- Hardcover: 295 pages
- Publisher: Barnes & Noble Books (2002)
- ISBN-10: 076072539X
- ISBN-13: 978-0760725399
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 15 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,197,249 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Collector (Vintage Classics)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In 'The Collector', John Fowles explores the mind of a stalker who has the chance to make his fantasies come true. Throughout the novel, Frederick Clegg is likened to Caliban, from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest': stumbling ineptly after the object of his affections, and never managing to attract her or interest her. Winning some money gives Frederick the chance to kidnap and imprison Miranda, and we then see him attempt to fulfil his desires.
Frederick's character is both eerie and fascinating. There is a constant power struggle going on between him and Miranda. She is beautiful, well educated, confident, inspired, artistic - everything he is not, and although he is physically imprisoning her, he can't understand her. This frustrated desire to get inside her head undermines his capture of her, and at the same time, she is attempting to understand him, in order to be free. The relationship between the two characters is very well written, constantly changing and unpredictable.
Miranda, as the saner of the two, is easy to identify with, and yet the reader is also taken deeply inside Frederick's head as well. Again, it's an uneasy relationship between the reader and Frederick, as one hopefully doesn't support his actions(!), and yet the tone of his narration implies that the reader does. A very unsettling effect.
All in all, an excellent read, with an ending that will send shivers down your spine!
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book in two days, which is pretty impressive for an idle student such as myself. Whilst reading 'The Collector' I realised I had to be on my own, I was that overwhelmed by its beauty and sadness that I often cried. When I wasn't reading I was thinking about it constantly, and now I've finished I want to start reading all over again. This is the power of this stimulating, disturbing and very haunting tale of sexual obsession. There are various themes that Fowles weaves throughout the story with incredible skill, such as the boundaries of both class and gender between the main characters.
This novel is so beautifully written, I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying it. It is darkly melancholic, and although you probably won't really *like* either of the main characters, you will never forget them. It is quite similar to Nabokov's novel 'Lolita'. Just as sad. Just as beautiful.
This novel is so beautifully written, I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying it. It is darkly melancholic, and although you probably won't really *like* either of the main characters, you will never forget them. It is quite similar to Nabokov's novel 'Lolita'. Just as sad. Just as beautiful.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
My first Fowles. Not my last. A remarkable book, unusual book. It has a strange combination of themes and plot, and Fowles works them together superbly. It's not always an easy book to read - at times, yes, I felt a degree of sympathy for lonely, inhibited, crushingly socially inept Frederick, but as the novel progresses, and we get the second strand from captured Miranda's point of view, that he is completely monstrous becomes abundantly clear. It is possible to understand him, but that makes the final sections of the novel no less horrifying and affecting. Inevitable, too. The reader probably has as much desperate hope as Miranda.
As a psychological study of two people, with all their various roles in life and in the context of one another, it is supremely good. The two differing styles are brilliantly conceived, and power the novel along nicely. It's clever, very affecting, and the ending is moving and vaguely horrifying. It's rather like some of Ruth Rendell's similar psychological thrillers. I reccomend it very highly.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Twisted... in a good way
I had to read this book for a literature review and must say, I really enjoyed it. The book shifts about half way through from the point of view of the collector (Frederick) to the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by rach89
Haunting
The Collector is a gripping and at times uncomfortable read. The fact that it is uncomfortable is what makes it a success, if you can read about stalking, obsession and captivity... Read more
Published 2 months ago by B. Searle
dissapointing
I seen the good reviews and read the sample on my kindle and it seemed promising ......I was wrong....... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jim
Imaginatively creepy
John Fowles' The Collector is an exploration of the human mind; focusing on both health and unhealthy minds and narrating what happens when they cross paths. Read more
Published 5 months ago by aus_books
Clegg Withstands the Test of Time
I first read, and loved, this novel 20 years ago. Had I rated it then, I'd have given it 5*. Upon rereading I was surprised to learn it's not without flaws. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Sibby the Cat
Wow, gripping and shocking
I found the language used in this book beautiful and descriptive. It kept me interested and on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Manda Moo
A harrowing exploration of isolation and social entrapment
Browsing in my local bookstore, I came across The Collector by John Fowles. Upon reading the back, I thought, 'might as well give it a go- sounds pretty interesting'. Read more
Published 9 months ago by PhilipStirups
Sad and beautiful
Fowles does an uncanny job of occupying these characters and giving them life. One has to wonder about the emotional toll of writing such a book because you certainly feel the... Read more
Published 10 months ago by bumpy
deeply unsettling but brilliant
A butterfly collector, socially ill at ease, wins the football pools and suddenly has the ways and means to abduct and keep prisoner a young art student to whom he has long been... Read more
Published 11 months ago by William Jordan
A Chilling and Disturbing Psychological Thriller
Fred is a young man who was orphaned at an early age. Raised by aunts, he comes in possession of some money and seems to be financially secure. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Dr. Bojan Tunguz
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