intertext

I can't believe that it took Entertainment Weekly *blush* to inform me of the death of John Fowles at 79 on November 5th. Did I miss something? Or has he just slipped below everyone's radars these days? The Magus was the first really difficult work that I really got on a level beyond just the plot when I read it at about the age of 17, and Fowles' work in a peculiar way underlined my young adulthood. I read all the "biggies" - The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Collector, Daniel Martin, when I was in my twenties; A Maggot was a bit later, I think. He hasn't really written anything for years, but I still think of him as an Important Writer, and I adore The French Lieutenant's Woman. Can anyone visit Lyme Regis now without seeing her ghost at the end of the breakwater (even if with Meryl Streep's face)? Thank you, Mr. Fowles, for many hours of thoughtful and challenging reading.