John Fowles

John Robert Fowles 31 March 1926 5 November 2005 was an English novelist of international renown critically positioned between modernism and postmodernism His work was influenced by JeanPaul Sartre and Albert Camus among others After leaving Oxford University Fowles taught English at a school on the Greek island of Spetses a sojourn that inspired The Magus 1965 an instant bestseller that was directly in tune with 1960s hippy anarchism and experimental philosophy This was followed by The French Lieutenants Woman 1969 a Victorianera romance with a postmodern twist that was set in Lyme Regis Dorset where Fowles lived for much of his life Later fictional works include The Ebony Tower 1974 Daniel Martin 1977 Mantissa 1982 and A Maggot 1985 Fowless books have been translated into many languages and several have been adapted as films Fowles was born in LeighonSea in Essex England the only son and elder child a sister Hazel was born fifteen years later of Robert John Fowles and Gladys May née Richards His father had trained as a lawyer clerking and reading in a barristers chambers but worked for the family business tobacco importer Allen Wright as his father Reginald had been a partner in the company at Reginalds death Robert was obliged to run the firm as his brother had died in the Battle of Ypres and there were young dependent halfsiblings to provide for from his fathers second marriage Gladys was daughter of John Richards a draper and his wife Elizabeth who was in service They came from Cornwall to London where John became chief buyer for a department store and gave their daughter a comfortable upbringing in Chelsea but they relocated to WestcliffonSea in Essex on account of the healthier climate following the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic On returning from the First World War in bad health having served for three years as an officer in the Honourable Artillery Company Robert Fowles met his future wife at a WestcliffonSea tennis club During his childhood Fowles was attended by his mother and his cousin Peggy Fowles who was 18 years his senior He attended Alleyn Court Preparatory School where a maternal uncle and aunt were teachers In 1939 he won a place at Bedford School where he remained a pupil until 1944 He became head boy and was an athletic standout a member of the rugby football third team the fives first team and captain of the cricket team for which he was a bowler After leaving Bedford School Fowles enrolled in a Naval Short Course at the University of Edinburgh and was prepared to receive a commission in the Royal Marines He completed his training on 8 May 1945 and was then assigned to Okehampton Camp Devon for two years After completing his military service in 1947 Fowles entered New College Oxford where he studied both French and German although he stopped studying German and concentrated on French for his BA Fowles was undergoing a political transformation Upon leaving the marines he wrote I began to hate what I was becoming in lifea British Establishment young hopeful I decided instead to become a sort of anarchist Source Article John Fowles from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30