John Fowles Departs

The author of the memorable The French Lieutenant's Woman, as well as other works -- many of which were a tad too abstruse -- died last evening, aged 79.

A BBC appraisal says: “By playing with the novel's constraints and restrictions, notably by providing alternate endings in The French Lieutenant's Woman, Fowles challenged the concept of the powerful, all-knowing creator and deliberately highlighted fiction's illusory nature.”

And this is from The Guardian: “ ‘I don't spend much time in self-loathing or self-admiration. I have a great deal of contempt for writers who are vain, who want fame,’ he told the Observer in 2003. 'You do have to have a certain amount of vanity to be successful, to sell books. But you have to keep it under control, you can't take yourself too seriously or you become what you pretend to despise.’ " The Independent adds: "Ambiguity was one of the defining themes. He often melded fantasy with meticulously researched historical detail, mixing up the narrative viewpoints and time settings. Much of his inspiration came to him during the hypnopompic state between dreaming and wakefulness."