The French Lieutenant’s Woman in James Mustich's 1000 Books to Read Before You Die

Feb 04, 2018 Bryan--The Bee’s Knees rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-discards, books-i-read-in-2018, boxall-read, guardian-read

The French Lieutenant's Woman was not even on my radar just a year or so ago--I hadn't seen the film either, but whatever clips I may have caught at the time it was released certainly wouldn't have made me any more interested in the book. It's the exact sort of thing that I am most likely to make assumptions about, and it seemed to me to be nothing more than a period drama. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Then, at some point fairly recently, I began to hear noises about the book that The French Lieutenant's Woman was not even on my radar just a year or so ago--I hadn't seen the film either, but whatever clips I may have caught at the time it was released certainly wouldn't have made me any more interested in the book. It's the exact sort of thing that I am most likely to make assumptions about, and it seemed to me to be nothing more than a period drama. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Then, at some point fairly recently, I began to hear noises about the book that suggested there was more to it--I don't know from what source I picked them up, but I heard it described as meta-fictional, post-modern (ish) and somewhat experimental; that Fowles tells his story, but then freely interjects himself as author, speaking face-to-face, as it were, with the reader. Those descriptions, plus the fact that it kept showing up on various 'best-of' lists that I look at, got me somewhat interested. While the book probably isn't as popular as it was when it was first published, or when the movie was made, if, like me, you haunt thrift shops and used-book stores for bargains, then this title (especially in this book club format) is probably one that you'll run across sooner or later. For fifty cents, which is no doubt what I picked it up for, it makes a perfect 'why-not' purchase.

Overall, I found the book to be engaging and fun--and a combination of what I had expected (a period drama) and what I'd heard it described as (not too outré, but with an unusual storytelling method). I also found the ending a bit baffling--I plan on re-reading the last few chapters to see if it makes more sense to me, but I don't expect to find easy answers. This isn't really a 'beginning-middle-end' kind of book, though there is a story here, and one that kept my attention. I suspect the ending might be frustrating for more than a few readers though--the ending isn't open-ended so much as it is left for the reader to complete.

I'll definitely read more of Fowles (this was my first). He had me interested in both the period drama and and his method. It was a risk, though--I thought he often veered very close to gimmicky and too clever for his own good. I do think he could have done the ending a bit different, but it is singular, so I give him credit for trying a new spin on storytelling. ...more

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Feb 14, 2011 Laura rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, read-2011, book-and-movie, audio-books

From IMDb:
A film is being made of a story, set in 19th century England, about Charles, a biologist who's engaged to be married, but who falls in love with outcast Sarah, whose melancholy makes her leave him after a short, but passionate affair. Anna and Mike, who play the characters of Sarah and Charles, go, during the shooting of the film, through a relationship that runs parallel to that of their characters.

John Hurt is The Narrator in John Fowles' tale of forbidden passions in Victorian Dorse ...more

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