To conclude, I consider “The Magus” is a book worth reading if you have a lot of patience and you are into psychology. I also liked how wise words were sprinkled throughout the story, one of my favourites being: There was so much space, so much silence, so few meetings that one too easily saw out of the present and then the past seemed ten times closer than it was.” “I knew that on the island one was driven back into the past. The Greek island seemed to be surrounded by a mystical aura: For example, I liked how the environment played an important role in setting the pace and intensity of the story. On the other hand, there were also aspects of the book I enjoyed.

However, after I finished the book I realized it was quite an interesting feeling when looking retrospectively. Maybe this was because most of the story is told through the eyes of Nicholas, and the reader only gets one side of the story. The book is quite long (around 650 pages), but that did not bother me … the book felt long because the story was evolving very slowly.Īnd when it comes to frustration … Multiple times I had the feeling that the writer is playing tricks on me, the reader, as I was reading the book. On one hand, I did not enjoy it because of two main reasons: its length and the frustration it caused. I must admit that I have mixed feeling regarding this book. Just to give you a hint about what to expect, it is worth mentioning that Fowles started writing it in the 1950s under the original title of The Godgame. Soon enough Nicholas gets involved in psychological games and tricks and embarks on an extreme journey of self-discovery. Even though his first days on the island predict quite a boring stay, everything changes when he befriends an eccentric rich and old man. The Magus tells the story of a young teacher, Nicholas Urfe, who teaches English on a Greek island called Phraxos. Image from Hachette Book Group The Magus in a nutshell

The Magus by John Fowles