The Collector
Ratings107
Average rating3.9
Weird, socially awkward, and suffering from severe class angst, Frederick Clegg, a butterfly collector, wins the pools and kidnaps Miranda Grey, an art student he has obsessively admired from afar, believing he can make her love him. A psychological struggle unfolds between them.
I took advantage of audiobook time to read this while also immersing myself in the outstanding The Magus by John Fowles. The Collector is Fowles’ debut, and what a book it is. After reading these two novels in quick succession, I am convinced that he was an extraordinarily gifted writer and storyteller. As with The Magus, the psychological depth of The Collector is profound, with class dynamics at the forefront.
The audiobook, narrated in the first person for both male and female perspectives by Daniel Rigby and Hannah Murray, featured a strangely monotone delivery that was perfect for this listen/read.
The kidnapping in London at the very beginning of the novel is particularly interesting, given today’s ubiquitous CCTV surveillance, such an event would be virtually impossible. But in the early ’60s, it made sense. If the same premise were written today, where could the kidnapping plausibly take place? A minor question really as the narration covers the mind of both protagonists, that was what made compulsive reading.
Highly recommended.
Weird, socially awkward, and suffering from severe class angst, Frederick Clegg, a butterfly collector, wins the pools and kidnaps Miranda Grey, an art student he has obsessively admired from afar, believing he can make her love him. A psychological struggle unfolds between them.
I took advantage of audiobook time to read this while also immersing myself in the outstanding The Magus by John Fowles. The Collector is Fowles’ debut, and what a book it is. After reading these two novels in quick succession, I am convinced that he was an extraordinarily gifted writer and storyteller. As with The Magus, the psychological depth of The Collector is profound, with class dynamics at the forefront.
The audiobook, narrated in the first person for both male and female perspectives by Daniel Rigby and Hannah Murray, featured a strangely monotone delivery that was perfect for this listen/read.
The kidnapping in London at the very beginning of the novel is particularly interesting, given today’s ubiquitous CCTV surveillance, such an event would be virtually impossible. But in the early ’60s, it made sense. If the same premise were written today, where could the kidnapping plausibly take place? A minor question really as the narration covers the mind of both protagonists, that was what made compulsive reading.
Highly recommended.
