# In memoriam:  John Fowles, 1926-2005.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-memoriam-john-fowles-1926-2005/329984>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 8, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-memoriam-john-fowles-1926-2005/329984 "2005-11-08T00:09:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-memoriam-john-fowles-1926-2005/329984/1 "2005-11-08T00:09:08Z")

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He was a wonderful, witty, provocative writer. Here’s a review of a recent [authorized biography](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0670032832/103-4844411-0248658?v=glance). The review is both a welcome encapsulation of the author’s life and a tribute to his place as one of the mid-late 20th-C’s most influential novelists/postmodernists.

My recommendation for a Fowles newbie: Mantissa. It’s a brisk, erotic, uproarious trip inside an author’s head.

There’s also the easy intro, watching the movies based on his novels: _The Collector_ (with Terence Stamp as the cold killer and Samantha Eggar is his prisoner), \*The Magus \* (with Anthony Quinn), and _The French Lieutenant’s Woman_ (which broke open the nascent careers of Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep). Be warned, though, \*The Magus \* got terrible reviews – but the other two films are excellent.

Then you can take on the heavier stuff, like The French Lieutenant’s Woman… 🙂