The Ebony Tower [Hardcover]

John Fowles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 4, 1999

The Ebony Tower, comprising a novella, three stories, and a translation of a medieval French tale, echoes themes from John Fowles's internationally celebrated novels as it probes the fitful relations between love and hate, pleasure and pain, fantasy and reality.

Editorial Reviews

Review

" 'This is an immensely stimulating book, rich in imagery, sure in dialogue, profound in characterization, dazzling in its descriptive powers and constantly haunting with its Celtic rhythms and its bold, elegant design' - The Times. 'This collection of five novellas confirms that in terms of technical resourcefulness and narrative skill he has few equals among the living novelists. The novella which gives the book its title strikes me as being the finest thing Fowles has written' - Observer. 'In a manner worthy of Pirandello, John Fowles uses the conventional apparatus of the detective-story to explore the relationship between fact and fiction, reality and illusion, to masterly effect' - Sunday Telegraph. 'Arresting...this collection impresses me as deeply as any of the novels which Fowles has published to date' - Guardian" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

John Fowles won international recognition with his first published novel, The Collector (1963). His subsequent works include The Magus (1966); The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969); Daniel Martin (1977); and others. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 313 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books (June 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316287458
• ISBN-13: 978-0316287456
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #496,233 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Multilayered Word Pictures From a Master, August 9, 2000

By 

Bryan A. Pfleeger (Metairie, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ebony Tower (Hardcover)

If you're looking for the easy bedtime read John Fowles short fiction collection may not be what you are searching for. If you're looking for thought provoking contemporary fiction by a master this is for you. No one ever said a Fowles book would be easy and The Ebony Tower is no exception. The premise is five interlocking short stories all in a way centered around a medieval myth (which the author provides in brillent translation). Each story attempts not only to address its immediate subject but entire concepts and reflections on life and art as well. The stories force one to look at more than the daily lives of the characters but to see deeper(a sort of removing of the various layers that make up individual events of these peoples lives). While the individual plots may seem somewhat foriegn to first time readers if you stick it out to the end you'll come away with a new outlook on the world, art, history and the conflicts between the generations.Add in Mr. Fowles lush word pictures and you can't go wrong.

22 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Showing now, at a cinema near you..., May 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ebony Tower (Hardcover)

Rereading this collection recently, it struck me that John Fowles is to novels what Ridley Scott is to films. Both craft consistently slick, well-put-together work which quite often doesn't stand up to much intellectual scrutiny. Thus, Ridley Scott made "Alien" and "Blade Runner", which looked and were great, but also "1492" and "Gladiator", which merely looked great but were quite vacant. Similarly, Fowles wrote The Collector and The Magus, but (unfortunately for his reputation) he also wrote Daniel Martin and The Aristos.

The Ebony Tower works best if you think of it as a series of commercials - movie trailers, almost - for the rest of his work. That's not what it was meant to be, but that's how it works. Some of it's good, some of it's dull, but it's always at least well-constructed and workmanlike.

So there's the usual bit of thought, the usual bit of female nudity (well, quite a lot, actually), the usual rumination on the human condition, and the usual episode featuring a bearded middle-aged writer whose alluring intellect very young women find so attractive they overlook his bandy white legs and paunch and leap enthusiastically into his bed. If you've read his Daniel Martin, you'll know exactly what I mean. If you actually *are* a bearded middle-aged writer with said bandy white legs and paunch, you won't.

You'll like this if you're the kind of person who collects both classic movies *and* their original theatre trailers. But you'd never sit down and watch just the trailers, right? And that was how I felt about this collection. If I wanted a dose of Fowles, I'd go straight for his two classics.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Varied, textured, resonant short works by a favorite author, November 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ebony Tower (Hardcover)

I do like Fowles's novels, but I agree with the Amsterdam reader, this is a chance to get a distilled version of his charm: all the pleasure of his intelligent plotting and dialogue, without the excesses a novel will allow. I love the way the various stories resonate with each other in obvious and subtle ways--in that, it reminded me of Julian Barnes's _The History of the World in 10 and a 1/2 Chapters_ (another short story collection I loved).