John Fowles began his career as a teacher, unaware that his life would be transformed by the publication of his debut novel, ‘The Collector,’ which would go on to become one of his most well-known works during his long and lucrative career. ‘The Aristos,’ ‘The Ebony Tower,’ ‘Daniel Martin,’ ‘The Magus,’ and ‘A Maggot,’ to name a few, are some of his other notable works. This famous author and novelist rose to renown during his existence, but by the end of his life, he could scarcely walk and had a speech disorder as well as a puzzled expression. Fowles, a master of literature, rehashed issues such as philosophy, postmodernism, social life, human relationships, and feminism. His prominence might be gauged by the fact that he was rated one of the ’50 best British writers since 1945′ by ‘The Times’ newspaper. Fowles also translated several plays from French for the National Theater, in addition to his novels, short tales, poems, theoretical papers, and screenplays. He is also credited with co-authoring various reference works on environmental preservation, local history, and nature appreciation.
Childhood and Adolescence
Gladys May Richards and Robert John Fowles gave birth to John Robert Fowles in Leigh-on-Sea, 40 miles from London. His mother died while he was only six years old.
Peggy Fowles, his cousin, was 18 years old at the time of his birth and acted as his nursemaid. He attended Alleyn Court Preparatory School before enrolling at Bedford School in 1939.
He excelled intellectually and athletically during his stay at the institute, and he graduated in 1944. He enrolled in a Naval Short Course at Edinburgh University after school, which he finished the following year. He was going to be commissioned into the Royal Marines when he was sent to Okehampton Camp for two years.
He finished his military service in 1947 and enrolled in New College, Oxford, where he studied French and German before focusing solely on French for his BA.
During his stay at Oxford, he was highly influenced by the works of notable existentialists Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre.
John Fowles’s Career
He spent the year following his graduation from Oxford at the University of Poitiers.
He began working as an English teacher at the Anargyrios and Korgialenios School of Spetses on the Peloponnesian island of Spetsai in 1951. He began composing the draft for ‘The Magus’ while on the island.
He started outlining what would become one of his best works, ‘The Collector,’ while still writing on ‘The Magus.’ In 1963, the novel was ultimately released. The novel’s success was so great that he recognized he would have to stop teaching in order to pursue a literary career.
In 1964, he published ‘The Aristos: A Self Portrait in Ideas,’ which contained several metaphysical dictums. The Collector was made into a film the next year, and Fowles moved to an isolated farm property in Dorset.
In 1966, he finished his manuscript for ‘The Magus,’ and it was published. It was adapted into a film two years later.
He wrote and published ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’ in 1969. ‘The Ebony Tower,’ his second piece, was published four years later. He became even more successful as a result of the novel, which was also adapted for television.
He wrote ‘Shipwreck’ in 1974 after the popularity of ‘The Ebony Tower.’ Three years later, he would write and publish ‘Daniel Martin,’ a conventional English book.
He went on to write a number of books between 1978 and 1982, averaging one per year. Islands, The Tree, The Enigma of Stonehenge, A Short History of Lyme Regis, and Mantissa were among the books produced. Many of them received middling reviews from critics and were not as popular as his prior works.
In 1985, he went on to write ‘A Maggot,’ which is listed in his list of key works. It was classified as a postmodern novel at the time of release, and it was praised for its unusual storytelling approach. He also co-authored ‘Land’ with Fay Godwin in the same year.
He also worked as the overseer of the Lyme Regis Museum for a short time during this time, resigning in 1988. He grew more active in politics after that, and his output began to drop.
He published ‘Lyme Regis Camera’ in 1990 and ‘Wormholes- Essays and Occasional Writings eight years later, which were his only publications in the 1990s.
He published ‘The Journals – Volume 1’ in 2003, near the end of his life. He completed his final effort, ‘The Journals – Volume 2’, three years later.
Major Works ‘The Collector’ was published in 1963 and immediately became a major hit with the readers. The novel was converted into a film, which was published two years after the book, as well as a stage adaptation. The novel went on to become such a big sensation that it spawned a song called “The Collector.”
The core plot of ‘The Collector’ has been repurposed for television as well as cinema and theater. The novel’s thematic rudiments have also been exploited in books and comics.
His magnum opus is ‘A Maggot,’ which he wrote in 1985. Set in an ancient time period, it became a best seller almost immediately after publication. The narrative approach proved popular among readers, and it is largely considered one of his time’s finest classics. It quickly became a best seller.
Achievements and Awards
In 1969, he received the Silver Pen Award.
He received the W.H. Smith Literary Award in 1970.
In 1981, he received the Christopher Award.
In 1997, he was named an honorary fellow of New College, Oxford.
Personal History and Legacy
He had feelings for Elizabeth Christy, who was married at the time. She married Fowles on April 2, 1954, after her marriage with her spouse collapsed. Anna, Christy’s daughter, became his stepdaughter.
In 1998, he married another woman, Sarah Smith.
He passed away at his house in Lyme Regis after a long illness.
Estimated Net worth
John is one of the wealthiest novelists and one of the most well-known. John Fowles’ net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.
Trivia
This best-selling novelist was more well-known in the United States than in England, which explains why he felt like an ‘outcast’ on home soil, living in ‘exile.’