John Fowles / British / 1966 / 656 pages
Capsule Review: More unpredictable and frustratingly ambiguous than can be imagined a priori, this novel's disturbing plot doubles as an incisive exploration of the human psyche; the quicker you read it, the sooner you'll be able to return to your old sleep habits. Maybe.
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The Magus appears on Modern Library's 100 Best 20th Century English-language novels, not the Time Magazine list. Time's list does include Fowles's The French Lieutenant's Woman.
ReplyDeleteAh, alright, fair point. I get my lists mixed occasionally.
ReplyDeleteAny impressions about the book? From talking to your father, it seems like he enjoyed it quite a bit.
I loved it. I agree with the canonical rating. Addictive sense of rabbit-hole mystery. Mesmerizing nested stories. Convincing dialog and non-condescending narration. Stimulating whirlwind of provocative notions. Wonderful ending, though I seem to be in the minority on how I'm inclined to resolve the ambiguity.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely not a typical Josh book, as you mention. I'm pleased that what amounts to an intellectual's page-turner thriller was rated so highly by you, because it makes me think there's hope for you to appreciate other genre luminaries. Vernor Vinge? John Le Carre? Neal Stephenson?
My only worry is that the book is so much better during the reading and immediately after than it can sustain under reflection and contemplation. I think I have fundamental problems with many of the philosophies, ideas and arguments put forth in the book (and then brushed under the carpet with invigorating, but suspicious, haste). There are a lot of self-contradictions, fuzzy motivations and unlikely circumstances that have pestered me during the days since I finished.
In retrospect, it does seem ephemeral; then again, I can understand how many of the ideas and philosophies presented in its pages were rather enticing at the point of its publication.
ReplyDeleteYou and I should consider this conversation off the blog at some point, because I'm interested in your claim that your interpretation of the novel is at odds with the consensus interpretation. Maybe I haven't yet read enough reviews of the book, but it seemed to me that people were pretty divided on the end. I think it's pretty difficult to finish the novel and glean a "positive" interpretation of the events at the end, but perhaps that's exactly what you went and did.
In the middle of "Savage Detectives" right now. Really wishing that I had picked this up like two years ago and very much looking forward to getting back into Latin American literature. So much so that I might be making some revisions to my queue in a bit.
I think translating the final line leaves it clear that Fowles intended the 'positive' assumption, further supported by Fowles claiming to acknowledge the positive ending when talking to readers he liked (while citing the negative interpretation when brushing off readers he didn't like). Most readers seem to agree with the 'positive' resolution.
ReplyDeleteI personally am inclined towards 1) leaving the ending eternally unresolved and open-ended in spirit or 2) if I must choose, siding with the 'negative' possibility as being more realistic and justified by the characters' personalities.