John Fowles

Withdrawn, uneducated and unloved, Frederick collects butterflies and takes photographs. A chance pools win enables him to capture the art student Miranda and keep her in the cellar of the Sussex house he has bought with the windfall. The situation is seen first from the collectors point of view: he thinks the chloroform pad no more vicious than his butterfly net, and patiently waits for the barriers of class and taste that inhibit their love to break down in the limbo of their isolation. She, the creator, desperate for her freedom, tries to be understanding but cannot banish her comtempt for everything anti-life that the collector stands for.

The Collector

Amanda Autumn Berrey

No one would believe this situation. He keeps me absolutely prisoner. But in everything else I am mistress.

“You know what you do? You know how rain takes the colour out of everything? That’s what you do to the English language. You blur it every time you open your mouth.”

We are sure that there is some quite harmless explanation for her disappearance. Artistic young people have their whims.”

Withdrawn, uneducated and unloved, Frederick collects butterflies and takes photographs. He is obsessed with a beautiful stranger, the art student Miranda. When he wins the pools he buys a remote Sussex house and calmly abducts Miranda, believing she will grow to love him in time. Alone and desperate, Miranda must struggle to overcome her own prejudices and contempt if she is understand her captor, and so gain her freedom.

sharkie

A disturbing yet gripping read; one of those novels you want to hurl out of frustration yet continue to read out of curiosity. It provides an insight into the mind of a psychopath, and despite feeling contempt for him, John Fowles has an incredible way of also making you sympathise.

Rowan Myers

I live and breathe horror. I love Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, and Clive Barker. I like the psychological stuff. I like the blood. I like horror movies. I thought I was immune.

This made me sleep with the light on for two days.

Emilia 

Sommige boeken hadden niet geschreven moeten worden, dit is een goed voorbeeld.

Ashlyn

For a debut novel, this is pretty quality. Fowles does a great job of writing from the perspective of a creepy stalker, but an even better job of writing from the view of a desperate, enraged, proud young woman. The horror of this book is how mundane and utterly possible it seems. I hope I never meet my Caliban.

Sian Wadey-Kerr

I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel. Initially, I was drawn in and eager to find out what happened to the two characters and as the POV switched it completely transformed my opinion of the characters. A really interesting read and I particularly liked the ending!

Angela Miramontes

This book is haunting. In a way, the tone is so innocent that it just contributes to the creepy and uncomfortable feeling of it all.

"A superb novel...Evil has seldom been so sinister." --Time Hailed as the first modern psychological thriller, The Collector is the internationally bestselling novel that catapulted John Fowles into the front rank of contemporary novelists. This tale of obsessive love--the story of a lonely clerk who collects butterflies and of the beautiful young art student who is his ultimate quarry--remains unparalleled in its power to startle and mesmerize. "A bravura first novel...As a horror story, this book is a remarkable tour de force." --New Yorker

I understand that it’s fiction and that I should be rating the writing but wtf all I can think is how gross this book is which is probably the point and I guess I’ll share that some of Miranda’s ideas I get and I like but gross eww I can’t stand that man and even something about a man being the author makes sense because why would anyone else write it

jillian tenner

Two Stars

A brief synopsis: Ferdinand is a peculiar man who is obsessed with a woman he has never met before. He follows her and watches her from afar and falls in love with everything about her. One day, he just cant take the loneliness anymore and abducts her. This novel follows what happened after the abduction and is told from both Ferdinand's and Miranda's point of view

My review: I didnt like the writing style. The plot was good. The events that happened themselves were interesting but the way it was worded and written made it come accross as boring. Also the characters were not likable at all. I think the author wanted to make the reader sympathize with Ferdinand, but to me he seemed entitled and whiny. Miranda wasn't a good character either but I think that was done on purpose. I do not recommend this novel

Melody Izard

There is a very creepy story which serves as the cloak for Fowles real message. I will say nothing more. Read it only for the creepy story if you want to.

When Frederick Clegg, clerk and butterfly collector, wins a football pool fortune he buys a country home in which to house a new specimen

I just did not enjoy it at all. The writing was okay, not great, until I got to the diary portion. OH MY GOD. I thought it would be great to read the story both from the captor's perspective and the victim's perspective, but Miranda's diary was SO rambling about art and the people she knew and I was just screaming at the book "OH MY GOD, WHO TF CARES?!" I was so relieved to finish that (rather large) portion of the book.

Ultimately, not a lot happens. I liked the parallels drawn between him collecting butterflies and him "collecting" Miranda, but there wasn't a lot of substance beyond that. I liked the ending as much as I could have, but it didn't save this book at all imo. An incredibly tedious read.

Jade Flynn

I read Fowles' The Magus last year and thoroughly enjoyed it so I was hoping The Collector would hold up to the same standards. It was good. It was nothing ground breaking but it kept me reading and it made me want to pick up The French Lieutenant's Woman.

The Collector

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