The Magus (1978) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Characters/People edit see section history

• Nicholas Urfe: The main protagonist — a 25 year-old Englishman who goes to Greece to teach English
• Alison Kelly: Nicholas' girlfriend who he abandons to go to Greece
• Maurice Conchis: A wealthy intellectual who is a main player in the masques
• Lily: A young woman who is involved in the masques and with whom Nicholas falls in love.

Quotes edit see section history

• “Freedom”

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Bourani
• Athens
• Greece
• London
• England
• France
• Cambridge
• Europe
• Paris
• Australia
• Piraeus
• Oxford
• Seidevarre
• Germany
• Russell Square
• Spain
• Italy
• Monemvasia
• Nauplia

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

List the chapters of this book.

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Bildungsroman: focuses on the moral and psychological growth of the main character from youth to adulthood.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. John Fowles (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• BBC's Big Read (April 2003, #67)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PZ4.F788 Mag 1977 PR6056.O85
• Dewey: 823.914

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( F ) › Fowles, John
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Book and Film Review: The Magus succeeds as a novel because it is, at heart, a work of philosophy bound into fictional form. Fowles poured himself into it for over a decade. Originally titled The Godgame, it was his first novel, but he was so unable to let it go in completed form that The Collector was written, published and adapted into an Oscar-nominated film before The Magus would finally see publication. In some ways, as acknowledged in the introduction to the revised version, it is re-imagining of Great Expectations on a 20th Century Greek island. Nicholas Urfe’s parents aren’t dead like Pip’s, but he’s a cultural orphan: “During my last years at school I realized that what was really wrong with my parents was that they had nothing but a blanket contempt for the sort of life I wanted to lead.” So Nicholas takes a position at the Lord Byron School in Greece and flees one island for another. He soon finds himself staying with a reclusive millionaire and taking part in his “Godgame.” “The house was as quiet as death, as the inside of a skull; but the year was 1953, I was an atheist and an absolute non-believer in spiritualism, ghosts and all that mumbo-jumbo.” But he doesn’t know yet how deep in he will end up. A feeling begins to persist “that something was trying to slip between me and reality.”

Movie Connections edit see section history

• The Magus (IMDb)

Books That Cite This Book edit see section history