The French Lieutenant's Woman
by John Fowles
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Read in January, 2008
I think the greatest strength of this book is the utter uniqueness of it. I don't think I've ever read a book like it. It is set in the Victorian year of 1867, and yet, the sensibility of the book is thoroughly grounded in the 1960s (when it was written). The language, metaphors, and focus of the book all come from the 1960s, and the actions of the characters are all given the lens of the highly visible author- who is in fact one of the major characters of the book (much in the style of Thackera...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Jessica by:
Kevin Quinley
“Darwin’s phrase cryptic coloration: survival by learning to blend with one’s surroundings – with the unquestioned assumption of one’s age or social caste. Or we can explain this flight to formality sociologically. When one is skating over so much thin ice – ubiquitous economic oppression, terror of sexuality, the flood of mechanistic science – the ability to close one’s eyes to one’s own absurd stiffness was essential.” Page 145
This book was superb. Fowles draws the read...more
This book was superb. Fowles draws the read...more
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Read in October, 2007
I'm considering having t-shirts made.
They will either be a hodgepodge of John Fowles quotes that I find tremendously thought provoking and profound, a tour date of the freaky head-trips his books have put me on, or quite simply I (Heart) John Fowles.
I don't like this book nearly as much as the other two I've already read this year The Magus or The Collector, and I still think it's better...more
They will either be a hodgepodge of John Fowles quotes that I find tremendously thought provoking and profound, a tour date of the freaky head-trips his books have put me on, or quite simply I (Heart) John Fowles.
I don't like this book nearly as much as the other two I've already read this year The Magus or The Collector, and I still think it's better...more
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Read in November, 2007
Fantastic book, and not at all what I expected. I was expecting a contemporary Victorian novel - perhaps a "Scarlett Letter" written in the 1880s. Imagine my surprise upon finding out that, in fact, its this weird, fascinating, post-modern version of a Victorian novel written in the 1960s. So cool. The author narrates his story in an unusual way; it's funny because he goes out of his way to make you remember that it's not just a story, but a story he made up and that he is telling, c...more
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Read in January, 2008
As a genre, fiction signifies an implicit agreement between storytellers and readers wherein each surrenders to an abstraction of reality. To suggest literature is either created or read inside a vacuum is patently absurd, for instance any user of this site can generalize the interests of another based on their reading list. Consider JK Rowling writing her Harry Potter series in seclusion only to be released upon her death -- would this grant the books more artistic credibility as she was surely...more
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Read in March, 2008
This very intriguing post-modern Victorian story left me pleasantly puzzled. I might need to reread the last few chapters again! The author plays with the notion of what it means to be an author and a character in a novel. He even messes with the definition of the novel itself! He inserts himself as the authorial voice, but also a character, and, from time to time, his characters make decisions he didn't make for them. The male lead character, Charles, is endlessly analyzed and his deepest e...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who loves victorian novels
The book is set in Lyme, England, with it's wind-swept promenade and small-town feel, as featured in Austen's Persuasion. Most of it's action is concerned really not so much with the wild and invigorating sea as the privacy and fecundity of the forest. The book itself reminds me more of Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence. You have a young man, much like other young men, except that (like Newland Archer) Charles Smithson has a mind that longs for something beyond the ordinary. He feels an affin...more
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I know this book is supposed to be all quirky post-modern/Victorian and that lots of people think it's amazing. Me... not so much. I just got the impression that the author was just a little too pleased with himself and his interjections into the story itself. While I recognize the merit/intelligence of said exposition, I guess I just really wanted a good, straight-forward fiction and not a lesson on the dichotomies of the Victorian psyche or the sly referneces to god, destiny, the power of the ...more
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Read in July, 2000
Date read should be pretty accurate. Had a professor that saw this as a book about evolution. Not sure I agree, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Fowles has a maddening style at times, so if you like a straightforward book, this is not for you. I seem to recall Fowles being fond of this book, and there's good reason to be. His ability to capture the conflict between Victorian mores and Victorian action is quite keen, I think, without over-modernizing the players. Don't remember a lot about thi...more
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Read in June, 2007
This is the Fowles take on the Victorian novel. I've read reviews by people who were annoyed by the author making himself a character and adding comments about writing the book throughout the narrative, but I believe those are the things that make this book so damn interesting. Its Fowles comments on the Victorian age, looking back from the mid-20th century. I haven't watched the movie, and I don't plan to watch the movie. It may be good, but I really don't want to imagine Meryl Streep (ugh!...more
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Read in May, 2008
The French Lieutenant's Woman was fairly interesting, although there were an awful lot of coincidences, which I find rather irritating. What I really liked about the book was that it was written about the early 1800's with a 1950's writing style. This made for a better connection with the story and the characters. It also explained certain functions and aspects of society that are always either ignored or glossed over by the writers of that time period.
