Daniel Martin (Vintage Classics) [Kindle Edition]

I read this immediately after finishing the Magus. As a forty something father of three and a fan of Sebastian Foulkes I enjoyed the Magus but found Daniel Martin much more moving. There were many passages of profound meaning, many phrases that demonstrate J.F's insight into the human condition - he describes the rigid intelectual Anthony as being very good at looking at orchids but no good at finding them. As with the Magus, it needs to be read in the context of when it was written ( I would be interested to read Martin Amis' comments on the character Jane's statements on Stalinist USSR) but the vast majority of the observations are timeless. I expect some of the passages were worked on for some time before being accepted by the author; every word belongs and can not be improved upon. The material demonstrates J.F's love of nature and humanity. His descriptions of Devon and Dartmoor made me want to rush back there.

I am not sure I would have been ready for this book until now. Perhaps, like much else in life, one has to be ready to listen before one can hear and understand.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

MD

This amazing piece of literature deserves to be held in the same high regard as the author's other works. It is the telling of Daniel Martin's life through a linear narrative of "current events" interrupted by chapters detailing his past. The eponymous central character is a bit of an anti-hero and a screenwriter and it is as if Fowles is trying to create this "biographical novel" to read as a screenplay would - revisiting scenes from the past to give you an insight into the current life of a man.
Very clever and absorbing - a must read for all fans of this truly great novelist.

This is one of my favourite books - John Fowles's brilliant novel that explores the life of the narrator, often in flashback and with settings that include Los Angeles, London, Oxford, the South West of England, Egypt and Syria. Daniel Martin is a successful screenwriter, but after a split with his wife, he lives a footloose life interspersed with affaires that brings him to the point where the story starts - a reunion with the close friends of his days at Oxford. What follows is a brilliant compilation of events flashing forward and back in time and describing the development of a 'lost' relationship that is the meat of the story.
It's quite a 'deep' novel, and its main character explores his motivation and feelings as he renews a relationship that harks back to their student days some 20 years earlier. In attempting to resolve the residual problems created by that early relationship, he comes to recognize his own dilemma and has to make some difficult choices.
Daniel Martin is a very complex character and no hero figure - he has much to regret in the way he has lived his life, but it is described 'warts and all' and, in the end, one comes to realize that it has a ring of truth: few of us are perfect and not all of us can admit to our faults in quite such an articulate manner!
Beautifully written and with Fowles's ability to describe places that makes you see the settings as clearly as any film can show, this is a book to savour, and I strongly recommend it.
I bought the e-book version to supplement my 'library' despite owning the book, and I've enjoyed reading it again (for at least the eighth time!). My only criticism of the e-book version is that it seems to have quite a lot of typos - something that seems rather odd and I can't think why they are there?