Rating: 
Summary: A class assignment that I finally enjoyed...
Review: Having taken a Literary Theory class in college, I was given the choice of three books to apply my new-found knowledge to, and lo and behold, I chose "The French Lt's Woman," and things have never been the same since. What drew me to this novel, I suppose, is the almost lyrical prose, prose that flows from page to page, yet still holds within itself the modesty that is afforded to a piece of literature that denies its greatness. True, you do have the traditional story of the mysterious woman in black, the sinner, the outcast, but you also have the classical idea of man in conflict with his sexuality and mores. True, this message is not unique to just this work, but Fowles goes about weaving the plot with a candor that keeps you reading, even when you might know what is already going to happen. Stylistically, this novel is nothing short of amazing, seemingly able to border on the traditional and the radical, an almost typical structuralist scenario that com! es alive with quips and comments straight from Fowles. To comment on one's own work, and to do so within the confines of a work, is truly an admirable and amazing task. I give this novel five enthusiastic stars, and recommend anyone who has ever been interested in Fowles to read it, and anyone who hasn't to read it as well, and ask yourself why it's taken you so long to hear about it.PS- I didn't like the movie, either! :)
Rating:
Summary: As good as it gets!
Review: I came to this book through a novel I just read, Arcadia Falls by Rand Johnson. In his novel, Johnson alludes to both The French Lieutenant's Woman and The Magus and since I loved Arcadia Falls, I thought I'd check Fowles out. Fowles is obviously an influence: the love of nature, the mysterious woman, the ending that both surprises and mystifies - and now I see why. His language is gorgeous, the characters real and compelling, the story spellbinding, and through his quotes he provides a historical context for the story that enriches it even more by revealing the transcendent humanity of people who lived in a cultural milieu far different from ours. A truly great book!
Rating: 
Summary: awful just awful
Review: I enjoy reading older books and when our library decided to get rid of some of it's older books I found this one among them and took it home. It is one of the most awful books I ever read. The author couldn't make up his mind on who his charactors were. There was practically no plot. The only person who kept me reading this book was Sam I found him amusing. Don't waste your time reading this book. It's not worth it.
Rating:
Summary: One Good Reason to indulge your desire for Romance
Review: I first read this book sitting at a window over a period of seven long days of an endless spring rain. The sky never brightened beyond the pale, silvery suffusion of light common in such weather, but it was a perfect backdrop to my reading of FLW, a sensual extension of the rich textures Fowles has created. It is tragic romance, make no mistake, but an alluring journey throughout. The ending has always been something of a controversy, but the book on the whole is a magnificent read. RLS is known to have said, "It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive," and FLW is certainly that kind of journey, a great transportation from this present world. Make this a mainstay in your library, next to all the English classics, and some modern ones, POSSESSION and THE ENGLISH PATIENT. You will always find solace there on those long, rainy, soft days.
Rating:
Summary: My every five years novel.
Review: I first read this wonderful book in the late 60's, shortly after it published. As a high school student, I was simply blown away by the story, the virtuosity of the endings, by its ambiguity, but most of all by the richness of its language. The scene when Charles and Sarah confront each other in the shed in the undercliff has more tension and suspense than a thousand horror movies, because it was so real. In the intervening 30 years, I've re-read this novel every five years or so. Like other great works, each re-reading brings something new (because I continue to change). The great tragedy, at least in my view, is that what has followed from John Fowles has never risen to the heights of this novel. Daniel Martin was a huge disappointment to me (so self-indulgent and empty). The Maggot has some moments, but was ultimately disappointing. Only The Magus, and, to a lesser degree, The Collector, rival The French Lieutentant's Woman. That said, Fowles has always been his own man and has stuck to his view of the world. I've read some of his philosophy of life in the Aristos and found most of it to be inconsistent with my own world view. But in this great book, Fowles and I connected. I hope when I'm ninety, I can sit down and read it again (and find something fresh and new).
