John Fowles is a famous British postmodern writer. He is famous for his novels “Magus”, “Collector” and “Mistress of the French Lieutenant”. He worked in the genre of realism with a small assumption of fantastic elements, constantly maintaining a high intellectual standard. In the work of Fowles, questions about the sincerity of human relations and the nature of reality are of great importance. In addition to novels, Fowles wrote short stories, short stories, essays and poems. "Magus" rightfully takes its place in the hundred most read English novels.
Fowles possessed a unique style and sense of style, skillfully woven exact historical facts, deep psychologism and sincerity of the soulful searches of the heroes into the fabricated fabric of the work.
Childhood
The biography of John Fowles does not contain those breathtaking turns that the heroes of his novels experienced. But some interesting events caused by the problem of existential choice were still in his fate.
Fowles was born March 31, 1926 in the small town of Lee-on-Sea, located at the mouth of the Thames, near London. His father, Robert Fowles, is a hereditary cigar dealer. This was a man whose whole life was determined by the First World War, which passed fiercely across Europe and changed the fate of all involuntary witnesses to this catastrophe. In his diaries, John Fowles, recalling this man, said that he could build a shelter from any materials that came to hand. His ability to survive and adapt was amazing. This ability was inherited by the future writer.
During his school years, while Fowles studied at the prestigious Bedford School, he boasted brilliant performance, success in sports and community service. He was the head of the school committee and was responsible for general discipline. He had to keep a thin line between responsibility to leadership and his own sense of justice. He already considered his activities in the school committee in his youth as a kind of mask that hides and protects him from reality. At that time, the qualities so necessary in the forthcoming work of Fowles the writer were formed and improved.
Military career
Immediately after school, John graduated from naval courses and went to a camp in Dartmoor, where he trained specialists in sabotage groups. Fowles liked the new affair so much that he decided to connect his future life with military service. But after serving two years, in 1947, he, on the advice of his new acquaintance Isaac Foote, leaves military service and enters Oxford University.
Foote, a sophisticated philologist, a connoisseur of the ancient Greek language, a socialist, in time saw in Foulza an intellectual and a humanist. The latter later recalled in the diary Foot’s answer to his thoughts on the service - "If you are a fool, then choose a military career, if smart, then go study."
Oxford
At Oxford, John Fowles studied French and, having become acquainted with the writings of the existential philosophers Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, questioned some attitudes and aspirations. This was expressed in a rebellion against social foundations and a more serious understanding of their place in life. He deeply realized the imperfection of the world and the total loneliness of human existence. I discovered abandonment and existential horror. I realized that the heavy burden of free will deprives the thinking person of happiness, and he did not see any way out of this situation.
All these reflections prompted Fowles to think about the craft of writing. A new unknown path opened before him, and he went on a long journey through the back streets of his own soul.
Teacher
After graduating from college, from 1950 to 1963, John Fowles taught English and literature at the French University of Poitiers and at the gymnasium on the Greek island of Spetses.
Greece made such a stunning impression on Fowles that it became his second homeland, as he later noted in his diary. Here, in Greece, he was born as a writer, and here he met his future wife, who at that time was married to another literature teacher.
The love triangle did not last long, and in 1956, John Fowles and Elizabeth Christy got married in England. Their marriage lasted as long as 35 years, until the death of Elizabeth. The wife had a great influence on the entire work of Fowles, she was the muse and friend of the writer. Below is a photo of John Fowles with his wife Elizabeth.
Main works
- The Collector (1963). After publication, the novel instantly became a bestseller, and this fact gave the author creative courage and strength. Fowles was able to quit his job and write professionally. In “Collector”, he portrays a simple gray man, capable of any crime for the sake of self-affirmation, in order to feel himself alive.
- Aristos (1964). Collection of philosophical reflections in the form of an essay.
- The Magus (1965). Fowles's first novel, written before The Collector. The most existential and most mysterious work of the author, in which reality is analyzed, its concept and its impact on human consciousness.
- “The Woman of the French Lieutenant” (1969). A pseudo-historical Victorian novel. Fowles depicts the relationship of people of the XIX century from the perspective of a modern person who has studied the theory of Carl Jung and who lives in the postmodern world.
- The Ebony Tower (1974). Again the existential choice of man between freedom and a quiet, automatic life in society.
- "Daniel Martin" (1977). An autobiographical novel, positioned by the author as a free continuation of the story of the hero of the Magus Nicholas Erfe.
- Mantissa (1982). A novel about the torment in which a literary work is born.
- The Worm (1986). A historical novel that takes place in the 18th century.
In his books, John Fowles tries to understand the relationship between man and society. He seeks answers to questions of determination and free will, love and calculation, life and death.
John Fowles Reader Reviews
Reader's feedback on the works of Fowles can be divided into two groups. The first group, a few, includes disappointed readers. They complain about some understatement, the abstractness of novels. These readers initially do not understand the motives of the heroes and their further actions. And, of course, in the finale it is difficult for them to comprehend some openness of the ending. Not everything is chewed and said for them. They are not used to such an authorial manner.
But there are other readers who are grateful. Such are delighted with the intent of the novels and open endings. They are not accustomed to think over the author’s plot, reflect on the choice of heroes and suggest new solutions unknown even to Fowles. These readers love to be part of the novel.
Adaptations
Cinema rarely responds to the work of Fowles, which is understandable. The main action of the novels takes place in the consciousness of the heroes, in their inner world. Memories, reflection, dreams, introspection, confession - these are the main characters in the works of Fowles. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to convey in the language of cinema all the nuances and subtleties of the writer's most difficult prose, but some directors still try.
Apart from low-budget short films, there are only four films based on the books of John Fowles:
- The "Collector" of William Wyler 1965.
- "Magus" by Guy Green 1968. In this film, Fowles played a small role as the captain of the ship.
- "Woman of the French Lieutenant" Karel Reish 1981.
- The 1984 Ebony Tower of Robert Knights.
Hermit
After a stroke in 1988, Fowles no longer wrote large works, his health was greatly shaken. In 1990, his beloved wife Elizabeth unexpectedly died of cancer, and this was another strong blow. Fowles finally retired to his home in the small coastal town of Lyme Regis. He did not meet with the public and journalists, did not give interviews at all, did not receive guests. Not interested in John Fowles reviews, comments and discussions on topics of the novels he wrote. He even felt discontent when he was asked to clarify something in the actions of the heroes. His work was limited to writing an essay, photography and publishing diaries in which he described in detail his whole life.
In 1998, he remarried to Sarah Smith and lived with her until his death. On November 5, 2005, John left this world. The cause of his death is heart failure.