Rating: 
Summary: Intense and riviting-but not for everybody.
Review: John Fowles has had a rich and rewarding literary career-and deservedly so. Hi is an author from the old school of writing-the one where the term "literature" had specific connotations, such as a mastery of language, characterization, plot and scene. In other words, these are books for the introspective and contemplative reader, not someone who reads for light entertainment.The Magus is by far Fowles most controversial work. It is an deeply suspenseful novel of overt psychological and sexual bondage and sadism. The general outlines of the plot don't seem that gruesome-a young Englishman, fleeing an unsuccessful relationship, takes on a teaching assignment on a remote Greek Island and befriends a wealthy resident of that locale. But this is no ordinary fellow, He's a sociopath of a very disturbing type and he slowly ensnares the young Englishman into a web of psychotic manipulation and deceit. The suspense level is high, the emotional distress level is intense-this is a wrenching book. The meek and easily offended would be wise to seek refuge elsewhere. Fowles is a master writer and this is his masterwork. Serious students of literature ought to read this book. It will not just challenge you-it will change you. Isn't that what real literature is supposed to do?
Rating:
Summary: A book to be read if you survive the first half of your life
Review: It is amazing how few people really grasp the meaning of this book. Nicholas Urfe is a typical, modern, young man. He believes in nothing- not family, not country, not duty, not God, not love. He is an egoist that imagines himself an existentialist. In the isolation of Phraxos he is forced to examine this "self" that is all he believes in for the first time. He finds that there is little or nothing there. This realization pushes him to the abyss. Yet he doesn't even have the strength of will to pull the trigger. This is the final blow to his world, his ego.
Enter the magus. This is in accordance with the ancient formula, "When the student is ready, the teacher will come." Nicholas is now fertile ground with all of his preconceptions about himself and his world broken assunder. The magus now proceeds to introduce Nicholas to the Mysteries. Indeed, the greatest lesson that is taught is that the universe is more mysterious, more timeless, more boundless, more terrible and awe-full than the modern materialist mind can grasp.
A clue comes in the early conversation about the novel being "dead as alchemy." This is irony, you see, not only is Conchis a master alchemist when it comes to the transmutation of souls, but all great novels, including this one, are also powerful works of alchemy.
Rating: 
Summary: blah.
Review: i won't restate what the other reviews have already talked about (the characters, basic plot, etc.) i will only say i was rather let-down by this book. it looked interesting, started out dull, became addictive, and was summed up rather halfheartedly and disappointingly. it was a very intelligent read, and the story -- once it begins to develop some action -- held my interest. it just never went anywhere.
Rating:
Summary: Fowles weaves a masterful story!
Review: I've read this book twice now, yet I took something completely new away on the second reading. For my money, this book got too low of a rating on the '100 Greatest Novels of the 20th Century' list at #93. While on the bookshelf, it looks long and tedious but no book better rewards the patient reader. Surprises lurk around every turn and suspense builds to unheard of levels. If you don't come away from this one shaking your head with absolute amazement then you can't appreciate great literature. Like fine wine or great art, this book ages well.
Rating:
Summary: Literary surrealism at its finest
Review: John Fowles ends his new introduction to this 1998 edition by saying, "I can't really be Greek, but I wish I were." Well, yeah, him and me too. The story takes place on a not-so-imaginary Greek island which is actually Spetses. Long stretches of this work are ugly and horrifying, but at the same time they are beautiful, because they cover all the range of human experience that each of us knows so well and has to put up with: betrayal, violence, lies ... but also hope, freedom, and love. The protagonist meets up with an elderly eccentric who wants to pass as a wizard or shaman but is really involved in a dehumanizing psychological experiment whose true purpose is never made clear. Everything is staged, apparently to make the main character suffer as much as possible, both physically and spiritually. There is something Hamlet-like about his thinking as he decides between getting wholly involved or opting out. At some points one might get the idea he enjoys the savagery being inflicted on him. Fowles is the absolute master of modern English prose narrative, his writing is richly textured, his imagination inexhaustible.
