like.Nonetheless, the version I read was absolutely amazing! The story starts off very slowly and the first 200 pages or so don't have much action. The reader feels that they can clearly understand what each character is doing and why.All of a sudden the book becomes very complex and you are second-guessing the motivation of every character other than the narrator. From there the book grows evermore complex, with a huge web of lies until the reader is left at the end just as confused as the narrator himself and constantly guessing at what really happened.An amazing read.   hide

I forced myself all the through this dull, improbable, pretentious feather-headed waste of a novel 20 years ago. It took forever. I don't know why I read it all, when I wanted to be rid of it after about 100 pages, but I made it to the cop-out ending and realised that I liked it even less after the fact than I did when I was reading it. I'm still bitter. Fowles has written better books. Few...more

I forced myself all the through this dull, improbable, pretentious feather-headed waste of a novel 20 years ago. It took forever. I don't know why I read it all, when I wanted to be rid of it after about 100 pages, but I made it to the cop-out ending and realised that I liked it even less after the fact than I did when I was reading it. I'm still bitter. Fowles has written better books. Few serious authors have written worse ones.   hide

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this book when I read the cover blurbs, and I'm still not quite sure after reading it. The plot twists more than a taffy machine on the Fourth of July, leaving one rather dizzied by the end of the work. I suspect the book might benefit from re-reading, but I'm not sure I can make it through the relatively dull first several chapters a second time....more

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this book when I read the cover blurbs, and I'm still not quite sure after reading it. The plot twists more than a taffy machine on the Fourth of July, leaving one rather dizzied by the end of the work. I suspect the book might benefit from re-reading, but I'm not sure I can make it through the relatively dull first several chapters a second time. I think this book and I just weren't a great fit, even though it is well-executed.   hide