John Fowles, "Magician": reader reviews, description and reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

John Fowles is a British writer who is known to readers as a true experimenter. That is why the appearance of his novel "The Magus", written in the genre of magical realism, which is most characteristic of Latin American culture, did not cause much surprise among the admirers of this author and his critics.

A bit of genre

The term "magical realism" is quite capacious. It includes a fairly large group of Latin American writers who created their works in the 20th century. The main common technique for these writers is to introduce fantastical, wonderful and strange elements into the boundaries of real life.

The origins of this style of storytelling are found in the depth of beliefs and ways of thinking inherent in the native American peoples of the pre-Columbian period. It was they who became the impetus for the development of this literary direction.

A little about the author

John Robert Fowles is an English writer, essayist and novelist. According toliterary critics, this author can be considered one of the prominent representatives of literary postmodernism. His most famous works:

• "The French Lieutenant's Woman";
• "Daniel Martin";
• "Collector" and some others.

It is worth noting that in English literature of the second half of the 20th century. more and more authors began to use elements of magical reality in their works. Moreover, they came to fantastic realism, regardless of their Latin American colleagues. However, English novels have their own specifics, betraying an unusually strong connection with literary traditions.

Judging by the reviews of critics, in the work of John Fowles are in close relationship postmodern, existentialist and mythological foundations. Their manifestation can be traced in the meaningful subtext that the author creates, as well as in his choice of game models and the creation of intertext.

Reviews of John Fowles' Magus, as well as some of his other works, point to the writer's creation of a diverse and amazing world that combines the features of Latin American magical realism with the style of a Victorian novel.

History of writing

John Fowles began writing his novel The Magician in the fifties of the last century. It was the first such monumental work of the author. The novel was published already after the popularity came to the writer, which brought him the work "Collector". Readers were ableto get acquainted with the literary work "Magician" only in 1965. The fact is that the writer reworked the poetics and form of the novel many times, rewriting it again and again.

Creation idea

Before getting acquainted with the plot of the work, let's talk a little about the history of writing the book. The action, which is narrated in it, takes place on the fictional island of Fraxos. This piece of land in its description resembles the island of Spetses, located near Greece, where the author himself worked. The book contains many descriptions of historical and cultural events. It contains a reference to the myth of the ancient Greek singer and musician Orpheus. Proof of this is the surname of the protagonist - Erfe.

In their reviews of the novel "Magician" critics point out repeated references to the mythology of Ancient Greece. This is, for example, the kingdom of Hades, the guide Hermes, as well as the name Nicholas, etc. At the same time, in the work of Fowles, an analogy can be traced between the characters in his book and the characters in Shakespeare's The Tempest. But the plot structure is similar to the novel by Charles Dickens "Great Expectations" and the work of Alain-Fournier.

Critics' reviews of "Magician" by John Fowles argue that the philosophical basis of the novel, as well as the author's work as a whole, is the saga about the essence of human existence itself, in which the philosophy of existentialism and Jung's psychology are central.

Who are the Magi?

This word came to us from the Slavic language. In it, the sorcerer is translated as "to mutter, to speak indistinctly and inconsistently." So the ancient Slavs called soothsayers and sorcerers, whose main weapon was the word. Wisdom of the Magiconsisted in their knowledge of secrets inaccessible to ordinary people. These sorcerers were considered a special class of people who enjoyed great influence in the old days.

What is the novel about?

The main character of the work is Nicholas Erfe. What is the book "Magician" about? John Fowles tells his reader about a young guy who, at his age, was already bored with life. Nicholas was in an existential crisis. Moreover, the condition of the young man became so depressing that he decided to leave England, leaving his beloved girl Alison. Erfe moved to Greece and settled on the island of Fraxos. Back at home, a former colleague warned him against visiting the waiting room. However, the young man disobeyed wise advice and ended up in a completely different world for himself. His life on the island consists of two parts. The first one is real. In it, Nicholas teaches, sends letters to his beloved and indulges in memories of life in his homeland. The second part of life is on the border of mystical realism. Being in it, you can not believe a single word, even a beautifully spoken word.

A separate place in the book is occupied by manipulations performed by the author with readers. They make you worry and try to unravel the mysteries presented by Conchis.

