With parallels to Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Homer’s The Odyssey, The Magus is a traditional quest story made complex by the incorporation of dilemmas involving freedom, hazard and a variety of existential uncertainties. Among the seven novels that Fowles has written, The Magus has perhaps generated the most enduring interest, becoming something of a cult novel, particularly in the U.S. Then in 1965, The Magus–drafts of which Fowles had been working on for over a decade– was published. The Aristos, a collection of philosophical thoughts and musings on art, human nature and other subjects, appeared the following year. The critical acclaim and commercial success of the book allowed Fowles to devote all of his time to writing. He continued to revise it until the summer of 1962, when he submitted it to a publisher it appeared in the spring of 1963 and was an immediate best-seller. In late 1960 Fowles completed the first draft of The Collector in just four weeks. Between 19 he wrote several novels but offered none to a publisher, considering them all incomplete in some way and too lengthy. During his tenure on the island he began to write poetry and to overcome a long-time repression about writing. The time spent in Greece was of great importance to Fowles. Godric’s College in London, where he ultimately served as the department head. Several teaching jobs followed: a year lecturing in English literature at the University of Poitiers, France two years teaching English at Anargyrios College on the Greek island of Spetsai and finally, between 19, teaching English at St. He received a degree in French in 1950 and began to consider a career as a writer.

In particular he admired Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, whose writings corresponded with his own ideas about conformity and the will of the individual. World War II ended shortly after his training began so Fowles never came near combat, and by 1947 he had decided that the military life was not for him.įowles then spent four years at Oxford, where he discovered the writings of the French existentialists.

After briefly attending the University of Edinburgh, Fowles began compulsory military service in 1945 with training at Dartmoor, where he spent the next two years. Of his childhood, Fowles says “I have tried to escape ever since.”įowles attended Bedford School, a large boarding school designed to prepare boys for university, from ages 13 to 18.

He recalls the English suburban culture of the 1930s as oppressively conformist and his family life as intensely conventional. John Robert Fowles was born Main Leigh-on-Sea, a small town located about 40 miles from London in the county of Essex, England.

John fowles's the magus