The Collector
Ratings75
Average rating4
I think everyone should read this – it's about a kidnapper and his victim, but also class and art and beauty. Wasn't sure at first, but then the second half of the story from Miranda's perspective made it a definite five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pretty nightmarish subject matter but it gets 4 starts for freaking me out in October (which was the goal) and for having two really complex and believable characters.
I really enjoyed reading from Ferdinand's perspective, but boy was Miranda boring.
Back when I was in University, a friend of mine suggested I read the Collector and even bought me a copy ( I still have it). I was disturbed by the synopsis and started reading. But, I was easily distracted back then and never finished it...until 10 years later when I picked it up and couldn't put it down.
The Collector is a disturbing story about a guy who collects butterflies...and a woman. Yes, things couldn't be more creepy in this story, yet I do recommend this book. The prose is very british and dated, but I still enjoyed it.
A book about man's constant attempts to capture beauty, shackle it in a poor copy of its natural habitat. Very touching to the the end.
The first section of the book is truly fantastic. Fred is such a creepy wonderfully crafted character, I loved being in his head even as he terrified and disgusted me.
Miranda? What a horrid character. A 19 year old art student, one of his worst creations in any time period. I hated being in her head. I hated her faux intellectual ideals. I hated her borderline grooming relationship with GP. I wanted her free but far FAR away from me. I can't bring myself to care about this woman at all, and the more I hear her be so damned snobbish about everyone and everything the less I like her.
It starts off so well, as far as psychotics go. Frederick Clegg sees himself as a connoisseur but is awkward and isolated even amongst his peers at his “Bug Meetings”. He's a collector of beautiful butterflies. But then he finds himself obsessed with the 20-something Miranda and having recently won the lotto finds himself with the means to take his obsession further. What happens next, he claims, is not his fault.
It is a supremely tense first act told from his perspective. It's a perfectly taut cat and mouse game between him and Miranda where anything could happen. Fowles does an amazing job at putting us in the mind of Frederick and we can see how he so easily justifies his actions and sees himself as an innocent. Truly anything can happen.
For me it fell apart when we switched to Miranda's narration. It felt vapid and empty rambling on about art and her naive obsession with the older G.P which felt as delusional as Frederick's obsession with her. Perhaps Fowles is drawing parallels here but her narration felt like a misstep. Still an enjoying read.