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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pompous, annoying main character.
Beautifully written though.
Beautifully written though.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Alright. When I first read this novel I was about 18. I definitely did not pick up many of the literary references at that time. That has changed and I found them so wonderful, like a map legend or puzzle keys. The passages from Ezra Pound’s Cantos in the early part of the novel, just before he visits Bourani for the first time, are a direct forewarning—you will enter Tartarus/The domain of Hades.
What is so incredible about this novel is that Fowles knows I know he knows that I know he’s playing the godgame with me. What Conchis is doing to Nicholas is only a layer or two above what Fowles is doing to me, the reader.
This perfect metafiction accomplishes this goal by doing to me exactly what happens to Nicholas by the end. He cannot talk about it with other people because that would give away the game.
Anyway, to the negative. The actual “moral” decision that Nicholas has and the point of the fidelity/infidelity issue has aged sort of badly. The rest of the novel is perfect and you’d think the occult would escalate further, but no, it’s about a woman sorta getting back at a man for being unfaithful (but they were not together and she had multiple partners during the same period he falls for the fake Lily/Julie?). This isn’t really the point of the novel, but an aside to say that this was a bit ridiculous as one of the main messages to Nicholas. It makes no sense.
Perhaps the true freedom that Nicholas and Alison may or may not achieve at the end (literally open ended) is ignoring that god or the godgame players are or are not watching them. This is something I sorta figured once they turn Nicholas loose after his “deintoxication” episode—fuck ‘em. Who cares if they’re watching? Act with decision and freedom. Nicholas cannot understand that until the very end.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 I am torn between loving the first half and being disappointed by the second half of this book. As much as the initial mystery enchanted me, as much as I couldn't put the book down - in the end, I was merely disenchanted with its "conclusion".
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
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