The Magus (Fowles)

Magus is a great novel but I read it I think 8 years ago. There are parts of it that I don't feel I remember as well as I'd like to. I have a copy of the Collector and French Lieutenant's Woman on my bookshelf but have not read them yet.

I don't know why, but for some reason, the British don't seem to regard Fowles as highly as many in the US did in the 70s and 80s. The BBC's best 100 british novels list doesn't contain any of his work although it contains some less famous/interesting stuff. On the other hand, modern library included magus on its 100 and Time included french leiutenant's woman. John Gardner (wrote Grendel and some other novels but is most famous for his writing book and for being both Raymond Carver and Tony Morrison's teacher) wrote a lot about Daniel Martin in his book "On Moral Fiction," if my understanding is right.

I'd recommend the Magus to anyone. I don't know all of the politics around English departments in a college because I've never been a professor of any sort. But Fowles wasn't taught at my college. When I was in college, though, I had a teacher who had studied Fowles pretty in depth when he was in college and had the opportunity to talk about The Magus with him a little.

This is rambling. I know. Long story short: The Magus has a few slow parts and the sexuality is a little tame compared to what is now common on television and movies, but it's a great book! (And I miss studying English in college and feel I have made a terrible mistake by not becoming a teacher of some sort.)

The ending was such a huge letdown. Almost made me regret reading it, if not for the moments when there was still a sense of the mysterious.

I feel out of the loop - what's the link between The Magus and Peterson?