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The Collector by John Fowles
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The Collector (original 1963; edition 1997)

by John Fowles

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
5,0331232,156 (3.95)1 / 325
Withdrawn, uneducated and unloved, Frederick collects butterflies and takes photographs. He is obsessed with a beautiful stranger, the art student Miranda. When he wins a betting pool, 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.… (more)
Member:SatsumaHouse
Title:The Collector
Authors:John Fowles
Info:New York: Back Bay Books/Little, Brown and Co., 1997 (α 1963). Paperback. 305 p. ; 21 cm.
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:fiction--uk, alienation, evil

Work Information

The Collector by John Fowles (1963)

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  4. 30
    The Collector [1965 film] by William Wyler (Bushwhacked)
    Bushwhacked: The 1965 film is as gripping as the novel.
  5. 30
    The Vanishing by Tim Krabbé (QueenOfDenmark)
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    Mygale by Thierry Jonquet (sparemethecensor)
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    The Tempest by William Shakespeare (Booksloth)
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    Engleby by Sebastian Faulks (ljbwell)
    ljbwell: 1st person narration and disturbing psychological studies.
  16. 11
    Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates (SomeGuyInVirginia)
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    Old Flames by Jack Ketchum (MattMc3)
    MattMc3: Specifically, the novella "Right to Life" in the book "Old Flames"
  18. 11
    Dying to Please by Linda Howard (whimsicalkitten)
    whimsicalkitten: While only a very small portion of Dying to Please describes the relationship between the obsessed abductor and his victim, that part did remind me of The Collector, although much more heavy handed and less elegant than John Fowles' work
  19. 00
    The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal (RiversideReader)
  20. 11
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    Litrvixen: Both are about a man keeping a woman captive.

(see all 25 recommendations)

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» See also 325 mentions

English (116)  Spanish (2)  Italian (2)  Swedish (1)  Hebrew (1)  French (1)  All languages (123)
Showing 1-5 of 116 (next | show all)
This book has been on my TBR for a while after being referenced in the TV show Criminal Minds, so I knew to expect it might be a bit creepy. And it was pretty clear from almost the first few pages that this is a book from the perspective of one of the psychopaths that turns up in crime shows as serial kidnappers. In this story, a butterfly collector turns to a more challenging specimen when he wins a lot of money and can turn his daydreams about capturing the woman of his fantasies into reality.
Besides being nowhere near as morbid as it could have been, this book also in a way addresses the experience of too many women trapped into marriages where they are expected to 'learn to love' their spouse eventually. The scenario in this book is obviously criminal, but if this book was set in a different place or century, the idea of a man capturing and keeping his chosen woman would seem less unusual, even though the cruelty and unfairness of the story would be the same. ( )
  JBarringer | Dec 15, 2023 |
Continues to amaze us that the midcentury English novelist conceived modern literature as a morality play that tells you to vote Tory. ( )
  Joe.Olipo | Sep 19, 2023 |
This was certainly worse than French Lieutenant's Woman, and I am through with John Fowles. The chaarcters were not likable or very interesting, and the protagonist was certainly in need of psychiatric help. He has many similarities to the incels of today, and unfortunately, was just as dangerous. After plodding through all of the tedious details, the story got less interesting rather than more interesting. ( )
  suesbooks | Aug 14, 2023 |
Ever since reading and really enjoying [b:The French Lieutenant's Woman|56034|The French Lieutenant's Woman|John Fowles|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1466630905s/56034.jpg|1816464] by the same author, I've been interested in trying another one of his books. This one did not disappoint.

The description sounds more like a sordid thriller, but it's actually neither of those things. Frederick collects butterflies, but when he sees Miranda, he becomes obsessed with her. The book relates the story of a kidnapping from both the perspective of the kidnapper and the kidnapped. And in the telling, it manages to address life, love, art, class and more from a more philosophical perspective. For some readers, this may detract from the storytelling itself, but I really thought that this approach made the book unique and more than just a suspenseful plot.

Both characters, Frederick and Miranda, are very well drawn, and Fowles helps you empathize with Frederick on some level. Miranda has incredible will to live and uses her wit to attempt to manipulate Frederick. Interestingly, in order to survive, in some ways she needs his company even though he is her captor. Another aspect that I found fascinating is that Miranda alludes to a relationship with a mentor that has sexual overtones, and in which she allows herself to be "trapped" in a different way by a man who objectified women and manipulates her.

The book just has a lot of layers under the veneer of a thriller style plotline. There are literary allusions as well and having not read The Tempest, I was not well prepared to appreciate all of them, but it's just another layer of literary deliciousness that Fowles serves up. ( )
  Anita_Pomerantz | Mar 23, 2023 |
Cerebral, dark and a bit disturbing, but also somewhat tame by today's standards. ( )
1 vote charlie68 | Sep 27, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 116 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (78 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
John Fowlesprimary authorall editionscalculated
Schouwen, Frédérique vanTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
que fors aus ne le sot riens nee
Dedication
First words
When she was home from her boarding-school I used to see her almost every day sometimes, because their house was right opposite the Town Hall Annexe.
Quotations
“They’re beautiful. But sad.... I’m thinking of all the living beauty you’ve ended.... I hate scientists,” she said. “I hate people who collect things, and classify things and give them names and then forget all about them. That’s what people are always doing in art.”
“They’re dead.... Not these particularly. All photos. When you draw something it lives and when you photograph it it dies.”
I remember G.P. saying that collectors were the worst animals of all. He meant art collectors, of course.... he is right. They’re anti-life, anti-art, anti-everything.
He’s a collector. That’s the great dead thing about him.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Withdrawn, uneducated and unloved, Frederick collects butterflies and takes photographs. He is obsessed with a beautiful stranger, the art student Miranda. When he wins a betting pool, 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.

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Book description
This is a 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. (0-316-29023-8)
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