Rating: 
Summary: A lot of hot air in search of a story
Review: Even Fowles seemed to have been sucked in by some of his reviews, to read his preface to this novel, in which he compares himself to Dickens. None of the characters in this story are memorable. This is the first book I ever threw away. I got to about page 500 and this book ignores all the requirements of the code of the story. The main character is not only not especially likeable, he is no hero and undergoes no arc of character. Don't waste your time or your money. This is the first book Fowles wrote, and while he had the decency not to foist it off on the public until he had 4 or 5 best sellers to his credit, it is a total sham.
Rating: 
Summary: No spoilers accepted
Review: The Magus is one of the required books for my current English Elective, Post-Modern Fiction.I idly flipped through the first few pages before school started, and wound up hitting the sack at 3:30 a.m., finishing it. Two things:
My English teacher Mrs. Hamill: "You'll have a lot of trouble keeping your mouth shut during the discussions"
and me: "I can't wait to re-read it." The book follows an Oxford graduate, a Nicholas Urfe, as he accepts a teaching job on the Greek Island of Phraxos. A combination of upbringing and life experience has made him cynical and to a degree, self-pitying. He hopes that the teaching job in an exotic locale will bring him adventure. He meets a strange man, a Mr. Conchis, who owns a large estate on Phraxos. Mysteries, both physical and mental, assail him; and yes indeed, adventure has found and taken a stranglehold on him. One of the titles the author considered and ultimately rejected was "The Mindgame", and certainly the book is a mind game, playing with both Urfe's and the reader's. On the second time round, you will pick up on many details and nuances you missed the first time. Believe me when I say this book will take root in your mind. Oh, and try NOT TO FIND SPOILERS for this book, as it WILL ruin your experience. This book is a journey, and what a journey it is.
Rating:
Summary: Magusterial
Review: As anyone who, like myself, is over 30 and has been a compulsive reader his/her entire life knows, it's very rare to find a work that profoundly changes you the way the great works of literature did at a more impressionable age. This one did it for me. I rank it with Graham Swift's Waterland as being the best post WWII novel I've yet discovered (I don't consider Malcolm Lowry's Under The Volcano a postwar novel since he wrote it before and during the war, and it has a prewar setting.)
I don't think going into the plot will be of much service here. Suffice it to say that it is about a young Englishman finding himself caught up in a whirlwind of ever greater questionings of what is "real" in himself and others in a way that is, at times, truly gut-wrenching. Also, it helps if you at least remember the basic plot to Shakespeare's The Tempest. A smattering of Latin, Greek (ancient and modern), French and a general knowledge of English literature won't hurt either. But these are not absolutes in falling under the novel's spell, they simply enhance one's appreciation of the texture and lyricism of the writing.
As other reviewers have pointed out, those seeking the formulaic denouement, in which all is made clear, are missing the point, such as it is. As well as being an imaginary challenge, the book tugs at the heartstrings until they nearly snap, then leaves the reader flat on his or her back, haunted and wondering and questioning his or her self and all relations to others, past and present. There IS a sort of answer in the form of a question posed by "the magus," Conchis, early in the book: "Are you drinking the water or the wave?" I could try to deconstruct this, but it would be a spoiler. Just remember the numinous experiences Nicholas has when hypnotized, when with Alison in Greece and in the FINAL SCENE. After which (hint!), one might like to reread Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn."
Finally, for those other reviewers (I read all 139 of them) who found the book life changing or the best thing they have ever read, I recommend (mind you, only for those seriously affected by the work), not some other modern novel, but Proust's 3,000 page Rememberance of Things Past, where they will find an even deeper and more profound exploration of the questions to which this book gives rise.
To quote the late poet James Dickey, "We're all out in the storm: You, me, everybody."
Rating: 
Summary: Regretfully excellent
Review: This book began as entertaining and soon became something that I could not put down. I couldn't read it fast enough and had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next. Until the end, I was thinking that this book would find itself in the list of my all time favorites. Until the end, that is. After I read the last page, I went back and reread the last twenty pages or so to see if I had missed something crucial. What a colossal disappointment. I threw the book in the garbage in disgust. I still rate the work at four stars, but I wish someone could explain to me what happened.
Rating:
Summary: You don't need to understand it to enjoy it!