Original title of the novel

The book "Magician" was renamed by the author. It was originally called "Game of God". Here John Fowles was referring to Conchis. This hero represents God or Magus. It is Conchis who forces Nicholas to go through a strange labyrinth that radically changes his world, and then returns everything back to its place. Whereis it true? Who can you trust?

Reviews of John Fowles' Magus confirm that throughout the entire plot, these questions that torment the main character do not leave readers. One of the main components of the novel is an attempt to find, reveal the truth and distinguish it from lies.

Reviews of the book "Magician" Fowles say that at the beginning, readers fully trust its content and perceive it as the truth. However, all this lasts up to a certain point. With his arrival, it is no longer possible to understand what is true and what is fiction. And this continues with a frequency of 20 pages. The author seems to throw the reader in one direction or the other. Judging by the reviews, throughout the entire acquaintance with the plot of the book, one cannot trust what was said and be sure of something.

Summary

So, as mentioned above, the book tells about Nicholas Erf. Consider the summary of the novel "The Magus" by John Fowles.

The protagonist of this work was born in the family of a brigadier general in 1927. He served briefly in the army and entered Oxford in 1948. A year after Nicholas became a student, his parents died. The young man was left alone. He had an independent, albeit small, annual income, which allowed him to buy a used car. Not every student could boast of such an acquisition, which is why our hero began to be popular with girls.

Nicholas wrote poetry, read novels written by French existentialists, not realizing that the life of his favorite heroes does not take place inreality, but in literature. The protagonist of the novel became the founder of the "Rebellious People" club, whose members protested against the ordinary gray life. What was the result of all this? Quotes from The Magus by John Fowles can tell us this. One of them says that, judging by the hero’s own assessment, he entered life “fully prepared for failure.”

Continuing to get acquainted with the further content of John Fowles' Magus, we see the main character in the east of England, in a small school where he was sent as a teacher after graduating from Oxford. Nicholas with great difficulty endured in this quiet place for a year, and then sent a petition to the British Council with a request to send him to work abroad. Thus he ended up on Frankson, in Greece, at the school of Lord Byron. It was a small island located eighty kilometers from Athens.

The day Nicholas was offered a job in Greece, he met a girl. Her name was Alison and she came to England from Australia. Young people fell in love with each other, but they had to leave. The young man went to Greece, and Alison was offered a job as a flight attendant.

Getting acquainted with the further content of "The Magus" by John Fowles, the reader will learn about the island on which our hero ended up. This is a divinely beautiful and at the same time deserted piece of land. Nicholas was never able to get close to anyone. He preferred lonely walks around the island, enjoying the beauty of the Greek landscape, and wrote poetry. However, it was here that our hero realized that he cannot be called a poet, because his poems are pompous andmannered.

From the summary of John Fowles' Magus, the reader will also learn that the main character once fell into depression and even tried to commit suicide. It happened after he visited an Athenian brothel, where he caught an unpleasant disease.

However, from a certain point in the book "Magician" by John Fowles, the plot changes dramatically. Starting in May, miracles began to happen on the island. Residents appeared in one of the previously empty villas. They became known from a towel that smelled faintly of women's cosmetics, and an anthology of English poetry, planted in several places. On one of the bookmarked pages, underlined in red were Eliot's verses, which said that a person will have to wander in thought, as a result of which he will return to where he came from and see his land for the first time.

Summary of John Fowles' Magus tells us that Nicholas became interested in the owner of the villa and began to make inquiries about him in the village. People were reluctant to talk about him. The locals considered the owner of the villa Burani a collaborator. During the war, he served as the headman of the Germans and, as many believed, was involved in the execution by the Gestapo of half of the villagers. People spoke of this man as being very withdrawn. They said that he lives alone and does not receive guests.

That atmosphere of contradictions, mystery and omissions, which envelops this man, has an intriguing effect on Nicholas. He decides at all costs to get acquainted with the owner of the villa, Mr. Konhis.

What do we learn from the further description of the book "The Magus" by John Fowles? Soon the meeting between Nicholas and Conchis (as the owner of the villa asked to be called in English) took place. A new acquaintance showed our hero a house with its huge library, ancient sculptures, painted vases, drawings on which had an erotic orientation, as well as ancient clavichords. The owner invited the guest to the table, and after tea he began to play Telemann. Nikolos really liked the performance, although Conchis claimed that he was not a musician, that he was just a rich man and a "spirit seer".