Rating:
Summary: Completely Enthralling
Review: Have you ever been so utterly confused -- not in the sense that you don't know what's going on, but that you know TOO MANY THINGS are going on? That's the feeling that I get from The Magus. The best way to read this book is with a complete disregard for logic. Unfortunately, that's impossible, and so Fowles ensnares his readers in a psychological tug o' war that leaves one brainless and yet exhilarated by the end of the novel. The book, of course, is not perfect, but it still desrves five stars for its ability to completely change the reader while he or she is reading it. And if you think you can pick it up and put it down at will... well, let's just say it has more control over you than you over it.
Rating:
Summary: Sensuous and riveting
Review: I came to this book through Rand Johnson's novel "Arcadia Falls" which not only references it but shares many characteristics with it. Like "Arcadia Falls", I found "The Magus" absolutely riveting as I followed Nicholas Urfe's fantastic and emotional odyssey through a phantasmagoria of betrayal and desire. To call this a page-turner doesn't do it justice because it is much, much more. I know I'll be reading it again and again.
Rating:
Summary: A book to broaden your mind if you¿ve got nothing better to
Review: The Magus is one of those books that makes you go "hmm." It's a bit like a mid-20 th-century Matrix in book form - it is very thought provoking. But the real truth is John Fowles wrote a book and got it published and laughed all the way to the bank whilst the philosophers figured out what it was supposed to mean. The story revolves around one Nicholas Urfe, a young, intelligent Oxford graduate who has little sense of his real self. He meets an Australian girl, Alison, but finds he cannot reciprocate her love for him and is hardly devastated when he is accepted for a teaching post on the remote Greek island of Phraxos. Initially, the slow pace of life bores him, until he encounters Bourani: a villa owned by an extremely rich man named Conchis who befriends him. Conchis has a separate agenda, however and plays the "godgame" on Nicholas - he appears to have ultimate control over the events in Nicholas' stay, both on and off the island. I will refrain from elaborating, but I will say that the book climaxes in the middle with his leaving Phraxos, which is disappointing as it leaves a hundred odd pages of relatively little substance. Often I asked myself why I was bothering to read the book. The beginning of the book is dead boring and only the most persevering will be able to push through the first few hundred pages to the gripping twists later in the tale. The end is shallow and leaves many questions unanswered (which some would prefer, but I do not). One of the biggest faults of the book is that Conchis and his accomplices appear to have no reasonable motives for the trickery that they play on Nicholas. Another fault of the book is that John Fowles expects the reader to be fluent in mid-century English (words such as ikon instead of icon and affaire instead of affair appear frequently), French, Greek, Latin and German. Although the book is mostly written in English, many subplots are missed because they are written in a different dialect. It helps to have a dictionary on hand for the tougher words too (I had to look up "phallus"). The book is full of strange concepts: in a word, weird. But it is still a fascinating read for those willing to waste time thinking deep and hard about pointless hypotheses.
Rating:
Summary: A complex and fascinating work
Review: "The Magus" is a book that works on many levels, blending fantasy and reality in an exploration of love and desire. Ambitious and at times frustrating (apparently to Fowles too) it is ultimately a rewarding and thought-provoking reading experience, with a story that is compelling and surprising and told with great style.
Rating:
Summary: There is truth to be found here
Review: "The Magus" is not a perfect book. John Fowles says so in his own preface. But it is one of the most ambitious novels I have ever read, not to mention one of the truest. Fowles has said that older generations don't appreciate the book as much as younger ones. I am 22 years old, and I was absolutely blown away by it. Yes, it's muddled at times, and it doesn't all flow together as nicely as some people might like, but that is because Fowles was struggling to write out, as he says, "what can't be written." Maybe that sounds like an excuse, but he comes closer in his mission to express truth than many more reknowned authors of the 20th century. This is a fabulous book, and I reccomend it to anyone who is approaching or in the midst of a "quarter-life crisis." You will see yourself within these pages more than once, I guarantee it.
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