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) Orrin C. Judd

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