Welcome to the first entry in my new blog. As its description says, I hope to reflect on various topics relating to the craft of writing, as well as thoughts, recommendations and anything else I feel might be of interest. In a recent interview I said that The Magus, by John Fowles, was my favourite book, and so I have decided to use my good reads review of it as the remainder of my first blog entry.
The Magus by John Fowles

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This had a profound influence on me when I read it for the first time, which was while on an island hopping holiday in Greece during the 1990s (including the island of Spetses, where Fowles taught in the 1950s). It certainly does not appeal to everyone, as I think some of the other reviews attest to, but if you are able to fully immerse yourself within its pages, it becomes an incredible and rewarding experience of (self) discovery. In many ways, looking back from this present day vantage point, it was one of the key books that inspired me to become a writer. And ultimately, it led to my living on a Greek island for three and an half years while I wrote my first (unpublished) novel, which I now see was my own small homage to what I consider to be Fowles' masterpiece.





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