Rating: 
Summary: Huh?
Review: This book is so annoying. It makes no sense. It gets 2 stars rather than 1 only because it IS interesting. Its like watching a train wreck. Sure, its disgusting and a total horror, however you can't pry yourself away. You get lured in by the promise of a nice story then you get stomped ALL OVER THE LAST 100 PAGES!
Rating: 
Summary: Gets you thinking!!
Review: I had to read this book for my English class in high school. Every night I stopped reading, I couldn't wait to see what would happen tomorrow. The plot changes back and forth making you so skeptical every time another change occurs.John Fowles does an excellent job of making you feel like you're part of the book, and if you don't feel like moving to Greece after you've read this book, you're INSANE! I recommend this book to anyone who is good at understanding metaphors and large vocabularies. This book was a great read. By the end of the book, you should ask yourself this one question: "When does the masque really begin in life"
Rating: 
Summary: A page turner that pays off.
Review: Although I have the kind of memory that finds me renting new videos only to find that I've watched them before, this book managed to etch itself into my brain. Each chapter left me eager to continue, hungry to find the answers to the wonderful mysteries surrounding Conchis. The witch doctor in "Henderson, the Rain King" and the psychiatrist in "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" were the only two literary characters who intrigued me even half as much as the infinitely interesting Conchis of this novel. The authors of the other two novels, however, disappointed by failing to address the questions that the characters begged. There seemed to be a lot more to the characters than their creators had the skills to provide. Ultimately, they copped out on their creations and generated more "Aw" than "awe." Fowles, however, does not disappoint. The mysteries are resolved in an awesome manner. The only problem with the ending is that it occurs. But, maybe that's a good thing too. One can only go so long on a few hours of sleep. (I couldn't put the book down until sleep overtook me.) If you haven't yet read the book, congratulations. You have one heckuva good time in store.
Rating:
Summary: Prepare for a journey like no other!
Review: Where to begin with this masterpiece. Allowing for a relatively slow start, this book is the most mind bending piece of literature I have ever encountered. The reader is baffled at every turn. I found myself actually questioning where the book ended and real life began, such is the level of involvement one is compelled into. Following the journey of Nicholas Urfe, a young English teacher, who decides to journey to the Greek island of Phraxos in an attempt to remove himself from a failing relationship in England. Little did he know that his encounter with the Island recluse Maurice Conchis would lead him on a journey so deep into his own subconcious that his very sanity would be in dire jeopardy. Written around 1966/7, and set in 1953, the language is of a classical nature, and can take a bit of concentration, but after reading this I feel our contemporary writers have left behind a richness of expression which I can only suggest is lamentable. If you have a poor grasp of European languages, particularly French and Greek, a translating dictionary may prove a valuable friend during the course of this novel. My version (paperback) was 650 pages long, and I finished it in a week, so difficult was it to put down. Don't expect a light read, but don't be put off by it either. Fowles is particularly wordy, but from the halfway mark onwards, it is as though he puts his foot hard on the accelerator and the punch in the back is breathtaking. Do read this book, if you read no other this year.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: One of the finest books I have read. I intitially read The Magus several years ago; I picked it up again recently, and it was as good/better than I remember. Everyone should read this book... but read it slowly, carefully... this is not a novel to be rushed; savor it. You will be rewarded, and it will stay with you forever. One last thing, the final words are not "French," (!) as a previous reviewer stated. They are Latin, from "Pervigilium Veneris," and indeed provide the novel with the hauntingly perfect, unforgettable ending. Translation follows, so if you have not read The Magus, look away! "May he love tomorrow, who has never loved before; And may he who has loved, love tomorrow as well."
Rating:
Summary: fantastic
Review: Better than "The Collector", which was the first book I read by John Fowles. Intriguing all the way. The best novell I've read by now. Unexpected turns. Great ending... so mysterious.
Rating:
Summary: The Magus is the ultimate heterosexual "guy" book!
Review: Any man who has ever had self-indulgeant sexual greed for women should read this novel. Fowles explodes off the pages of The Magus with existential and bohemian perspectives. I couldn't wait to read what was coming next. The book causes a shift in perspective toward women and what committment can mean. This is not a love story. The Magus is a psycho-sexual drama that will drain the conscience while at the same time, fill in the void with questioning and value assessment. While Nicko Urfe, the main character, goes through moral degradation, it's the lack of resolution that provides the true check on morality and spiritual awakening that can not be neatly wrapped and packaged. A brilliant work by Fowles. The ultimate "guy" book. The spirit of the book haunts the mind long after the last page is read. I will read it again. -Drew Dixon 7-27-99
Rating:
Summary: Dip your brain into the frontiers of 20th century thinking
Review: This is truly a novel in the sense of being something new. What else is like it? It presumptuously plunges you into a world so small you shouldn't care, that of a bored single male Brit, in a time when Britain has lost its empire and its males are all in shock. It has no really great plot, and no real ending. It just stops, leaving you stunned at the insolence of it. The number of chapters is the same as the number of cards in a tarot deck; so you realize when it's too late. The word "accidie", which Fowles is fond of (in the book and in the intro. to the rev. ed.), sheds some light. Accidie or acedia: spiritual sloth and indifference. One of the components of some tarot cards. A better name for the book than Magus or even Godgame would have been Wheel of Fortune, with the famous music "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff as its muse: guess which chapter would go with "O Fortuna"? :) Modern Library's #93 of the top 100 best novels of the 21st century, I agree. It takes you from the 19th to the threshold of the 21st in 600+ pages, then dumps you off on your butt, scratching your head. The problem with untranslated French quotes can be rectified by Fowles fan web sites, if that didn't occur to you. The comparison with the Michael Douglas (1995) movie "The Game" is unfair: a family resemblance at best. The novel is better as a novel, the movie as a movie. Read it, it's worth the effort.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth a read, but . . .
Review: I'm not the type to appreciate love stories, so I found the first and last parts to be pretty boring. In fact, I put the book down after about fifty pages, and was ready to toss it until I snuck a peek towards the middle to see what was coming up. The middle part was fantastic. To the readers who were disappointed to find that there was nothing to the game in the end, I would say that the frustration they are feeling is the same feeling of empty frustration that Nicholas feels. The author does an excellent job of conveying this. Those who are looking for a nice, tidy ending with all the loose ends tied have completely missed the point. A major theme of the book is that there are no absolutes. The one thing that annoyed me was all of the pretensious literary allusions. Okay, okay, Mr. Fowles, we all accept the fact that you know your Shakespeare and your Greek mythology--I don't need you blatantly reminding me every other page. Here's a good example: "between the Scylla of Lily de Seitas and the Charybdis of Kemp; bound to be sucked down". Needless to say, I am not terribly impressed.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible - it changed my life
Review: This book had me completely hooked up to the last page. Frustrating in parts admittedly but written with undeniable skill althought I felt as if by the end even the author didn't know where he was going and this resulted in a somewhat unsatisfactory ending in my opinion. I got to the end having expected some unifying theory of life and we are left with something in French which is just fantastic if you can't speak a word of French.I had to get someone to translate it for me. SO I got to the end feeling thoroughly let down until I realised that it couldn't have been any other way. The fact that we are left without knowing what is to happen between Nicholas and Alison is irrelevant. Th frustration felt by the reader is not that which is generated by an unsatisfactory ending, but more a shared feeling of Nicholas' frustration, that his life will never be happy unless Alison, the only person who really understands him, will be with him. And now, after she has become this person to Nicholas, he discovers that she has been wrapped up in the plot against him and the "godgame" and now things could never be the same between them even if they did go back to how they were before, which is now inconceivable.
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