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece or a Prank
Review: I gave this book five stars because 20 years after having read it, I still remember it and am still flummoxed about what I really think of it. I love nineteenth century novels, and the prose in this book is amongst the best I've encountered by a 20th Century novelist. It's rich, sensuous, a tactile experience with words. When the little oddities started showing up, I couldn't figure whether I was irritated that he'd ruined a perfectly good book by adopting the rather quirky, experimental art forms common to the 1960's and 70's, or whether I was struck dumb by the sheer brilliance of the experiment. In regard to the meaning of it all, I have to agree with every reviewer here, including the one who gave it one star. I pondered the existentialism, concluded, revised, dismissed, pondered, concluded with proviso's, and on and on until I felt like Elliot's poor women, coming and going and talking about Michaelangelo. Wouldn't it be a stitch if the author meant this as a grand prank, and every single one of us has fallen into the trap? Brilliant. Buy it and read it because it just might be the masterpiece it's purported to be, and if it's not, well, it's at least an interesting puzzle.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting story that is tragic and beautiful
Review: I have 4 different copies of this book. Fowles is really a literary giant when compared with many writers today. On par with the likes of AS Byatt, Charles Palliser, Iain Pears and Umberto Eco, Fowles (like these other authors) has an uncanny ability to write literate and thought-provoking stories while keeping the reader's interest. FLW is devastating and unsettling at some points, but the mounting tension and subsequent resolve are really wonderful. One of my favorites.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting story that is tragic and beautiful
Review: I have 4 different copies of this book. Fowles is really a literary giant when compared with many writers today. On par with the likes of AS Byatt, Charles Palliser, Iain Pears and Umberto Eco, Fowles (like these other authors) has an uncanny ability to write literate and thought-provoking stories while keeping the reader's interest. FLW is devastating and unsettling at some points, but the mounting tension and subsequent resolve are really wonderful. One of my favorites.
Rating:
Summary: A true masterpiece
Review: In the first hundred pages of this book I had already begun to realize that this was one of the best books I have ever read. That feeling never let up; indeed, it grew even stronger as I approached the end, when I began to feel a frantic eagerness to discover what would become of these characters that I had grown to care so much for. Sarah Woodruff (aka the French Lieutenant's Woman) is one of my favorite characters in literature. She is a complex, nuanced character, intriguingly covered by a delicate veil of mystery throughout the first half of the book. Her pain, her selfless sacrifice, and her courage are deeply and powerfully drawn. She is a true example of a woman ahead of her time, a woman who challenges the norms of her society by simply ignoring them. Her confidence and her quiet scorn for the Puritanism of the times in which she lives raise her to a level above the so-called moral leaders who condemn her. In a strange way, she is a true hero. This book, written in the late 1960s but set one hundred years earlier, is a beautiful example of period literature. Fowles, through his remarkably genuine narrative voice, recreates the world of Victorian England in such a way that if it weren't for the occasional references to modern life you might think the book was a century older than it is. It is filled with all the pomp and formality you would expect, but also with a wit, dry humor, and quiet mocking of the period that lend it an added flavor. But Fowles is not simply trying to create a period piece or social commentary. I believe that first and foremost he was creating a love story. I would put Charles and Sarah in the same category with Romeo and Juliet as far as love stories go. The relationship is developed slowly, so slow that it is exquisitely painful almost. And though the time they spend together is brief, it is filled with an unmistakable air of eventual tragedy. The only question left in my mind is whether to categorize this book as a classic of modern fiction or of 19th century fiction. It could easily stand in either section of my bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: A true masterpiece
Review: In the first hundred pages of this book I had already begun to realize that this was one of the best books I have ever read. That feeling never let up; indeed, it grew even stronger as I approached the end, when I began to feel a frantic eagerness to discover what would become of these characters that I had grown to care so much for. Sarah Woodruff (aka the French Lieutenant's Woman) is one of my favorite characters in literature. She is a complex, nuanced character, intriguingly covered by a delicate veil of mystery throughout the first half of the book. Her pain, her selfless sacrifice, and her courage are deeply and powerfully drawn. She is a true example of a woman ahead of her time, a woman who challenges the norms of her society by simply ignoring them. Her confidence and her quiet scorn for the Puritanism of the times in which she lives raise her to a level above the so-called moral leaders who condemn her. In a strange way, she is a true hero. This book, written in the late 1960s but set one hundred years earlier, is a beautiful example of period literature. Fowles, through his remarkably genuine narrative voice, recreates the world of Victorian England in such a way that if it weren't for the occasional references to modern life you might think the book was a century older than it is. It is filled with all the pomp and formality you would expect, but also with a wit, dry humor, and quiet mocking of the period that lend it an added flavor. But Fowles is not simply trying to create a period piece or social commentary. I believe that first and foremost he was creating a love story. I would put Charles and Sarah in the same category with Romeo and Juliet as far as love stories go. The relationship is developed slowly, so slow that it is exquisitely painful almost. And though the time they spend together is brief, it is filled with an unmistakable air of eventual tragedy. The only question left in my mind is whether to categorize this book as a classic of modern fiction or of 19th century fiction. It could easily stand in either section of my bookshelf.
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