Maggot

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful 18th Century story coupled with bad Sci-Fi chaps.
Review: *A Maggot* contains the first bad writing I've seen from John Fowles. I hadn't thought he was capable of it. But he responds to the apparently irresistible temptation of British general fiction writers of the past 20-30 years -- he's just got to write SF. If you skip the SFnal parts (the Stonehenge "flyby" and Rebecca Lee's Ming-the-Merciless-esque testimony about the "June Eternal" people) it's a tremendous book, as unified a work as any of Fowles' others, very rich and thought-provoking. Readers not familiar with good SF may not object to Rebecca Lee's testimony. It is, however, hackneyed and illogical, not due to the 18th century filter, but due to the original vision which is being portrayed. Thomas More did somewhat better in 1516. The poor man is not even credited, which is so unlike John Fowles. I'm joking here - I can't understand the "Ancient Astronauts" inclusion in this book - otherwise, it is so good.

Rating:
Summary: You Must See Behind the Curtain
Review: I enjoyed this book, although it has been at least fifteen years since I first read it. It involves the investigation of odd occurrances in England in the time prior to the emergence of certain non-conformists sects which later planted themselves in America. The Orthodox investigators have an encounter with spirits and have to determine whether they are demons or angels. The book is rather disjointed, but interesting in trying to depict the scientific investigation of spiritual matters in the context of the struggle in the English church at the time.

Rating:
Summary: Love Fowles, lukewarm about this book
Review: I'm a huge fan of John Fowles. I have read almost every book he has written, including non-fiction. If I had to choose a favorite contemporary author, Fowles would be it. Having said that, I can't say that The Maggot is a favorite for me among all of Fowles' work. Being Fowles, it is well-written, and the story, a historical novel, is fairly intriguing, but not what I was expecting. Somehow I was not drawn into the world of The Maggot, the way I was in The Magus or The French Lieutenant's Woman. I read it a long time ago, so I don't remember details, but I just remember thinking that it was not as compelling as some of his other works.

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read Book
Review: Like some of the other reviewers, I've read John Fowles other books, such as The Collector, The Magus, The Black Tower, etc., but this one surpasses them all.
As is often the case, I believe, bad reviews of good books tell much more about the reviewer than the book. You must approach this book with a modern, open-mind - otherwise, it will take you to the pillory for your own beliefs and prejudices (as it should do).
What struck me first about this book was how similar - yet far surpassing - it was to Ian Pears' bestseller An Evidence of the Fingerpost. What Pears attempted was gran, is grand, but years before Fowles had trumped him in scope, style, and largesse of thinking. And also I believe in sustaining that elusive quality "mystery," while painting extraordinarily true portraits of characters and time period.
The few reviewers who gave a nod to Fowles "SCI-FI" aspect missed the boat entirely. Fantasy it may be, but hardly sci-fi; rather it is more in the vein of William Blake's visions. One cannot approach Fowles complex concepts with the simplicity of a McDonalds-fed mind, one should be rather a gourmet of fine ideas and prose, then you can truly appreciate what he has accomplished with A Maggot. Liberal thinkers, feminists, open-minded religious believers - these will find themselves entranced by this book. Patriarchal, conservative, narrow-minded bigots and smarmy sycophants will find themselves here, too, but in a most cruelly sharp portrait that will anger them to no end, I believe. Bravo, Fowles!

