The Collector John Fowles

Ostensibly a book about a man who kidnaps a young girl he convinces himself he is in love with, within the horror/thriller genre, The Collector also explores themes such as the class struggle in the 1960s, the purpose and importance of art and religion. The book is divided into two narrative voices, the monotonous yet loathsomely self deceiving Frederick Clegg and the journal entries of the girl he kidnaps, Miranda, who writes in a fragmented way, describing her feelings about being kidnapped, transcribing dialogue from conversations and relating her failed romance with an older artist.

It is a difficult book to decide which character you sympathise with, at first it seems obvious that the reader should sympathise entirely with Miranda, but when you read her journal entries she becomes a less sympathetic character in her snobbishness. Syhamal Bagchee (in "The Collector": The Paradoxical Imagination of John Fowles) points out that Miranda’s behaviour causes Frederick to become embittered towards her though her attempts to escape, taunting him about the fact that she sees him as beneath her and assaulting him with an axe, and that this causes him to undergo a personality change which leaves him even more alienated from society and cold towards his next victim.

It’s an extremely readable novel which I finished in about two days, but it’s not a pleasant read because it makes the reader confront some rather unpleasant ideas, and there is a sense that the ending is inevitable. Although Frederick never rapes Miranda, there is a very uncomfortable part where he drugs her and takes photographs of her. There is also a sense that she is almost fond of him at times. I would argue that it is by no means as straightforward as you would expect. 

Anyway, I gave it four stars. 

References

"The Collector": The Paradoxical Imagination of John Fowles

Syhamal Bagchee

Journal of Modern Literature
Vol. 8, No. 2, John Fowles Special Number (1980 - 1981), pp. 219-234
Published by: Indiana University Press
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3831229