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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“I don’t believe a word. But go on.”
I was filled with a sweet, impotent rage for most of the story, but towards the end, I began to feel something else. I went from fantasizing about revenge and the exercise of brutality, wishing for everything to be burnt to the ground, to the hope that the main character would utilize his suffering to change his ways.
If you’re looking for a novel that delves into topics such as, the nature of consent, medical ethics, moral ambiguity, sex and masculinity, deception, and psychological torture, then this is a good book for you.
I was filled with a sweet, impotent rage for most of the story, but towards the end, I began to feel something else. I went from fantasizing about revenge and the exercise of brutality, wishing for everything to be burnt to the ground, to the hope that the main character would utilize his suffering to change his ways.
If you’re looking for a novel that delves into topics such as, the nature of consent, medical ethics, moral ambiguity, sex and masculinity, deception, and psychological torture, then this is a good book for you.
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pretentious interminable bullshit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Classism
God, I am so glad to finally be done with this.
There's a lot of this book that I don't really know what to make of. It's a murky, detective-adjacent coming-of-age story about a man who's so disillusioned with life and love and intellectualism that he has to fuck off to Greece and meet an eccentric millionaire to learn the fundamental truths of life. Nothing that happens from thereon out is going to make much sense, so I suggest making your peace with that before you get into this book. It's a book about choosing love over cynicism, of the futility of rebellion, the importance of freedom and the complex evil that absolute freedom really is, the breaking-down of (primarily English) stuffiness and pseudo-intellectualism and simply embracing life's inability to make sense.
This book is far from my favorite book, but it did keep me thinking. The major downside is how ungodly long it is. There were a great many scenes that I felt dragged too long and/or could've been omitted entirely. I've read several reviews commending John Fowles for his "masterful pacing"; I have to wonder if those reviewers and I read the same book.
But hey, overall, I can see why this book is a classic. It appeals to the intellectual armchair-psychologist. It's a "brag book" - a book you can point to and puff out your chest when you say you've read it and enjoyed it. I guess I'm in that club now.
There's a lot of this book that I don't really know what to make of. It's a murky, detective-adjacent coming-of-age story about a man who's so disillusioned with life and love and intellectualism that he has to fuck off to Greece and meet an eccentric millionaire to learn the fundamental truths of life. Nothing that happens from thereon out is going to make much sense, so I suggest making your peace with that before you get into this book. It's a book about choosing love over cynicism, of the futility of rebellion, the importance of freedom and the complex evil that absolute freedom really is, the breaking-down of (primarily English) stuffiness and pseudo-intellectualism and simply embracing life's inability to make sense.
This book is far from my favorite book, but it did keep me thinking. The major downside is how ungodly long it is. There were a great many scenes that I felt dragged too long and/or could've been omitted entirely. I've read several reviews commending John Fowles for his "masterful pacing"; I have to wonder if those reviewers and I read the same book.
But hey, overall, I can see why this book is a classic. It appeals to the intellectual armchair-psychologist. It's a "brag book" - a book you can point to and puff out your chest when you say you've read it and enjoyed it. I guess I'm in that club now.
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In a world of takes like reading should only ever be fun, it's not political, it's entertainment, this book stands in anathema.
Very little of this book was fun at all, it was a challenge. Fowles leads you down so many suddenly branching pathways that you can never quite settle into a narrative, come to enjoy a character or indulge in the writing, which is beautiful.
I just felt angry all way through, anger at the godgame, at the helplessness, of the lies and the inability to find a single truth, and that's when the genius of the book hit me. The book is the godgame, Fowles is the magus and we are the subject, racing round the Greek foothills in the shadow, trying to make sense of it all, trying to figure out if any of this is worthwhile for the sake of an imagined love. In the end the answer is frustratingly simple and as contradictory as the game. It is, and it is not.
Very little of this book was fun at all, it was a challenge. Fowles leads you down so many suddenly branching pathways that you can never quite settle into a narrative, come to enjoy a character or indulge in the writing, which is beautiful.
I just felt angry all way through, anger at the godgame, at the helplessness, of the lies and the inability to find a single truth, and that's when the genius of the book hit me. The book is the godgame, Fowles is the magus and we are the subject, racing round the Greek foothills in the shadow, trying to make sense of it all, trying to figure out if any of this is worthwhile for the sake of an imagined love. In the end the answer is frustratingly simple and as contradictory as the game. It is, and it is not.
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
680 pages of dull foreplay, baked in redundant plot twists, conveniently unreliable narration and superficial notions of theology, sociology, philosophy and psychology, without the remote shadow of a meaningful climax.
The blatant abuse of deceit as a narrative instrument did not build up my sense of curiosity or invigorate the search for clues or hidden meaning, instead it slowly and irrevocably eroded how much I cared to find out. Given how antagonistic all the protagonists are it was soon of no consequence to me to disentangle lies from truth. The narrator suffered for the entire length of the novel, in the prison of its own ego, selfishness and masochism, to absolutely no avail.
I cannot say what The Magus actually stands for, its protean nature allowing a large number of interpretations, but it is a shame that in the end I simply do not care to find out.
The blatant abuse of deceit as a narrative instrument did not build up my sense of curiosity or invigorate the search for clues or hidden meaning, instead it slowly and irrevocably eroded how much I cared to find out. Given how antagonistic all the protagonists are it was soon of no consequence to me to disentangle lies from truth. The narrator suffered for the entire length of the novel, in the prison of its own ego, selfishness and masochism, to absolutely no avail.
I cannot say what The Magus actually stands for, its protean nature allowing a large number of interpretations, but it is a shame that in the end I simply do not care to find out.