Review: Some of these reviews may paint a daunting picture for some prospective readers. Before I might add more of the same, I think it's worth pointing out that even if you read this book and conclude that you just don't understand it, you'll still have read a thoroughly enjoyable book. In a way, that's how Nicholas Urfe feels at the end, I suspect. He can't really grasp what happened to him, but acknowledges that it was the work of a true magician and he will never experience anything like it again. And I feel the same. The morning after fininshing The Magus, I feel like I've just left the island and returned home, never to experience life like that again. This is a rare book that is always ahead of you, leaving you with no clue as to what will happen next. Because of this, while I was reading it I was always terrified I might accidentally read a spoiler on the final page or have the 680 pages worth of satisfaction spoilt by reading some over-helpful review on the internet. However, having now got to the end, I realise now that I had nothing to fear. There is no final unravelling of the mystery. Or if there is, I have learnt nothing from Conchis/Fowles! I'm not too sure what this book means, as you'll have gathered. But from reading it I could identify with the main character Nicholas, even though I never warmed to him particularly. In a way he represented the reader (or this reader at least). In the same way that he could have walked away from the game but chose not to, we could have chosen not to carry on reading. We shared a choice, whether to subject ourselves to the experience. By the end of the events, he is left paranoid, not sure whether anyone who speaks to him is just another part of the story. As a reader, I too could not trust anyone by the end. And did Nicholas learn anything? He's not sure and neither am I. Similarly, I'm not sure if I learnt anything. I'm left with questions that have no easy answers. Conchis questions the conventional understanding of liberty. How can anyone so committed to teaching what real freedom means resort to the methods he chooses? I suspect that if you can understand this paradox then you can understand the point of the book. The writing is skillful and the characters and scenery effortlessly brought to life. I could award this book nothing less than five stars. It is a masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: From Island to Island
Review: The Russian translation of "The Magus" (a truly excellent work by Boris Kuzminsky) came at a right time - when my generation was exactly the main character's age. At twenty or thirty his problems and torments would seem equally artificial. At twenty-five, they happened to be very much in resonance with what was going on in our very different lives. I had a personal reason for a special treatment of this novel. I had a feeling that Nicolas Urfe was very much like me - psychologically and intellectually. I easily identified myself with most of his reactions. I felt that he read, joked, ate, smoked the way I did. I have now re-read the novel - though not the second, amended variant (which was the source for the Russian translation), but the original one. Several years ago I found myself in an English-speaking intellectual company, and the participants in the chat cordially agreed that the second variant of "The Magus" stunk, while the first, on the contrary, ruled. I was intrigued; I still am. Unless my memory is playing some major trick on me, the changes in the second variant were mainly cosmetic. A couple of erotic scenes, no more. The main difference seemed to be the fact that the mysterious Lily (or whatever) gave in to Nicholas in the second draft, while in the original version she had remained a teaser par excellence. Probably as one grows older, the relativity of sexual and other feelings becomes less and less surprising. But it does not signify any serious change. It became much harder to sympathise with the main character after these several years. His subtlety is now perceived as snobbery and showing off. During the first read I felt irritated that Nicholas was not ready to face a miracle and looked for a rational explanation for everything. I am even more irritated now. It is especially revolting that in the long run he turns out to be right. I also feel a larger cultural difference between myself and Nicholas Urfe. I did not notice then how much he reflected on his englishness, how consistently distanced himself, an islander, from the Continent; how he mused - in these terms - about the game, forced upon him by the European, Maurice "The Magus" Conchis, how his hate of fascism was based on the idea that Europe could have produced such monsters, while England could not. If we think of this detail of the British national psyche, it is usually in an ironic context, while in fact a Shakespearean drama lingers beneath. The Greek island of Phraxos, the main location of the novel, is a different story. It is hard to imagine someone so unemotional who would not want to go to Greece immediately after reading "The Magus". Fowles does not seem to be saying anything new - everyone knows about the sea, sun, pines and ancient statues - but one cannot help but feel the obsession which this nature and this country impose upon you. In "Daniel Martin", Fowles does the same trick with Egypt, Syria and New Mexico. He is an absolutely stunning travel writer. One critic rightly remarked that Fowles's best novels possess an old-time quality: the reader can literally sink into them and live inside until the last page is turned. "The Magus" displays this quality to an amazing degree. Especially if read at the right age.
