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Mag (Kameleon)

by John Fowles

book data

3,961 ratings, 3.98 average rating, 459 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		39%
4		31%
3		19%
2		6%
1		2%

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published

1996 by Zysk i S-ka (first published 1965)

details

Paperback, 767 pages

characters

Nicholas Urfe, Alison Kelly, Maurice Conchis

setting

Greece

isbn

8386211652 (isbn13: 9788386211654)

description

Mag, powieść o fabule obfitującej w niezwykłe zwroty akcji i zaskakujące rozwiązania, należy do arcydzieł literatury współczesnej. Bohater k…more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 5,614)

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Jul 24, 2007

MacK rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

bookshelves: brit-lit, favorites

Read in August, 2007

My students like to use the made up word, "unputdownable." I always laugh at this. I can always put down a book, I can even put down this one. The problem is, I can't seem to stop picking it up again.

We are thrown, whether we like it or not into the addled frantic mind of Nicholas Urfe, a man in the middle of a suspenseful psychological experiment. The only problem is, without telling us, Fowles turns it into a suspenseful philosophical experiment as well. We are left never...more

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Jul 26, 2007

Jessica Baxter rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

Read in September, 2007

this book fucked me up. i suppose it could be defined as a "psychological thriller" but its very jungian, steeped in metaphor and symbolism and eroticisim and mythology and shakespeare. its also an intense love story of sorts, the main character is a completely fleshed out, real, flawed person who you relate to and fear for and empathize with. the premise is that this british guy gets a teaching job on a small island in greece soon after WWII ends and becomes intwined in the lives/min...more

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Jun 12, 2007

Beth rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

I had no idea what this book was about. The prose style was nice, but the plot was completely unfathomable. I decided about a third of the way through the book that it was one of the worst things I had ever read. But, due to some strange self-flagellatory compulsion, I told myself there was no way I was going to let it beat me, so I slogged through, teeth clenched, until the end. I found out later that they actually made a movie out of it. About the film, Woody Allen is to have said, "If I ...more

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

4 comments

Jul 27, 2007

Casey rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

A month after finishing The Magus, I'm still not quite sure if I loved it or hated it. I suppose that is entirely due to my obsessions with clarity of plot and identification with characters... one moment, you trust and love a character, and think you know exactly where the story is going (or even, is at the moment); the next, the rug is pulled out from under you and all your alliances and expectations have to suddenly change. Frankly, I don't find that sensation particularly pleasant--even as I...more

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Jun 06, 2008

Robinson rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

bookshelves: literature-fiction

Read in July, 2008

recommends it for: Literary fiends

The Magus is a fine literary tale of a young English man who takes a job teaching on a small, isolated Greek island in 1950. There, he's drawn into a web of mystery and danger by the wealthy nomad that summers on a remote corner of the island. I was immediately drawn into the story by the voice of the young protagonist, and continued turning pages as mystery after mystery unfolded. Unfortuantely, somewhere in the middle, the story really bogs down and becomes repetitive. It isn't until the l...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

4 comments

Dec 12, 2007

Tyson rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: Everyone

This is one of those books that was recommended to me a long time ago, by my Mom, who's opinion I very highly regard. I don't know what I put it off for so long. The book's synopsis captured my imagination. It has a variant of magic realism, a dizzying blurring the real and imagined, a heavy dose of both psychological and pilisophiscal exploration.

The book opens up a labyrinth of a plot where the narrator goes through varying levels of understanding aobut the nture of the labyri...more

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May 08, 2008

Kelly rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

bookshelves: did-not-finish

NO. I can't. I can't do it. Its like if you took that Most Dangerous Game Bradbury story and RUINED IT FOREVER. At first I thought it was going to be an amazing, longer psychological version of that book, right? NO. It's an unbearably pretentious attempt for Fowles to show off his education for 400 pages of heavy, slowgoing, super emo emotion and dialogue all while congratulating himself on how erudite he is. It's really hard to get into something that's supposed to be a thriller, if an intellec...more

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

9 comments

Dec 14, 2009

Chris Sastre rated it:

(review of isbn 0440351626)

