After reading several breathless, “This book literally changed my life and the way I see the world,” “The most brilliant creation by mankind’s craven hand”-style endorsements on this board and Amazon.com reader reviews, I picked up a cheap, used, mass market paperback copy of John Fowles’ The Magus the other day. It was cheap, and it has a really killer sleazy/sexy 1970’s mass market paperback cover.
Anyway, I was all set to read it this afternoon until I hit the foreward, which told me that this is John Fowles’ “New version of The Magus”, where “the pace moves more relentlessly, the figure of the magician is more powerful, and the whole surge of sensual events becomes more intensely erotic. Former readers of the book with find this version even more compelling.”
Yikes.
That’s when I realized that this is “The Magus: A revised version,” Copyright 1978. Fowles’ introduction explains that while this is not a new version of The Magus," many scenes have been “largely rewritten” and new ones have been added.
What the hell did I buy? Is this some sort of bastardized Episode I-style “newfangled version” of the book? Is this the version that I should be reading, or should I be trying to track down the original 1965 version? Is there a debate over the two a la the correct ordering of the Narnia books? If I went out and bought a new $18 copy of the book, which version would I be getting? Which one changed your life?
Before I commit to 700 pages, I want to make sure I’m reading the right one.