The description of the book "Magician" by John Fowles contains the reflections of our hero. He, being materialistically educated, begins to wonder if his acquaintance is crazy. After all, Conchis told Nicholas that he was also "called." Our hero has never seen such people in his life.

Further in the plot of the novel "Magician" by John Fowles, the parting of new acquaintances occurs. Moreover, Conchis makes an outlandish Greek gesture, throwing his hands up, like a master, a magician. At the same time, he invites Nicholas to keep him company for the next weekend, without telling anyone in the village.

From that moment the life of our hero has changed. He is looking forward to next weekend to go to Burani. At the same time, he believes that he was awarded unearthly bounties from life, as he entered a kind of fabulous labyrinth.

From the further plot of the book by John Robert Fowles "Magician" we learn that Conchis, during meetings with Nicholas, tells him various stories from his life. At the same time, their heroes beginmaterialize. For example, our hero met an old foreigner in the village, who introduced himself as de Ducan. It was from this man that the owner of the villa received a huge inheritance in the 1930s. Also, the ghost of Conchis's bride, who died back in 1916, once came out to dinner. Of course, this is a living girl. She only plays the role of Lily, but what is this performance for? The girl is silent about this.

Next, Nicholas meets other actors. They present before him various "living pictures" from myths and books. All this leads to the fact that our hero begins to lose his sense of reality. He ceases to distinguish truth from fiction, while not wanting to leave this incomprehensible game.

From Lilia, he seeks recognition that she, along with her twin sister, are English actresses. The girl's name is Julie (Julie). She and June came to this Greek island to shoot a movie, but instead they had to become the heroines of the performances hosted by Conchis. Nicholas fell in love with Julie, not wanting to go to Athens, where Alison was supposed to come for the weekend. Nevertheless, the meeting took place. Conchis contributed to this. While on Parnassus, Nicholas begins to tell Alison about everything that happens to him. At the same time, the girl finds out about her boyfriend's new love and, falling into a tantrum, runs away, disappearing from his life forever.

After meeting Alison, Nicholas returns to the island. He wants to see Julie, but the villa is empty. At night, when he returns to the village, another performance is played here. Our hero is seized and beaten by German punishersmodel 1943. He is in pain, but at the same time he is looking forward to hearing from Julie. He soon receives an inspiring and tender letter from her. It comes to him at the same time as the news that Alison has committed suicide.

Nikolas hurries to the villa and finds only Conchis there, who declares that our hero could not play his part and should no longer come to him. However, before parting, he will have to hear the last chapter, which he is already ready to perceive.

The last story of Konchis refers to the events of 1943. Then he, the local headman, had to make a choice - to shoot one partisan or, if he refused to kill, become the culprit of the extermination of almost the entire male population of the village. Conchis realized he had no choice. He cannot kill a man.

In fact, after analyzing John Fowles' Magus, it becomes clear that all Konchis's conversations concerned one thing - the ability to distinguish truth from lies, to remain faithful to one's human and natural beginnings and the correctness of real life in front of such concepts as loy alty, duty, oath, etc.

Further along the story, Conchis leaves the island, telling our hero that he is not worthy of freedom. However, the performance in the mega-theatre does not end there. Upon meeting Julie, Nicholas is trapped. The lid of the underground shelter slams shut over his head. Our hero got to the surface with great difficulty.

Jun visited him in the evening. The girl said that Conchis is a retired professor of psychiatry. He conducted an experiment, the apotheosis of which is the court procedure. First, the "psychologists", that is, all the actors, give a description of the personality of Nicholas, and then he must make his verdict to all participants in this theater. Julie is now Dr. Vanessa Maxwell, and all the evil that the experiment brought to the young man is concentrated in her. A whip is put into Nicholas's hand, with which he must hit the girl. However, he does not.

After the "trial" our hero finds himself in Monemvasia. He reaches Francos and finds a letter in his room from Alison's mother thanking her for her condolences on her daughter's death. Further, our hero is fired from school, and he moves to Athens. Here Nicholas manages to find out that the real Conchis was buried four years ago. On the same day, he saw Alison in the window of the hotel. He is glad that the girl is alive, and at the same time he is indignant that she is a participant in the conspiracy.