The ending was badly written, IMHO.
The ending was badly written, IMHO.
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Read in November, 2007
recommended to Ryan by:
M.F.
This is a great story with excellent detail. Many contemporary stories move into the Victorian era and it's a fun time/place to be, but this tale has a narrator who guides the reader along, pointing out interesting sights and comparing our world with the Victorian. The way that the story evolves is interesting, especially chapter 13. I've read The Magus twice and loved it and seen The Collector once. I'm very impressed with all things Fowles so far.
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Read in January, 2000
I can't remember how much I liked this book. But I think I did....
I loved this quote:
"I know my folly, my blindness to his real character, must seem to a stranger to my nature and circumstances at that time so great that it cannot be but criminal. I can’t hide that. Perhaps I always knew. Certainly some deep flaw in my soul wished my better self to be blinded. And then we had begun by deceiving. Such a path is difficult to reascend, once engaged upon."
I loved this quote:
"I know my folly, my blindness to his real character, must seem to a stranger to my nature and circumstances at that time so great that it cannot be but criminal. I can’t hide that. Perhaps I always knew. Certainly some deep flaw in my soul wished my better self to be blinded. And then we had begun by deceiving. Such a path is difficult to reascend, once engaged upon."
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Read in January, 2006
The play on the victorian novel is refreshing and fun, and it's a well realized work of fiction aside. I have a feeling I would've appreciated this more if I'd read it when it was first released, but by the time I'd gotten to it a lot of the neat tricks had already been beaten into the ground by hackish authors. Still, Fowels is a talented writer, and the neat tricks are just part of the novel. Excellent characters, pacing, and plot.
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I think the thing I like most about The French Lieutenant's Woman is that Fowles was so cognizant of the fact that he had written a great work of complex literary significance that he went on to create a whole series of teaching and critical studies materials based around his book. Way to capitalize! The movie is great for doing what any good adaptation should: taking the central idea and making the story around that.
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The author takes away from the story when he comments on the difference between the time that he wrote it, and when the story takes place. I find it really annoying when he comments mid story, and I hated the ending.
I almost couldn't finish this book because it was so boring, I felt the story didn't even start until page 150. I think the writing is done very well, just poor story telling.
I almost couldn't finish this book because it was so boring, I felt the story didn't even start until page 150. I think the writing is done very well, just poor story telling.
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Read in August, 1982
recommends it for:
Those interested in the British novel.
This came out in 1969. I don't mention that to show how old it is but to show how recent it is for the type of writing it demonstrates. Fowles is the one writer in our era who seems, to me, to write convincingly in the 19th-century manner. It's not a fraudulent book. It also has a modern sensibility, which makes the fact that it seems so 19th-century all the more amazing.
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I really loved this book, I love getting lost in the time, when things were so formal and it was so easy to shock and dismay the neighbors. I tried renting the film afterwards and couldn't finish it, it was so slow. Maybe the book is slow too, but with all of the rich details it's easy to get lost in, but the movie you're just sort of stuck with the silence.
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Read in February, 2008
I liked the authorial/narrative voice in this book, but I sort of collect that sort of thing. As for the story, I got rather tired of it about half way through, and had to push myself to finish it. I wish that I had read it in a class, so I could better appreciate some of what Fowles was doing.
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Read in March, 2007
This is a brilliant book - not only due to the story line, but by vitue of Fowles brilliant narration. His comments on Victorian life, from such a distant (yet intimate) perspective were entertaining and insightful. I loved this book - it turned me into a Fowles convert.
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