Rating:
Summary: The Mystery that is Life
Review: What I feel most reviewers have missed is not that the plot itself is instilled with morphing twists, about which most appear to concur, but that the book has almost the same effect on the reader as it does on the main character. Trying to grasp what it ultimately all "means" defeats the purpose of the book, and hence the purpose of life, because it all being a matter of perception and relativity, no one can ever really grasp what life really means.
Rating:
Summary: A book that overreaches itself, but rewards nevertheless
Review: I agree with many of the reviews posted here in that _The Magus_ wanders, doesn't seem to know where it's going, has an incredibly boring beginning and fails to translate foreign phrases that even someone with a good classical education and knowledge of French and Latin might struggle with. However, I also agree that the book is addictive through the middle, deliciously erotic, and contains considerable food for thought. That being said, I was surprised that many of the reviewers here seemed not to understand the purpose of the "godgame" played with Urfe by Conchis et al. In this somewhat belabored rewrite, Fowles bashes the reader over the head again and again with the idea that the "masque" Urfe is subjected to is designed to make him come to terms with his own identity and his transcendent freedom of action -- the only things that can make him fully human, rather than the shallow cad he begins the book as. That the actors seem to enjoy this fairly cruel process with a pleasure that is both voyeuristic and somewhat lewd is the twist that makes the novel interesting. Conchis gives Urfe a singularly valuable gift by putting him through these trials, but he and his helpers are hardly altruistic. Their consciousness-raising, it seems, is simply part of what they do as a result of what they've become -- embodiments of a universe that finds humor in its existence while at the same time remaining unremittingly savage. I couldn't help feeling, though, that Fowles never quite hit the nail on the head with his philosophy. Though he sets up a number of provocative situations and uses powerful occult imagery, I came away with the impression that he was a philosophical dabbler. It's often noticeable that novelists who attempt to portray genius characters without being geniuses themselves are unable to make those characters fully believable. In this case, Fowles seems to have imagined a secret society with understanding far more sophisticated than his own. Because he lacks that level of understanding himself, however, he is incapable of conveying it to his readers: all he can communicate are the hints and glimpses that as are far as he'd yet managed to come. Overall, _The Magus_ is an interesting and readable novel, but by no means a great one. A final note: Fans of the Kubrick film _Eyes Wide Shut_ will find much in common between the two works, as the two have similar themes, but ultimately I think the film is superior.
Rating:
Summary: the original unedited version
Review: I was just looking over the reviews of this book on Amazon. They are by and large excellent reviews written by thoughful, educated readers. This book is for the learned and patient and yes knowledge of obscure literary references, mythology, and languages is helpful but not necessary. The reviews here are very helpful and if you read a few of them I do not doubt you will be inspired to find a copy of the book... What I wanted to point out is that this book is the edited version. Why did Fowles edit a masterpiece? In reading the forward I deduce this was in many ways a reactionary edit. Fowles must have been over tired of his readers whining about "what does it all mean?" READ THE ORIGINAL FIRST. Fowles edit of this book seems spiteful and mean spirited. he rips from our hands the original intention of the book in the final pages. making the 600 plus page journey nearly pointless. We do not need clarification...especially in the way which Fowles pens it in this revised version. The original is the best literary work I have ever read...I cannot fathom the thought of editing it. It doesn't make sense. How often have you heard of such a thing for a work of fiction? It is like drawing a pencil mustache on the Mona Lisa. Please read the original first.
Rating:
Summary: The Book of Modern Love
Review: I first read *The Magus* in 1965. Since then I have read it again every five or ten years. It is one of the most intelligent, most stimulating books I have ever read. Like a country you revisit, each tour is different, deeper layered, flawed by age and familiarity, perhaps, but always, at the same time, new. My own maturity has affected the way I have read this palimpsest and mirror; I remember being shocked, on second reading, to recognize what a callow, shallow creature Nicholas was. Now, myself Conchis' age if not his equal in wisdom, I can scarcely bear this vain British poetaster with his self-absorbed despair and self-serving rationalizations. On my first reading, I was sure the monsters were on the balcony, staring at Nicholas and Alison. On my second, I was sure they weren't, and weren't monsters either. Last year, I understood that it doesn't matter; it is not knowing that matters, but doing. It is not what is done to us, but what we do, that matters. I have adopted as my own motto, "Cause no unnecessary pain." What better gift can another mind give us, than a single motto to live by? This great book; it is an exercise in learning wisdom.
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