I have rarely been so unpleasantly surprised - and bitterly disappointed - by the sudden turn that a novel takes as with the abrupt shift that occurs roughly mid-way through John Fowles The Magus. The first half introduced the ethereal, creepy and gripping experiences of the young Englishman Nicholas Urfe, estranged from his Australian girlfriend Alison and teaching at a boys school on the remote Greek island of Phraxos. Thoroughly disenchanted with the course his life has taken, and gauging wit...more I have rarely been so unpleasantly surprised - and bitterly disappointed - by the sudden turn that a novel takes as with the abrupt shift that occurs roughly mid-way through John Fowles The Magus. The first half introduced the ethereal, creepy and gripping experiences of the young Englishman Nicholas Urfe, estranged from his Australian girlfriend Alison and teaching at a boys school on the remote Greek island of Phraxos. Thoroughly disenchanted with the course his life has taken, and gauging with a contemplative eye the distance between the top of the sheer cliffs on the island's shore and the teal waters far below, he stumbles upon the private villa of the mysterious Greek millionaire Maurice Conchis. Select lines from T. S. Eliot's Little Gidding point beguilingly towards the direction that Conchis' tutoring will lead Nicholas - and this early part, with its spectral hauntings, shadowy tales told in charcoal tongues, and erotic temptations from a nubile maiden, one of the troupe that enacts the masques that Conchis enjoys performing, was very good and left me eager to have the mystery solved, the seeingly supernatural elements either explained or expanded upon.

Unfortunately, the book then takes a complete left-turn, an increasingly silly shift into the psychoanalysis of the confused Nicholas, a vast and complex pantomime that goes from one climax to another, all pointing towards a ridiculous amount of time, money, and effort expended upon the most pedestrian after-school special of a goal. It's almost like Fowles had one book in mind when he began writing, then discovered the works of Jung and Freud and Laing and Lacan during a sabbatical, became consumed with their themes and ideas, and decided to resume the novel in a completely different direction. It is still well-written, and I hung through to the end, but toss me in the fridge and call me Frosty, but was I ever pissed with how this sucker turned out. A truly intriguing and otherwordly tale made clinical and cold in the most frustrating of ways (though I realize that, for others, the novel could be the obverse: a cheesy spook-story having been made into a superb analysis of the faults and deceits of an arrogant young man's life, a mind-fuck of the first order). The Magus presents the lamentable case of a potential five-star hit at the box office going off the rails and exiting the theaters early as an average three-star read.(less)

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Jun 21, 2007

Christine rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

bookshelves: abandoned, novels

I just couldn't get into this, even after I flipped ahead to figure out what the H was going on. I don't know, except to say that this was written in the style of what I think of as "overblown men's book." Not very articulate, I know. I guess it seemed overinvolved with emotional and landscape details at the expense of the story. In other words, trying too hard to be literature. Blah.

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

1 comment

Aug 03, 2007

Chris rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

bookshelves: bestofthebest, epic

Something of an existentialist manifesto disguised as fiction, I think this is a book that you either get or don't--or that you buy or don't. Both bleak and beautiful, I think it's worth everyone giving a shot, because if it resonates with you, you'll have found something truly outstanding. Or you'll be bored on page 35 and can stop there.

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Feb 28, 2009

Maureen rated it:

(review of isbn 0675162955)

bookshelves: 09

Read in March, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

well, the magus. it started off in a very familiar and comfortable place for me: england, and people who fancy themselves poets, and love affairs. the spelling seemed affected: "affaire" was used throughout-- i have promised myself to look into usage here but ultimately i felt there was a lot of pretentious flourishes in this book -- and the one that bothered me most was naming a character "conchis" who then speaks out from the book making sure you get the bad pun by asking t...more well, the magus. it started off in a very familiar and comfortable place for me: england, and people who fancy themselves poets, and love affairs. the spelling seemed affected: "affaire" was used throughout-- i have promised myself to look into usage here but ultimately i felt there was a lot of pretentious flourishes in this book -- and the one that bothered me most was naming a character "conchis" who then speaks out from the book making sure you get the bad pun by asking that an anglicized pronunciation be used. after that, i just kept stopping every twenty pages and snickering. i have read that this was fowles first novel so it may be that this is a forgivable and unrepeated error in his other works.

