"Wormholes" presents, for the first time, a representative gathering of Fowles's fugitive and intensely personal nonfiction writings: essays, literary criticism, commentaries, autobiographical statements, memoirs, and musings.
John Robert Fowles was born in Leigh-on-Sea, a small town in Essex. He recalled the English suburban culture of the 1930s as oppressively conformist and his family life as intensely conventional. Of his childhood, Fowles said "I have tried to escape ever since."
Fowles attended Bedford School, a large boarding school designed to prepare boys for university, from ages 13 to 18. After briefly attending the University of Edinburgh, Fowles began compulsory military service in 1945 with training at Dartmoor, where he spent the next two years. World War II ended shortly after his training began so Fowles never came near combat, and by 1947 he had decided that the military life was not for him.
Fowles then spent four years at Oxford, where he discovered the writings of the French existentialists. In particular he admired Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, whose writings corresponded with his own ideas about conformity and the will of the individual. He received a degree in French in 1950 and began to consider a career as a writer.
Several teaching jobs followed: a year lecturing in English literature at the University of Poitiers, France; two years teaching English at Anargyrios College on the Greek island of Spetsai; and finally, between 1954 and 1963, teaching English at St. Godric's College in London, where he ultimately served as the department head.
The time spent in Greece was of great importance to Fowles. During his tenure on the island he began to write poetry and to overcome a long-time repression about writing. Between 1952 and 1960 he wrote several novels but offered none to a publisher, considering them all incomplete in some way and too lengthy.
In late 1960 Fowles completed the first draft of The Collector in just four weeks. He continued to revise it until the summer of 1962, when he submitted it to a publisher; it appeared in the spring of 1963 and was an immediate best-seller. The critical acclaim and commercial success of the book allowed Fowles to devote all of his time to writing.
The Aristos, a collection of philosophical thoughts and musings on art, human nature and other subjects, appeared the following year. Then in 1965, The Magus - drafts of which Fowles had been working on for over a decade - was published.
The most commercially successful of Fowles' novels, The French Lieutenant's Woman, appeared in 1969. It resembles a Victorian novel in structure and detail, while pushing the traditional boundaries of narrative in a very modern manner.
In the 1970s Fowles worked on a variety of literary projects--including a series of essays on nature--and in 1973 he published a collection of poetry, Poems.
Daniel Martin, a long and somewhat autobiographical novel spanning over 40 years in the life of a screenwriter, appeared in 1977, along with a revised version of The Magus. These were followed by Mantissa (1982), a fable about a novelist's struggle with his muse; and A Maggot (1985), an 18th century mystery which combines science fiction and history.
In addition to The Aristos, Fowles wrote a variety of non-fiction pieces including many essays, reviews, and forewords/afterwords to other writers' novels. He also wrote the text for several photographic compilations.
From 1968, Fowles lived in the small harbour town of Lyme Regis, Dorset. His interest in the town's local history resulted in his appointment as curator of the Lyme Regis Museum in 1979, a position he filled for a decade.
Wormholes, a book of essays, was published in May 1998. The first comprehensive biography on Fowles, John Fowles: A Life in Two Worlds, was published in 2004, and the first volume of his journals appeared the same year (followed recently by volume two).
John Fowles passed away on November 5, 2005 after a long illness.
Commentary from one of the most original writers of the 20th Century. Few people were able to do with English prose what John Fowles did, to move towards a literature that was wholly of a place (as Aenglish as it gets) but was universal and ecumenical in its outlook, that was daringly avant-garde but invited you in rather than functioning as a hipster clique. And Fowles, as a man reflecting on life from, you imagine, his thatched-roof cottage in a Cotswold glade, is about as wise a companion as I could wish for. Read all the Fowles novels. Then read this as a coda. It's awfully satisfying.
John Fowles is amazing. The Magus is on my top ten list of favorite books of all time. I've loaned it to friends and been jealous of them knowing they were about to experience it for the first time. I was riveted when I read The Collector last summer, and I keep putting off reading The French Lieutenant's Woman, because I don't think I have yet reached the point in my life when I will appreciate it the most...if that makes sense! Anyway, I'm really excited about this collection of essays by Fowles. His writing is full of razor sharp wit, humor, candid truths and enticing commentary on the sensual and deviant nature of our internal struggles as human beings. What more could you ask for, really?!
This was actually my first introduction to Fowles, as I hadn't read any of his other work before I picked up this collection of essays. It's definitely interesting, as he can weave in historical anecdotes with views on other authors and fiction in general.
However, sometimes I think he just forgets to shut up. I know the Brits can talk us to death, but if I see that in actual prose, I prefer the mastery of a Dickens to make me believe. Again, very good essays, but sometimes they feel like some editing should have been performed.
