The Magician

John Fowles, The Magus, 1965
How much did this novel influence J.G. Ballard? And did the makers of the TV show Lost also take from it some of the ideas for their plot? John Fowles creates a setting in Greece that has the same labyrinthine and disorienting power as the island on Lost (not to mention the references to ancient mythology and secret cults) and J.G. Ballard's fascination with powerful psychologists (such as the ones in Cocaine Nights and Super Cannes) finds a prototype in Conchis, one of the island's older and wealthier residents.

When Nicholas Urfe arrives at this small Greek island to work as a teacher he thinks his hours will be filled with students and leisurely strolls along cliffs. Slowly, the island and its people unravel under an intricate spiderweb laid out for Nicholas, for reasons he is unable to understand. He is as equally caught by a spell cast by the island's Prospero as he is lost running through a maze that might lead him to the Minotaur's jaws. And so is the reader.

Although the story somewhat flags during a slow-burning middle section, things pick up again 2/3 of the way in when the novel's thriller element kicks in. I wish I had read this on my holiday to Crete last year