Product Description

Withdrawn, uneducated and unloved, Frederick collects butterflies and takes photographs. A chance pools win enables his 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 collector's 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 contempt for everything anti-life that the collector stands for.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5870 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-05
• Binding: Paperback
• 282 pages

Synopsis
Withdrawn, uneducated and unloved, Frederick collects butterflies and takes photographs.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 collector's 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 contempt for everything anti-life that the collector stands for.

From the Publisher
'Brilliant…an artist of great imaginative power' Sunday Times

About the Author
John Fowles was born in England in 1926 and educated at Bedford School and Oxford University. John Fowles won international recognition with his first published title. THE COLLECTOR (1963). He was immediately acclaimed as an outstandingly innovative writer of exceptional imaginative power and this reputation was confirmed with the appearance of his subsequent works. He now lives and writes in Lyme Regis, Dorset

Customer Reviews

Almost Perfect
This book is so well-written, especially given that the author writes the thoughts of both a male and a female; very tricky to do, and few can pull it off this well. The use of free direct thought and indirect speech is very clever; it strongly alters the way you think and the way you view the characters, to make the whole process of reading the story very...emotionally difficult, almost.
The ending is perfect in that we are still asking questions and wanting a little bit more...and those questions are what keep you thinking about the book long after you've finished reading it. A book which leaves no open endings is one that you will accept, forget, and move on from. The Collector is certainly not one of those.

The reason is gets 4 stars and not 5 is because I gave The Time Traveler's Wife 5 stars and although startlingly good, this book doesn't meet up to my TTW standards. (But then, NO book does. If I could give TTW 6 stars then The Collector would get 5). Overall: a brilliant buy. Recommended to everyone.

One of the most captivating books of modern literature
there are so many levels to this story, from the warped sexual nature of Caliban to Miranda's denial of God, every page is a masterpiece. You should also read Richard Perez's "The Losers Club" for another utterly compelling read.

Aaaarggghhh!!!
95% of this book is astonishing; the tension nail-biting, the characterisation superb. I was so excited to learn how it all concluded, I delayed reading the final two chapters until I was sat comfortably at home with a glass of wine. Oh, the HORROR when I realised how drastically John Fowles copped out at the end! I don't want to give anything away, but really - it's almost as if he got bored and invited one of his mates down the pub to finish the story off!
Do yourself a favour. Read and enjoy everything in the book up to page 260 (just before the penultimate chapter). Then throw it away, burn it, flush it down the toilet, shove it in a Jiffybag and post to a relative in Australia or somewhere, with strict instructions to feed it to hungry goats once it arrives. Then you will always have your delicious curiosities as to what the ending could have been, rather than being saddled with the thoroughly useless one it has now.