there are some very fine descriptions of the landscapes of phraxos and parnassus and i really did enjoy the story that is spun out by maurice conchis as he beguiles the young english wannabe poet/teacher urfe. i will have fond memories of that tale of young love, and the battlefield, and especially his time in norway, studying birds and men, for some time. and i know that the book wants you to identify with conchis, and not urfe, but i couldn't help of think of the film the wicker man as i read this book, and how much i don't like it. i don't like it because the same methodology is employed: people need a victim so they set up a mystery, and ensnare a rigid and unlikeable, and above all, oprhaned young man who is then punished. and as i thought during that film, so i thought during this book: "this person might have been rigid and unlikeable but what was that to you? is his life less valuable than yours because you feel he has spent it unprofitably?" and the answer to that question for me, is no. basically fowles gave me an unlikeable character, and guess what? i didn't like him. but that doesn't mean the conclusion of the novel gives me any more satisfaction that seeing a man burn inside an effigy. urfe says he has learned but i don't think he's changed, and the story did not satisfy me.

the book taught me some new words i didn't know before, like "enislement". for this, the life story of maurice (let us ignore his last name), the tempest-like atmosphere that was present in the first third of the novel, and the quality of the writing, i am disposed to give it three stars though i don't know how long that will last. i actually think i would have liked this book much more if it had just been a modern version of the tempest. ;P(less)

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6 comments

Dec 11, 2009

Julie rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

bookshelves: classic, read-2010, western-europe-setting

Read in January, 2010

Oh boy. Here's the thing: If you read this novel as a citizen of 2010, a member of our hyper-speed, uber-connected modern society that navel-gazes in 140 word bytes with little interest in true introspection, The Magus will seem almost comical in its psycho-thrilling, Jungian dribbling plot and Baroque-meets-mod writing style.

If you, dear reader, consider that The Magus was partially written nearly 60 years ago (begun in the early 50s, published in '65, revised in '76), its risky po...more Oh boy. Here's the thing: If you read this novel as a citizen of 2010, a member of our hyper-speed, uber-connected modern society that navel-gazes in 140 word bytes with little interest in true introspection, The Magus will seem almost comical in its psycho-thrilling, Jungian dribbling plot and Baroque-meets-mod writing style.

If you, dear reader, consider that The Magus was partially written nearly 60 years ago (begun in the early 50s, published in '65, revised in '76), its risky political and sexual behavior and twisted plot now seems the apex of modernity of post-war culture. This is David Lynch decades before he wrapped Isabella Rossellini in blue velvet, "White Rabbit" when Grace Slick was in pigtails, free love to a generation stripping off their bobby socks, "Schindler's List" for young people who had vivid memories of World War II and their parents of the Great War.

As a read, I found it intoxicating. I was surprised at every turn, and, despite its substantial size, never bored or exhausted. Although I enjoyed it to bits, I couldn't recommend it to any of my GoodReads buddies- I honestly think you'd hate it! That's not a throwing down of the gauntlet, but a genuine Caveat emptor. If you didn't like The French Lieutenant's Women, steer well clear of The Magus.

Fowles, in his foreward to the 1976 revision, acknowledges the many negative critical reviews received upon its initial publication ("justified criticisms of excess, over-complexity and artificiality..."). But as he reflects on his motivation in writing, he realizes that The Magus must "remain a novel of adolescence, written by a retarded adolescent" and that freedom, one of the central themes of the novel, must be grasped by the writer to create whatever worlds he or she damn well pleases.

I celebrate the notion of the latter, as long as the reader is gifted a damn good story. For those of us who suffered through "The Most Dangerous Game" and "The Lottery" in 7th grade English, I offer up the satisfaction of The Magus.

(less)

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Mar 31, 2009

Steve Gallup rated it:

(review of isbn 0675162955)

Read in March, 2009

I first read The Magus in 1974, on the recommendation of a friend. He was probably attracted to the way it questions our assumptions of reality and to the similarity between Conchis, the sorceror of the title, and the mystical shaman Don Juan in the Carlos Castenada books. I found it a pretty wild ride.

