“The Magus” is the most popular novel by the outstanding English writer known in Russia for the books “The Collector,” “The Black Tower,” “The French Lieutenant’s Lover,” and “Daniel Martin.”
On a remote Greek island, a mysterious “magus” subjects people to cruel psychological experiments, tormenting them with passion and annihilation. In this book, realistic tradition is combined with elements of mysticism and detective fiction. The erotic scenes of the novel—possibly the best writing about physical love in the second half of the 20th century.