Nicholas continues to feel like an experiment. He returns to London and his only desire is to meet Alison. He begins to realize that real life continues around him, and the cruelty that the experiment carried in itself was his own cruelty to people close to him, which he saw as if in a mirror.

A work of magical realism

Reviews of the book "Magician" by John Fowles indicate that readers are following with interest the story of the main character's difficult comprehension of his inner "I", as well as his reassessment of life values.

Already at the beginning of the novel, somefeatures that are characteristic of a work written in the genre of magical realism. Suffering overcomes the protagonist even before the tragic events unfolded for him. Thus, the author reversed cause and effect.

Already at the beginning of the story, the hero says that his life has been lived under the guise of another person. That is why he decides to make a radical change, leaving England for the Greek island.

However, everything starts to change from the moment when the hero of the novel gets to Phraxos. He loses the sense of time, and then becomes a participant in mysterious and mystical events.

Reviews of John Fowles' Magus critics explain that the novel includes two realities. One of them is ordinary. It concerns the daily teaching work of Nicholas Erfe, as well as his walks around the island. The second reality is mystical. It has a mixture of historical and mythological facts. The presence of this duality in the novel is the most important feature of the literary trend called magical realism. The protagonist is involved in borderline situations within the fantasy reality, which leads to the activation of his sensory perception of reality.

Those mystical and inexplicable facts that take place while Nicholas is on the island do not allow him to live in peace. He makes attempts to find an explanation for them, while beginning to understand that he has become a participant in a certain game. The apotheosis of the whole action is the court, where the hero of the novel plays the roleaccused and accuser, executioner and victim.

Reviews of John Fowles' Magus confirm that in this novel, as in other works in the genre of mystical realism, the main ideological aspect is the search for the meaning and goals of human existence. At the same time, the main character is looking for irrational ways of interpreting and depicting the world. Conchis in the novel is engaged in "playing God". He is also looking for the meaning of being, involving a young man in the search. Thanks to this, Nicholas learns to live and know himself. The hero goes through numerous trials. After them, he is ready for real life.

Critic Opinion

What is John Fowles' Magus? The review of this work can be twofold. Some critics speak of the novel in enthusiastic terms, while others write about it with frank negatives.

So what can be said about the Magus? Is it a deep philosophical and psychological treatise or is it just an unsuccessful experiment of a writer who is an admirer of Jung and existentialism? Disputes of critics on this issue have not stopped for more than half a century. Each person draws his own conclusions from the novel, leaning towards one theory or another. However, without a doubt, it can be stated that Fowles created one of the most discussed and provocative literary works of the 20th century.

Reader Opinion

People who pick up John Fowles' novel "Magician" leave reviews of this work as very unusual for perception. It is especially interesting for them to observe some parallels in it, such as, for example, the author -Conchis, and the reader is Nicholas. The fact is that there comes a moment when a person is no longer aware that he has a book in his hands. He begins to identify himself with Nicholas - the main character of the work. The reader, just like a young man, becomes a participant in all the intricacies and intrigues of the plot, searches for mysteries and, being in the thick of things, begins to lose a sense of reality, not understanding which of the scenarios is true.

Conchis becomes a kind of puppeteer. He pulls the strings visible only to him, constantly changing the scenery and plot. At the same time, he manages to manipulate the mind of a young man. We can say that Fowles is Conchis. The author, like a spider, weaves webs. Our reader gets into them, not knowing about it.

Without a doubt, Fowles has a knack for creating chic verbal constructions and intriguing turns of events.

The original title of the book, Playing God, was changed by John Fowles himself. He later regretted his decision. But, most likely, the English writer did not want to first expose to the reader that part of the intrigue that Conchis's plans carried in themselves. Fowles made the main bet on the duration of the effect of the reader's stay in the illusion.

Who is the book written for?

The novel "Magician" by John Fowles is worth reading for those who like an open ending and like to think out what happened after all, and how the situation will be resolved in the future. After all, even the writer himself said that the meaning ofhis novel is no more than in the Rorschach blots used by psychologists. The book is intended for a reader who does not seek to see the correct answer in the work, but who prefers to feel the taste of the word.

As you can see, John Fowles' description of The Magus makes me want to read this book ASAP.