Rating: 
Summary: The novel is full of promises never fulfilled.
Review: Although the prose is beautiful, as well as the depiction of sea, nature, and love, the novel itself is like a shallow pot with nothing in it. The appearance is alluring, the content is lackluster.
Rating: 
Summary: 668 Pages of Blah Blah Blah !!
Review: Arrogant, self-important, self-absorbed, delusional jerk goes to Greece, gets caught in a mystery, and finally learns punish people who wrong him. My question is: Who cares about any of these situations or characters? They are all ludicrous and mean. This book was highly recommended but turned out to be a waste of time, don't bother.
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing, but not satisfying
Review: I've been through this before. My father suggested "The French Lieutenant's Woman" as a great novel. Reading it, I felt I was missing something. Recently, a friend described "The Magus" as his favorite book. Having just finished it (about five minutes ago), I feel cheated. The story seemed to promise a kind of resolution that never comes. It's as if Fowles himself assumed that he would eventually come up with some explanation for the progressively more outrageous antics of Conchis and his troupe, only to find that he let them go too far; no explanation could account for the extremes he indulges them. In the end, the best we are offered is one of Conchis's accomplices restating some of the same things that Conchis and Lily had been saying all along.
Rating: 
Summary: A magical story of manipulation of the mind and emotions
Review: I will probably read this book again. It caught my attention early and kept it until the end, although it left me with many unanswered questions. Some of his scenes are the most sensual, without being pornographic, that I have read. Obviously Fowles is an atheist who tried to instill in his readers that the "godgame" was justified since it helped transform an egotistical and inmature young man into something better. Those of us who believe in one true and loving God may have a hard time in accepting the demonic pleassure that Conchis and his cohorts obtained by demoralizing and humiliating a fellow human being. If their intentions were so honorable, then why did they leave their victim drugged to wake up with a loaded revolver by his side? But if Fowles intention was to make his readers take an introspective look, he succeeded and told an interesting story at the same time.
Rating:
Summary: This book should be required reading for every male over 18
Review: Unfortunately this book didn't fall into my hands until I was over 40. I'm not sure if it would have made much of a difference to the way I conducted my life between age 18 and 40, but it most certainly would have armed me with more insight to my doings than was actually the case. The concious ego is at war with the unconcious self. This book describes that struggle. John Knowles was surely inspired by the muses when he wrote these lines. This is not a book written by a mere mortal.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly rich and moving
Review: This is, by far, the most rewarding book I have ever read. It is rich is allusions, characterisation and possible meanings. People who calim they don't understand it have fallen right into the trap set by the author. All of his linguistic and psychological games are a trap to fool the unwitting reader into looking for great significance which isn't there. This is a book about love, lost and found and then lost forever. The greatest coup in the book is that the final scene, set in a park, on a bench, between two lovers, sums up what the whole book is about. The final image, of time hanging suspended before the heartbreak of rejection, has stayed with me for 25 years.
Rating:
Summary: a difficult, occasionally overwhelming complication
Review: A tale of play-acting turned into mind-games, The Magus is a fine example of the dark-side of formalized and experimental psychology. Basically we have an over-wrought and often ludicrious tale of exotic locals and mysterious romance that is complicated by a harsh and endless critique of the new gospel of psychology. Considering that this book was published in the early days of the 'blame everything on anything but the self' theories of modern psychotherapy The Magus could quite possibly be considered prophetic, but that would undermine the basic concept. Since I don't wish to ramble on with my own personal propaganda, I will end here, stating that this novel ultimately helped me to formalize several of my own opinions on this topic and certainly gave me time for self-reflection . . .
Rating: 
Summary: Addictive, well written and rich in seductive imagery
Review: I read this book simply to get a friend off my back. I soon found myself completely absorbed in Fowles' world. He writes with a keen insight and has attained a nearly perfect blend of characterization, setting, plot and philosophical musings. The story unfolds as if the reader were blindfolded, flown to a foreign land and placed on a roller coaster. Utterly fascinating!
Rating:
Summary: Read the book, and will read it again and again.
Review: Where can I get the movie? I'm curious to see if the movie can do it justice.
Rating:
Summary: Suprisingly Good
Review: This was a wonderful book and I am sorry to say that I was reluctant to read it. I'm glad I did. This book kept me on my toes wondering what would happen next.
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