One is transported with delicate, precise descriptions through rural England to Hollywood, to Italy, to Egypt, to France not in that order, but with echoes of each place impinging on the experiences of the next.
Because of entanglements of a romantic nature, the early years profoundly influence the later ones and form the thread of a love story that lasts for a very long time before coming to a sort of hope of resolution. It passes through marriages and divorce, suicide and betrayal, causing considerable anguish occasioned almost completely by youthful selfish misapprehension of the damage that too casual sex can inflict.
At times the writing approaches the clinical in its minute analyses of thought processes and emotional reactions. This is story that reads less like fiction much of the time than like an anecdotal review of a maturing character. This is a story without villains or anti-heroes, with a protagonist of moral fiber but with a certain lack of forthrightness. He suffers for what he sees as his own shortcomings, and sympathizes with those of others close to him.
Now in the 21st Century, reading about years leading up to the publication date of 1977 is surprising. Nostalgia for less technology and more reverence for knowledge is part of the pleasure of the story. In the late 20th Century, it’s clear that the critical view Fowles offers of intellectualism and Englishness in the face of world conditions reveals how much of the attitude he wants to rebuke he owes to the sensibility with which he finds fault.
It should be mentioned that this book is, I believe, in many ways autobiographical, and quite different from his other better-known works like The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Black Tower, et al. Libraries, online book sellers and others offer are offering the book. It's a memorable, intellectual, entertaining, challenging read.
©2015 Joan L. Cannon for SeniorWomen.com
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