I read it again in about 1980, after thoroughly enjoying another Fowles title. The haunting stories Conchis tells -- and the surreal illustrations of those stories that he somehow call...more I first read The Magus in 1974, on the recommendation of a friend. He was probably attracted to the way it questions our assumptions of reality and to the similarity between Conchis, the sorceror of the title, and the mystical shaman Don Juan in the Carlos Castenada books. I found it a pretty wild ride.

I read it again in about 1980, after thoroughly enjoying another Fowles title. The haunting stories Conchis tells -- and the surreal illustrations of those stories that he somehow calls into being -- stayed with me through the years. But I knew I was still missing a lot, what with all the references to mythology and Jungian psychology (not to mention the frequent use of other languages). So when looking for something to read during my convalescence from a recent surgery, I thought I'd give it one more shot.

This time my focus was more on Nicholas, the alienated young Briton who escapes from a relationship by taking a teaching job on a Greek island, where he then meets Conchis. Nicholas is not a very agreeable character, presumably because he was raised without affection, and it's hard to imagine what Alison, the love interest, sees in him. Worse, I'm not sure he makes much progress in the course of the book.

Had I rated it in 1974 or 1980, I would have given it five stars. And I still admire its vivid sense of place and the moods it evokes. However, this time through I became impatient with the way Nicholas continues trying to see behind the masque. The guy becomes obsessed with Conchis, and much more so with a phantom-like young woman whom Conchis sometimes calls into being for purposes known only to him. He pursues answers doggedly, despite the warning that answers are a form of death, and despite the ominous direction events begin to take. In his shoes, I would have decided early on to give Conchis and all his retinue a wide berth. But maybe that's my age speaking. Nicholas is young.

I should mention that I read the original version. Fowles came along a few years later and rewrote portions of it.(less)

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Nov 01, 2007

Carrie rated it:

(review of isbn 0099478358)

Read in November, 2007

I put off reading this book for two years after receiving it as a gift. I had asked for it, but I had trouble reading The French Lieutenant's Woman in 85 and The Collector in 98, so quite expected it to be a difficult read. Who knows why I accepted Steve's challenge to read it, but I managed to make it through to the end in just a few days. My hands hurt holding 650 pages, but it was a real pageturner. Just when you think you might have it sussed, it takes a different direction. The story kept ...more

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Mar 19, 2009

Roger rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

bookshelves: fiction

This book is incredible. It is a mind fuck in the extreme. Once you've read it, the book will haunt you forever.

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Mar 22, 2009

Vegantrav rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

Read in March, 2009

This book is on the list of the Modern Library of the World's Best Books. I must disagree with this assessment. Although the plot is initially quite intriguing, none of the characters--not the protagonist Nicholas Urfe, not his two love interests (Alison and Lily), and not the antagonist (Maurice Conchis)--is even likable or really even psychologically interesting, and the plot becomes simply unbelievable as the novel advances. Fowles never really gives any reason for the trials and tribulati...more

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Mar 18, 2009

Marigold rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

Read in March, 2009

This is one of Those Books! Those Books that you love & hate at the same time, that make you think, that make you angry, that you can’t stop reading, that you will remember more deeply. The Magus takes you on a journey through Jungian psychological theory; through countries (England & Greece), through time & love, through alternate realities; through a maelstrom of imagery from the tarot deck to Shakespeare to The Bible to Dickens. Whatever you think of it, it’s a colossal achievement in sto...more This is one of Those Books! Those Books that you love & hate at the same time, that make you think, that make you angry, that you can’t stop reading, that you will remember more deeply. The Magus takes you on a journey through Jungian psychological theory; through countries (England & Greece), through time & love, through alternate realities; through a maelstrom of imagery from the tarot deck to Shakespeare to The Bible to Dickens. Whatever you think of it, it’s a colossal achievement in story-telling for its own sake. Written in 1965, revised in the 1970s, & set in 1953, it does feel considerably outdated, particularly in main character Nick’s attitude toward women. (And the smoking—is that supposed to be part of the eroticism? Please.) Poor Nick finds little pleasure in life & certainly not much from the series of girls he shags & then leaves! He accepts a teaching job on a beautiful Greek island—but he’s bored & lonely. (And a little interested in the local boys, as well!) Poor Nick, stuck on a gorgeous isle with nothing to do! Then he meets a mysterious millionaire who sweeps him into a game of increasing complexity & danger, where reality & fantasy are deliberately manipulated. Eventually, Poor Nick thinks he’s in love with one of the “main actors” in the game—but really, he’s in love with the game itself. As you will be when you read the book! Fair warning though—the journey is a lot more fun than the destination—and maybe that’s the moral of the story! (In which case, I don’t know how to feel about that—I’m not sure if I agree or not!) The Magus is a complex, beautifully written, huge & fabulous thriller – or psychological drama - with the most annoying main character ever (seriously, he pretends to have syphilis to avoid going to bed with a woman – WTF?!) & a bit of a letdown at the end! There was one point in the book where I wanted to yell, “just whip him & get it over with!” (Is violence toward fictional characters OK? I think so!) But it was so involving, so wonderfully written & mostly fast paced, that the 656 pages flew by! (less)

