Fowles, John, 1926–2005, English writer, b. Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, grad. Oxford, 1950. A complex, cerebral writer and a superb storyteller, Fowles was interested in manipulating the novel as a genre. His central philosophical proccupation involved the conflict between free will and determinism. His first published novel, The Collector (1963; film 1965), is a study of a clerk who is psychologically impelled to kidnap and murder—that is, "collect"—a girl to whom he is attracted. The Magus (1966, film 1968, rev. ed. 1977) tells of its young protagonist's struggle with the powerful and mysterious title character, the ruler of a Greek island who has garnered a cult following. His best-known work, The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969; film 1981) is a multilayered "Victorian" novel that has three alternate endings; it reflects a modern self-consciousness about 19th-century England and the form of the novel itself. Fowles also wrote The Aristos: A Self-Portrait in Ideas (1964) and other nonfiction works; The Ebony Tower (1974), a collection of stories; and the novels Daniel Martin (1977), Mantissa (1982), and A Maggot (1985).

Bibliography

See his The Journals, Vol. I, 1949–1965 (2005), Vol. II, 1966–1990 (2006); biography by E. Warburton (2004); D. L. Vipond, ed., Conversations with John Fowles (1999); studies by P. Wolf (1979), D. Pifer, ed. (1986), C. M. Barnum (1988), K. Tarbox (1989), P. Cooper (1991), T. C. Foster (1994), J. Acheson (1998), and W. Stephenson (2003).

Fowles, John (Robert)

(born March 31, 1926, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, Eng.—died Nov. 5, 2005, Lyme Regis, Dorset) British novelist. His richly allusive and descriptive works combine psychological probings—chiefly of sex and love—with an interest in the social and philosophical context of human behaviour. His first novel, The Collector (1963; film, 1965), about a shy man who kidnaps a girl in a hapless search for love, was followed by The Magus (1965; film, 1968) and The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969; film, 1981), his most famous work, set in Victorian England. Later works include the novella collection The Ebony Tower (1974; film made for television, 1984), Daniel Martin (1977), and A Maggot (1985).