The original title of this novel was The God Player. It seems more fitting for a tale where a young English schoolteacher, Nicholas Urfe, goes to a Greek Island and meets a mysterious millionaire/piano teacher/war criminal/sorceror/collaborator/charlatan/etc., named Conchis, who teaches Urfe about himself by drawing him into a game where all is illusion. Of course, both Conchis and Fowles are playing mind games here and while their manipulations are entertaining at times, they are ultimately simply annoying. Moreover, unlike God, they seem to have little of value to convey to us and what they do have to say gets muddled in the obfuscations of the plot. Fowles himself is mystified by the success and continuing popularity of the book. But in an epoch where people take the philosophy of the Star Wars movies seriously, it is hardly surprising that a pretentious literary effort draws much the same empty headed devotion. It's an okay book, with some very fine writing and moments of real dramatic tension and mystery, but it could use some serious editing, much plot tightening and some philosophical clarity. (Reviewed:) Grade: (C) Tweet Websites:-WIKIPEDIA: John Fowles - -OBIT: John Fowles: Bestselling novelist who explored dark themes of time, power and relationships (John Ezard, November 8, 2005, The Guardian) -INTERVIEW: John Fowles, The Art of Fiction No. 109: (Interviewed by James R. Baker, ISSUE 111, SUMMER 1989, Paris Review) -ESSAY: John Fowles, Gent. (BRUCE KINZER, Fortnightly Review) -REVIEW: of A Maggot by John Fowles (Complete Review) Book-related and General Links: -John Fowles--The Web Site -THE JOHN FOWLES CENTER FOR CREATIVE WRITING -FEATURED AUTHOR: NY Times Book Review -REVIEW: of The Magus (Bernard Bergonzi, NY Review of Books) -Intro to Modern Library edition: John Fowles: On the bewildering experience of first-bearing -SALON: The top 10 travel books of the century -REVIEW: of Gore Vidal's Smithsonian Institution: (John Clute, SF Site) -Is the 1997 Movie The Game a Rip-Off of The Magus? (Bob Goosmann) -ESSAY: Metafiction (Victoria Orlowski) -ESSAY: The Futility of Free Will in The French Lieutenant's Woman (Andrea Oberlander) -ESSAY: The Illusion of Freedom in The French Lieutenant's Woman (Nancy Thomas) -REVIEW: A MAGGOT By John Fowles (Herbert Mitgang, NY Times) -REVIEW: A MAGGOT By John Fowles (Walter Miller Jr., NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: MANTISSA By John Fowles (BENJAMIN DE MOTT, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: of Wormholes: Essays, Occasional Writings (Roger Kimball, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: of Wormholes: Essays, Occasional Writings (Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, NY Times) -REVIEW: of A Maggott (D.J. Enright, NY Review of Books) -REVIEW: of Mantissa (Mordecai Richler, NY Review of Books) -REVIEW: of Daniel Martin (Denis Donoghue, NY Review of Books) -REVIEW: of The French Lieutenant's Woman (Christopher Ricks, NY Review of Books) -REVIEW: of The Collector (Eve Auchincloss, NY Review of Books) -REVIEW ESSAY: THE REANIMATORS: On the art of literary graverobbing (Jonathan Dee, Harper's Magazine, June 1999) Discussed in this essay: The Hours, by Michael Cunningham.
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