Book Season = Autumn (maybe Fowles can explain it)
Ciddi bir kısmını atladığım bir kitap oldu. İlk bölüm (yazarlık vs) haricinde ne yazık ki İngiltere ve Fransa dışındaki insanların pek dahil olamadığı konuları ele almış Fowles. O ilk kısım güzeldi; Harold Pinter'ın altını çizilmesini, Adsız Ülke'yi Fowles'un da çok beğeniyor olmasını sevdim. Kafka'yı ayrıntılı bir şekilde incelememesine, ve buna da kafayı takmamasına şaşırdım. Fowles çok 'İngiliz' geldi bana daha yakından tanıyınce. Açıkçası bu kitaptan önce ona hayrandım, şimdi biraz azaldı bu hayranlığım, neden bilmiyorum. Okuma deneyimi olarak, eğer (düşük bir ihtimalle) ilgilendiğiniz bir konuda yazdıysa güzel; diğer metinler ise çok fazla bilmediğimiz referanstan dolayı okunması zor metinler.
An interesting collection of insights into John Fowles's mind. I find myself interested in his own interest in Marie de France, amongst other people whose work I encountered after I first encountered Fowles. Lots of little things here in these various essays which I recognize in myself and welcome.
If you love Fowles, read these essays. If you like Fowles, read these essays. If you never read Fowles, read Fowles, then read these essays. If you think, feel, have a life, read these essays. He makes you think and feel in a way that will help you amplify that life. (If you haven't got one, this book will help that too.)
I really enjoyed these essays included in this volume. While I have never read anything by Fowles before this particular collection I truly felt that it was okay reading this first. There is an essay in this collection where Fowles discusses the kind of books he collects from used book stores. He is not judgmental over what others buy, but discusses original Science Fiction and other obscure pieces. I felt I understood this as I often go to used book stores seeking classics that no other person I know wants to read. I do not go looking for first editions as I am not looking for particular covers or anything of that type. I like to look for the title that influenced my favorite authors when they were writing. That is a major reason why I read literary criticism. I want a bigger reading list. Brand new books are nice and I do buy them when I have money. When I walk into a used book store I want to look for the books that the library does not own and that the new book stores do not carry as publishers may feel that are not worth keeping in print. Genre has never been important to me. I will read anything. So it is refreshing to read an author who admits to hi own reading quirks.
While writing about reading and the writing process Fowles discusses his views to nature. I found this interesting as my father thought the same way though he did not have the eloquence of Mr. Fowles. My dad detested pesticides to the point as children my siblings and I were made fun of for the dandelions and crabgrass in our lawns. I never knew that there was a whole group of people that felt this new conservationism should come from individuals one yard at a time. I can appreciate this aspect of my father now that he has passed and more and more dandelions are everywhere again. it could also be that over the past forty years more and more wildlife has returned and other people like to look at them. There was not so many wild critters in my childhood. It is also interesting as Fowles came to love nature after he hunted and collected it. I never hunted. As my father did not and I never had a boyfriend to teach me how. I respect the hunter's place in the biosphere though and take issue with towns that use sharpshooters to get rid of excess wildlife as I personally feel a hunting lottery would allow some revenue from the hunt. These of course are not issues addressed in any of these essays. I have been reading a lot of ecology issue books lately. As a result I am forming some strong opinions that are influencing my other book reviews. I am not sure if this is good or bad, but it is helping me to improve my writing and that is a good thing.
I enjoyed the literary criticism I read in this volume. Having taken a class on Jamestown while at Rutgers University I was intrigued reading Fowles essays on "Islands". In that class both the "Tempest" and William Strachey's pamphlet were required. A fresh approach to a familiar topic is always welcome as I need to reread both at some point. There were many book that Fowles mentioned in his various essays that intrigued me. I am not sure when I may have the opportunity to do all that reading, but I would like to try. I did take some out of the library that I may get to before I am required to return them, but I never know how much time I will have to read. Reading is my favorite pastime and a book such as this that discusses other books sends me on journeys I would otherwise never have the chance to take. Each and every piece of writing I pick up takes me on a different path to discovering my true nature. This was one of those volumes that truly makes the reader discover who they really are and what they think of writers. Writers write to sell. There is no denying that. What he really thinks of the best sellers list we never really find out but he does not blame the popular authors for their fame and fortune. He does seem to detest some of what academe does when they deconstruct a book or rather more accurately a novel. He does not like to take them apart. He recognizes that print media and the visual media have different limitation and that we need to understand that a true to book movie is not going to be a good as the book and vice-versa.
This was mentioned in an essays in regards to the filming of "The French Lieutenant's Woman". It took a few times before the right talent was found to put this novel on celluloid. Fowles respects this: other authors may not. There are changes that have to be made in a novel for it to work on the screen. Some of this is because facial emotions are easier to show on screen than describe these subtle movements in prose. Besides these facial movements can never be described in narrative. Fowles writes a lot about narrative usage. While this is not a how to write a great novel book there are many things that Fowles brings up that an aspiring writing can use to improve his craft.
