A Maggot [Hardcover]

John Fowles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1985

The mysterious events surrounding a journey undertaken by five unrelated but nonetheless interconnected individuals are the foundation of John Fowles's mesmerizing novel of the 18th century. When one traveller is found hanging from a tree and another vanishes into thin air, an inquiry is undertaken. A Maggot is the story of what arises out of that inquiry, of different versions of truth and lies, of doubt and disbelief, the conflict of reason and superstition; and of the birth of a new faith.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 408 pages
• Publisher: Collins; First Canadian Edition edition (1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002230429
• ISBN-13: 978-0002230421
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,549,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Frustrating, September 17, 2003

By 

Massimo Coletti "Menachem" (Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Maggot (Paperback)

The first half or so of this novel is very good: I found the characters interesting, the detail vivid and the plot gripping. It did seem to me here and there that the author tries a bit too hard to surprise and rouse curiosity, but still the result in this first half is effective and suspenseful: I found myself completely involved with Mr. Bartholomew's mysterious journey, and even more intrigued by Mr. Bartholomew himself and his deaf and dumb servant Dick. I was sure the nature of the strange relationship between servant and master would be explained in detail, and would play a substantial part in the unfolding of the enigma.

In short the novel promised to continue as a successful blend of historical literature and gripping mystery. However as I went on reading I started to get the impression that Fowles didn't quite know what to do with the plot; after Lacy's deposition the digressions become more and more frequent, while the story loses its focus. It's as if the author is forcing himself to add words and pages to a book he is losing control upon. Fortunately even these digressions are well written and informative, so that something is still gained by the reading.

****** SPOILER ALERTS ******
This dissatisfaction turned into frustration as I reached the end of the novel. It is clear that Rebecca's account of what happened in the cavern is the true one, although couched in highly mystical terms; this is clear because she tells of things which she can know nothing about, but we modern readers can recognize (an aircraft of some kind, with landing gear, portholes, a cabin full of buttons and dials and a big video screen on one of the walls.) But this science-fictional theme is poorly done, with little or no detail or background. The reference to Stonehenge is trite and, above all, the apparent motive of this visit from the future -- the conception of Ann Lee -- is ridiculous.

Another source of frustration is that not enough is told about Mr. Bartholomew and his background, or about Dick and his bond with his master. Most of the curiosity-raising episodes presented in the first part (burning of books, violets in the mouth of the dead servant etc.) are never explained; they are probably baits used to hook the reader and keep him reading on.

John Fowles states more than once that this book is a "maggot", in the sense of whim or quirk; I suspect this is an a posteriori apologetic remark to cover the essential hollowness of the novel, to justify the building of an elaborate stage whose worth is more than the drama enacted on it.

Anyhow the novel has some redeeming qualities: the prose is excellent, the narrative technique original, and, as far as I can tell, reproduces well enough the language and life of the 18th century.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars So...This Was About...What? Time Travel? Anyone...?, September 1, 2005

By 

Notnadia (Currently upstairs.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Maggot (Paperback)

The vividly literate John Fowles is a fine writer but what ON earth was this book about? I read an interview where he commented that one day he would like to create "a maze constructed of literature" and perhaps that's the explanation for A Maggot, a novel that seems to begin as a straightforward, near-perfectly written tale set in the eighteenth century (roughly halfway between the Glorious and French Revolutions) but eventually becomes a science fiction-ish brain tease that doesn't exactly make much sense.

I THINK this was the story of a young 18th century Lord, a man steeped in occult and arcane lore, who, while mysteriously journeying on the muddy roads of western England with a few of his retainers and a hired prostitute, was taken into the distant, utopian future by a time traveler, and the Lord's father has hired a strong-arm investigator to learn what happened to his rebellious son, but..I'm not sure. This book was THAT nebulous. At first it begins well with its precise descriptions of a traveler's life in the 1730's, but it branches off into asides about civil disturbances in the north of Britain, and then shifts into...whatever it becomes. At the end Shakerism, hardly a world-changing religion, is foretold in an unenlightening aside, and there seems some hint that perhaps either the missing Lord or a man from the distant, peaceful future of earth, fathered, 'Mother Ann,' the founder of that now extinct cult.

Fowles' books always make intellectual demands on the reader, but I fear he may have left too much out in this case for us to piece together what he means.

Read this book, named after an archaic colloquialism for a riddle or puzzle, if you're an ardent admirer of John Fowles, if you like to visit recreations of the eighteenth-century, or if you think anything I've said in this review sounds welcoming, but be advised that this is an incompletely explained story that is frustrating and not wholeheartedly worth the time, sad to say.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!, August 29, 2001

By 

"kvisnar" - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Maggot (Paperback)

This is one of the best books that I've read. I enjoyed The Magus very much, but A Maggot proved to be even better. A mixture of history, religion, sex and weird structure, the novel actually opens much deeper questions of religion, sense of life, or emancipation of women. I took this novel to read it while on holiday, but I finished it in two days and every other book I tried to read afterwards seemed boring.