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read Book
Review: Like some of the other reviewers, I've read John Fowles other books, such as The Collector, The Magus, The Black Tower, etc., but this one surpasses them all.
As is often the case, I believe, bad reviews of good books tell much more about the reviewer than the book. You must approach this book with a modern, open-mind - otherwise, it will take you to the pillory for your own beliefs and prejudices (as it should do).
What struck me first about this book was how similar - yet far surpassing - it was to Ian Pears' bestseller An Evidence of the Fingerpost. What Pears attempted was gran, is grand, but years before Fowles had trumped him in scope, style, and largesse of thinking. And also I believe in sustaining that elusive quality "mystery," while painting extraordinarily true portraits of characters and time period.
The few reviewers who gave a nod to Fowles "SCI-FI" aspect missed the boat entirely. Fantasy it may be, but hardly sci-fi; rather it is more in the vein of William Blake's visions. One cannot approach Fowles complex concepts with the simplicity of a McDonalds-fed mind, one should be rather a gourmet of fine ideas and prose, then you can truly appreciate what he has accomplished with A Maggot. Liberal thinkers, feminists, open-minded religious believers - these will find themselves entranced by this book. Patriarchal, conservative, narrow-minded bigots and smarmy sycophants will find themselves here, too, but in a most cruelly sharp portrait that will anger them to no end, I believe. Bravo, Fowles!

Rating:
Summary: Frustrating
Review: The first half or so of this novel is very good: I found the characters interesting, the detail vivid and the plot gripping.
It did seem to me here and there that the author tries a bit too hard to surprise and rouse curiosity, but still the result in this first half is effective and suspenseful: I found myself completely involved with Mr. Bartholomew's mysterious journey, and even more intrigued by Mr. Bartholomew himself and his deaf and dumb servant Dick. I was sure the nature of the strange relationship between servant and master would be explained in detail, and would play a substantial part in the unfolding of the enigma.

In short the novel promised to continue as a successful blend of historical literature and gripping mystery. However as I went on reading I started to get the impression that Fowles didn't quite know what to do with the plot; after Lacy's deposition the digressions become more and more frequent, while the story loses its focus. It's as if the author is forcing himself to add words and pages to a book he is losing control upon. Fortunately even these digressions are well written and informative, so that something is still gained by the reading.

This dissatisfaction turned into frustration as I reached the end of the novel. It is clear that Rebecca's account of what happened in the cavern is the true one, although couched in highly mystical terms; this is clear because she tells of things which she can know nothing about, but we modern readers can recognize (an aircraft of some kind, with landing gear, portholes, a cabin full of buttons and dials and a big video screen on one of the walls.) But this science-fictional theme is poorly done, with little or no detail or background. The reference to Stonehenge is trite and, above all, the apparent motive of this visit from the future -- the conception of Ann Lee -- is ridiculous.

Another source of frustration is that not enough is told about Mr. Bartholomew and his background, or about Dick and his bond with his master. Most of the curiosity-raising episodes presented in the first part (burning of books, violets in the mouth of the dead servant etc.) are never explained; they are probably baits used to hook the reader and keep him reading on.

John Fowles states more than once that this book is a "maggot", in the sense of whim or quirk; I suspect this is an a posteriori apologetic remark to cover the essential hollowness of the novel, to justify the building of an elaborate stage whose worth is more than the drama enacted on it.

Anyhow the novel has some redeeming qualities: the prose is excellent, the narrative technique original, and, as far as I can tell, reproduces well enough the language and life of the 18th century.

Rating:
Summary: A snapshot of persecution, prejudice and religious confusion
Review: This book takes the form of interviews and narrative regarding the disappearance of a missing noble man. Others have complained about the slack use of UFO imagery - to me this is not important as the main character, Rebecca, is seen and treated as an outcast from the start. An unbelievable story unfolds and playswith ideas of what we consider to be religious or infernal. The characters are skillfully shaped by Fowles tofit the time - while we, the twentieth century readers, canmake judgements about the visions described in the book, the characters themselves are as confused and disturbed as we would be in the same situation. An excellent novel that encourages the reader to take all religious experiences with a pinch of salt...

Rating:
Summary: Lugubrious, Stilted, and Mundane
Review: This is one of the best books that I've read. I enjoyed The Magus very much, but A Maggot proved to be even better. A mixture of history, religion, sex and weird structure, the novel actually opens much deeper questions of religion, sense of life, or emancipation of women. I took this novel to read it while on holiday, but I finished it in two days and every other book I tried to read afterwards seemed boring.