Modern Library Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century (93)
The original title of this novel was The God Player. It seems
more fitting for a tale where a young English schoolteacher, Nicholas Urfe,
goes to a Greek Island and meets a mysterious millionaire/piano teacher/war
criminal/sorceror/collaborator/charlatan/etc., named Conchis, who teaches
Urfe about himself by drawing him into a game where all is illusion.
Of course, both Conchis and Fowles are playing mind games here and while
their manipulations are entertaining at times, they are ultimately simply
annoying. Moreover, unlike God, they seem to have little of value
to convey to us and what they do have to say gets muddled in the obfuscations
of the plot.
Fowles himself is mystified by the success and continuing popularity
of the book. But in an epoch where people take the philosophy of
the Star Wars movies seriously, it is hardly surprising that a pretentious
literary effort draws much the same empty headed devotion.
It's an okay book, with some very fine writing and moments of real dramatic
tension and mystery, but it could use some serious editing, much plot tightening
and some philosophical clarity.
(Reviewed:)
Grade: (C)
Websites:
John Fowles Links:
-OBIT: John Fowles: Bestselling novelist who explored dark themes of time, power and relationships (John Ezard, November 8, 2005, The Guardian)
Book-related and General Links:
-John Fowles--The
Web Site
-THE
JOHN FOWLES CENTER FOR CREATIVE WRITING
-FEATURED
AUTHOR: NY Times Book Review
-REVIEW:
of The Magus (Bernard Bergonzi, NY Review of Books)
-Intro
to Modern Library edition: John Fowles: On the bewildering experience
of first-bearing
-SALON:
The top 10 travel books of the century
-REVIEW:
of Gore Vidal's Smithsonian Institution: (John Clute, SF Site)
-Is
the 1997 Movie The Game a Rip-Off of The Magus? (Bob Goosmann)
-ESSAY:
Metafiction (Victoria Orlowski)
-ESSAY:
The Futility of Free Will in The French Lieutenant's Woman
(Andrea Oberlander)
-ESSAY:
The Illusion of Freedom in The French Lieutenant's Woman (Nancy
Thomas)
-REVIEW:
A MAGGOT By John Fowles (Herbert Mitgang, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
A MAGGOT By John Fowles (Walter Miller Jr., NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
MANTISSA By John Fowles (BENJAMIN DE MOTT, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of Wormholes: Essays, Occasional Writings (Roger Kimball, NY Times
Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of Wormholes: Essays, Occasional Writings (Christopher Lehmann-Haupt,
NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of A Maggott (D.J. Enright, NY Review of Books)
-REVIEW:
of Mantissa (Mordecai Richler, NY Review of Books)
-REVIEW:
of Daniel Martin (Denis Donoghue, NY Review of Books)
-REVIEW:
of The French Lieutenant's Woman (Christopher Ricks, NY Review of Books)
-REVIEW:
of The Collector (Eve Auchincloss, NY Review of Books)
-REVIEW
ESSAY: THE REANIMATORS: On the art of literary graverobbing (Jonathan
Dee, Harper's Magazine, June 1999)
Discussed in this essay:
The Hours, by Michael Cunningham.
The Executioner's Song, by Norman Mailer
Ragtime, by E. L. Doctorow
Libra, by Don DeLillo
The Public Burning, by Robert Coover
I Was Amelia Earhart, by Jane Mendelsohn
John Wayne: A Novel, by Dan Barden
The Blue Flower, by Penelope Fitzgerald
Arrogance, by Joanna Scott
The Master of Petersburg, by J. M. Coetzee
Comments:
Orrin welcomes reader comments on his reviews.
Add yours here.
I enjoyed the first half of this book more than the second. The mysterious nature of the characters was intriguing at first, but then became tiresome. I enjoyed it though, and I'm glad I took the time to read it.
- Kelly
- Mar-09-2007, 16:45
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