Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - The Collector

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The Collector by John Fowles

7 reviews

scarletkeiller's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a really great read. Fowles not only writes a twisted male lead with a warped sense of love and relationships, but a complex and interesting female character who was shockingly realistic as well. Her actions, emotions and thoughts felt really honest and believable and I was so taken aback that a man wrote this character in the 60s! I loved this book!

I loved the perspective shift halfway through, the hope it gave me that she find a way to escape, how it tricked me into feeling much the same as Miranda - blind hope that he might see the error of his ways and let her go. And then when the book reaches its natural end, despite knowing it was coming I was so full of sadness for her.

What an amazingly written story.

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starzzz's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The writing was beautiful. I felt sick reading it. That is all.

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annefederer's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Such an interesting character study of Miranda and G.P specifically.

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niamphoone's review

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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amehlia's review

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’ve had The Collector by John Fowles on my reading list for about six years now, and stumbled across a copy in a second-hand/antique emporium for £3. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity to add to my collection of Vintage Classics, I bought it with the intention to pick it up whenever the mood struck me. This happened to be my second read of 2022, and Oh. My. God. I was not expecting it to be so gripping, so page-turning and harrowing, I am left shaken and deeply disturbed.

The Collector is equal parts disturbing, emotional, and shocking in places. We are granted an insight into the mind of Frederick Clegg in the first half of the book, a man who becomes obsessed with a young woman from his area: Miranda Grey, an art student at the Slade. Infatuated with her, he buys a remote house in the countryside with the money won from football pools and constructs a secure cellar before kidnapping her near her home in Hampstead. This first half follows his experience taking care of her and trying to connect with her from his point of view, and in the second half we get an insight into Miranda’s experience through her nearly daily diary entries.

Frederick, who uses the alias Ferdinand with Miranda, is incredibly detestable and overall a horrible man. She refers to him as Caliban, and hates him not only for kidnapping her and keeping her a prisoner but for being a certain type of person who is oblivious in some ways to many aspects of the world that are important to her. Their relationship is strange and complicated, at some points it seems as if they could even be on more neutral or even friendly terms under different circumstances. The Collector is an interesting look into the dynamic of the relationship between captor and captive, and explores pure selfishness and a persons will to survive.

Despite the unsettling content, I knew I had to rate this book 5⭐️ because it gripped me so strongly and had me enraptured throughout. Very glad I decided to finally read this, and I think it might become a re-read in the future. One of my top reads.

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helenahao's review

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.0

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dear_alice's review

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I see why this book is critically acclaimed, but I just couldn't get over how much I disliked both main characters. I read this for work/school and I was glad it was finally over. Some really interesting themes to discuss with my students but personally absolutely not my cup of tea.

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