I also found it interesting that Fowles does not do research before he writes the first draft. He does not like historical fiction so his novels are placed in the past, but written in the present. I find this interesting as I have always felt that no book is completely separated from the year in which is is written. There are always subtle clues that a reader can pick up on while reading. There were just so many great ideas I discovered while reading this that it is hard to name them all. Another thing that has to do with politics and religion is that Fowles believes that the Socialist/Leftest movements are too unionist in character. I can not personally myself vote for a union because I do not like being told how to think. As a consequence I tend to vote more conservatively, but I am not sure that is always how I feel, either. No, I do not believe in the Libertarian viewpoint of almost no government either. I believe in a system of checks and balances with a careful review of what works and what does not. I am not sure what system Fowles wants, but I do not reside in England. He claims to be an atheist, but I felt reading him that he was more of the eighteenth century deist in his thinking. Not liking organized religion does not necessarily make one an atheist. I read glimpses of a belief in a some higher power in these writings.
I also liked his view on the Odyssey and wished that I had been able to read it when I read Homer in college as I probably written a better essay. By nature I enjoy plot and I find it difficult to write without talking of the plot. In college I learned that this is not necessarily important to analyzing a novel or story. The Odyssey ending in medias res confused my writing. While I understood the concept I did not have the words I needed at the time to describe why Ulysses felt the need to leave home after wandering for twenty years. Fowles explains it quite well and brings up gender in a way that I have personally never thought of before this book.
I would recommend this book to everyone who wants to read about books and movies in a refreshing new light. This was an enjoyable read and I have some new lists of books to find because I took the time to read this.
Would anyone believe me if I said that in one of the essays titled 'Weeds, Bugs, Americans' John Fowles, acclaimed author of The Collector, draws a genuine comparison between people spraying insecticides on their flowerbeds and the massacring of a Vietnamese village by means of chemical warfare? Didn't think you would, so here's the excerpt typed out verbatim;
"Fortunately there seem to be many signs in the United States that this "lesser" crime against natural life at last is being recognized for what it is—not the lesser crime at all, but the real source of many things we cite as the major mistakes of recent history. You may think there is very little connection between spraying insecticide over your flower beds because everyone else on your street does the same, and spraying napalm over a Vietnamese village because that's the way war is. But many more things than we know start in our own backyards. Social aggression starts there; and so does social tolerance."
Okay, so I might've decontextualized it a bit for shock value, but I need to know if I'm alone in thinking this is still a really deranged case of false equivalency😭😭
This collection of essays revolves around rapport before comprehension and ardently strides forward with the motto “ignorance is bliss”, or a state of narcissistic purgatory one can learn to appreciate.
John Fowles has long been one of my favourite writers, a relationship not spoiled by having to "do" him at University.
This collection of essays was published in 1998 shortly before his death in 2005. He says that he hopes to publish his diaries and these were published in 2003 and 2006.
These essays appear to be the summation of a life, Fowles states that he is nearly 70, reviewing, cataloguing and taking stock. There is a humility in them that is rare among today's literati. Fowles viewpoint is always original and one can hear his voice coming through the page as if in conversation. The essays are actually more intimate that the interview which completes the volume.
Some 40 years ago I sometime saw one of John Fowles's novels, that is, "The French Lieutenant's Woman" in many good bookstores in Bangkok but then I didn't have any motive to read it. Today (June 3) I came across this memoir/essays and it's my delight to know he had used this title, "I Write Therefore I am" since 1964 when I was still a student in a secondary school (Year 12).
Therefore, again, I think this book should be interesting enough for me to read since he did echo such an inspiring title from "I think, therefore I am" famously proclaimed by Descartes, one of the great French philosophers hundreds of years ago.
- I read only select essays from this book, but the ones I did were brilliant. - As a writer myself, I thoroughly enjoyed them and felt as if he was penetrating my own creative brain, except he uses such sophistication of language & ideas that made it a pleasure to read. - I find very few contemporary writers nowadays have this unique intersection & blend of thoughts, ideas, the nature of nature and the nature of creativity, the feminist element that communicates a writer's craft and process so eloquently. If you are a creator, this book will make you think. - John Fowles is one of my favourite writers and this book of essays is no exception.
Wormholes is a book about John Fowles thought processes throughout his life that are apparent in his writing. The book is comprised of a series of essays and it is apparent the metamorphosis of ideologies and views he had throughout his writing career. At least for my situation; (being a high school student with an average vocabulary) had an extremely difficult time getting through this book. With the insurmountable vocabulary and the spectrum of topics glossed over, I would not recommend this book to the faint of heart or the young. If you are a reader whose fascinated by the human physique, that reader would enjoy the book.
Exquisite collection of essays, articles and other writings selected from the long and esteemed career of master author John Fowles. Intensely intelligent, revealing and insightful, a must for fans, students and scholars of fiction writing.
What an appalling piece of dreck from an author capable of writing interesting material. Not here apparently. The literary equivalent of one of those horrible movies involving Rob Schneider.