"The Magus" by John Fоwles

"The Magus"

by John Fowles

1926

2005

John Robert Fowles

John Robert Fowles was born March 31, 1926 in Leigh-on-Sea, a small town located about 40 miles from London in the county of Essex, England. He recalls the English suburban culture of the 1930s as oppressively conformist and his family life as intensely conventional. Of his childhood, Fowles says "I have tried to escape ever since."

Fowles attended Bedford School (13 – 18). After briefly attending the University of Edinburgh, Fowles began compulsory military service in 1945. World War II ended shortly after his training began so Fowles never came near combat, and by 1947 he had decided that the military life was not for him.

Then four years are spent at Oxford, where he discovered the writings of the French existentialists. He admired Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. Their writings corresponded with his own ideas about conformity and the will of the individual. He received a degree in French in 1950 and began to consider a career as a writer.

Several teaching jobs followed: a year lecturing in English literature at the University of Poitiers, France; two years teaching English at Anargyrios College on the Greek island of Spetsai; and finally, between 1954 and 1963, teaching English at St. Godric's College in London, where he ultimately served as the department head.

The time spent in Greece was of great importance to Fowles. During his tenure on the island he began to write poetry and to overcome a long-time repression about writing. Between 1952 and 1960 he wrote several novels but offered none to a publisher, considering them all incomplete in some way and too lengthy.

The Magus (1966) is the first book by John Fowles, but his third to be published. after The Collector (1963) and The Aristos (1964). He started writing it in the 1950s, under the original title of The Godgame. He based it partly on his experiences on the Greek island of Spetses, where he taught English for two years at the Anargyrios School.

In 1999 The Magus was awarded a place on both lists of Modern Library 100 Best Novels In 2003, the novel was listed at number 67 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.

Nicholas Urfe – The main protagonist, 25-year-old Englishman who goes to Greece to teach English and one day stumbles upon the waiting room.

Alison Kelly – Nicholas's girlfriend whom he abandons to go to Greece.

Maurice Conchis – Wealthy intellectual who is a main player in the masques.

Lily de Seitas – Young woman who is involved in the masques and with whom Nicholas falls in love.

Joe – young black man, involved in the masques.

Maria – Conchis's maid.

Demetriades – Fellow teacher at the school.

Lily de Seitas (older) – Lily's mother.

Filled with shocks and chilling surprises, The Magus is a masterwork of contemporary literature. In it, a young Englishman, Nicholas Urfe, accepts a teaching position on a Greek island where his friendship with the owner of the islands most magnificent estate leads him into a nightmare.

As reality and fantasy are deliberately confused by staged deaths and terrifying violence, Urfe becomes a desperate man fighting for his sanity and his life. A work rich with symbols, conundrums and labirinthine twists of event, The Magus is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining, a work that ranks with the best novels of modern times.

John Fowles works:

A Maggot

A Short History of Lyme

Mantissa

Poems

Shipwreck

The Aristos ,

The Collector

The Ebony Tower

The French Lieutenant's Woman

Wormholes: Essays and Occasional Writings

Directed by Guy Green Produced by Jud Kinberg Written by John Fowles

Cast

Michael Caine as Nicholas Urfe

Anthony Quinn as Maurice Conchis

Candice Bergen as Lily

Anna Karina as Anne

Paul Stassino as Meli

Julian Glover as Anton

Takis Emmanuel as Kapetan

This film was a critical disaster. Fowles was extremely disappointed with it, and laid most of the blame on director Guy Green, despite having written the screenplay himself. Michael Caine himself has said that it was one of the worst films he had been involved in along with

Despite the film's failure, it was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography

The film was released to DVD by 20th Century Fox on October 16, 2006, marking the first time that it has ever been available on home video in the U.S

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