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Jan 19, 2009

Markus rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

Read in November, 2008

This was the second book I read by John Fowles, after The Collector. I enjoyed both, and am very impressed by Fowles' style. This is a dangerous book as it can make a reader feel more intelligent that they really are (guilty here) or I could imagine not intelligent at all. Fowles uses so many great allusions, and if you get half of them, you probably will feel like a smart reader. If you get none of them... then this is probably not the best book. If you want to expand your vocabulary with ...more

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Jun 25, 2009

Clif rated it:

(review of isbn 0316296198)

Read in June, 2009

Many years ago I disguised myself as a technician and sneaked into the outdoor set for a Hollywood movie that featured big names at the time. Of course I didn't participate in the actual making of the film but I did wander around and stand next to the stars just to see if I could do it. I pulled the trick off perfectly and escaped without detection.

A few days later, the filming at the location was finished and the cast and crew packed up and left. I felt a strange depression to see t...more Many years ago I disguised myself as a technician and sneaked into the outdoor set for a Hollywood movie that featured big names at the time. Of course I didn't participate in the actual making of the film but I did wander around and stand next to the stars just to see if I could do it. I pulled the trick off perfectly and escaped without detection.

A few days later, the filming at the location was finished and the cast and crew packed up and left. I felt a strange depression to see them leave. For just a single evening I had been part of this make-believe world where anything was possible and now it was gone never to return.

In The Magus, the protagonist, Nicholas Urfe, finds himself in a production of which he is both the object and an active participant. He is so drawn to what happens that he continues to participate willingly even when things take turns he doesn't like.

Fowles is a marvelous writer and the book is filled with insights and vivid prose. More than once I paused to admire a passage.

There's sex, violence and horror in contrast to the beauty of the setting on an island in Greece. The plot twists and turns in unpredictable ways that make the next page worth turning. At some points I wondered at the plausibility of the whole idea, just as Nicholas does, yet Fowles' wonderfully intelligent dialogue and description gives the whole the stamp of reality. I found myself growing angry and then sympathetic to the different characters, particularly Nicholas. Throughout the book, one is forced to think about what is sincere and what is staged - both in the actions of the characters and in one's own life. When one is a part of the project of others (and how can each of us not be?), can one ever be a free agent or believe without questionin in others? Would we go mad if we did not believe we had free will?

This book asks, as all good novels do, why we do what we do. The answer is not put on a plate for the reader because there is no definitive answer. I don't believe there is a single overall meaning to The Magus. It's the kind of story that is to be thought about time and again because there is so much in it to ponder and interpret. The premise of the book is wildly imaginative, but Fowles grounds it firmly in well known human behavior, in particular that between men and women.

Were I to file this book on the shelf, I think I'd put it next to Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. Self-oppression/guilt can be far more painful than anything others can do to us. The anxiety of self-doubt can drive us to events the define us.(less)

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Sep 19, 2009

Craig rated it:

(review of isbn 0224610538)

Although actually published second, The Magus is Fowles' first novel -- his original publishing debut. Releasing a revised, more explicit version (which is not necessarily better) Fowles' metafiction follows Nicolas Urfe, a chauvanistic, self-centered English intellectual manque. Through a series of "disintoxications" or psycho-dramas staged by a mysterious Prospero character named Conchis, Urfe is re-educated about his relationships with women, his self-centered lifestyle, his menta...more

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