The Magus, by John Fowles

I’ve come to realize that the reviews I’ve started writing are all intended for other people who have already read the books – such as myself in the future. I suppose I should put a generic spoiler warning at the top of each review but I won’t since I assume that I will be the only one ever reading these ramblings.

The Magus is what I would call an old school book. The descriptions were so detailed and so carefully crafted that I imagine it took the author a month to write each chapter. Ditto the plot, which was wonderfully complex and obviously planned out far in advance.

At times while reading the Magus I was completely engaged, engrossed, and fascinated. The questions surrounding the intrigue between the narrator and Conchis was excellent. Irving’s writing is, in many places, beautiful.

That said, it was really just a story about a rich guy who likes to mess with people’s heads. It was interesting to see the narrator continue to pursue the woman and the mystery even once he knew he was being toyed with.

I found the ending highly unsatisfactory.

The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson

I didn’t like this book at all, which was a surprise since I enjoyed Snow Crash quite a bit.

I found very little of interest in this book which is a story in the future about society splintered into different sects and a little girl who gets her hands on a special book that has all sorts of special adaptive learning features and helps her develop into a leader.

Everything seemed so predictable. I labored to read the whole thing, hoping it would come together.

It didn’t.