This week I have been tackling some of the books on my Classics Club list. The first one I finished was John Fowles book The Collector.
Next up I hope to read both To Sir, With Love and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie as they are both on my list and are about school teachers. That will be fun to compare the two.
The Collector is about a young man named Fred Clegg who lives in small town in England with his old aunt. He works in an office, is socially awkward and I believe he's a psychopath. He is a collector of butterflies, scouting the more rare and beautiful ones and then adding them to his collection for display. He doesn't have mates to go to the pub with or socialize and is often ridiculed for his solitary lifestyle.
Then Fred enters the pools (like a lottery) and wins big. Substantial amount of money at his disposable so he resigns from work.
Now we introduce Miranda Grey. She is a beautiful young woman from an upper class family, attending an impressive school, studying art. Her friends are upper class as well and we learn of all this through Fred as he spies on her from afar.
Fred is obsessed with Miranda and thinks she is his ideal mate. He can not speak to her directly as he is socially awkward. Once you get to know Miranda you will realize she is snobby and wouldn't have given Fred the time of day.
But now Fred has money, a lot of money, and buys a remote farmhouse in Sussex and has the basement fitted up with locks rendering it a jail house. Then Fred buys furniture, clothes that he thinks will fit Miranda and a gramophone. You can see where this may be going in a very creepy way.
After careful planning Fred awaits Miranda walking home one evening and asks her if she knows anything about dogs. He tells her he has just hit one with his van and it's injured. She leans in to see, he places a cloth with chloroform over her mouth and abducts her.
The first 120 or so pages are all Fred's thoughts. He wants Miranda as his wife, but never tries for sex as that isn't even proper unless you are married. He wants to keep her as he kept butterflies as she is, to him, rare and beautiful and something he can possess. He tells her she will grow to love him and they will be together always. She can have her own bedroom, she just has to love him and be his wife.
The next part of the book are Miranda's thoughts and her day dreams about a man she thinks she loves in her real life. She is snobby but shrewd, talking down to Fred and then trying to trick him so she can escape. Well, wouldn't you try and escape? She isn't likeable but I have empathy about her untenable situation.
There is a resolution to this kidnapping situation and then a very chilling ending. I won't give a spoiler but it's probably not the end you may imagine.
Themes about mental health issues, class distinctions.
Linking with
Joy's book Blog for British Isles Friday
The Collector sounds interesting and terrifying! My grandmother adored To Sir, With Love but I have never read it. I really should. I like the idea of comparing it to The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I really should make a Classics Club list and try to actually stick to it. I did one years ago but never even came close to completing it.
ReplyDeleteKatherine, I usually do better with lists to keep me organized, on track. I don't read lots of classics but occasionally check my list and decide to knock one off.
DeleteThe Collector was indeed creepy! He almost seemed afraid of the girl and never touched her except to tie her hands when moving her through the house.
I used to read a lot of psychological thrillers, but anymore, they are too tense for me! This one sounds like it might be good, but I think I'll pass. I'm more interested in light-hearted books these days. Great review, Tina!
ReplyDeleteHi Les. You know, now that you mention it I realize my taste on genres have changed a bit over the years. I used to read mysteries almost exclusively but now rarely do. This one by Fowles was creepy.
DeleteThat does sound creepy! Some of the plot is like Silence of the Lambs -- the killer collected moths I think. I gather the ending doesn't bode well for Martha. I had no idea Fowles wrote a scary one.
ReplyDeleteHi Susan, it was creepy and if there had been rape or brutality I don't think I could have kept reading. Fred was incapable and rather Victorian in nature. Short book, one to knock off my classics.
DeleteYikes! That's one creepy plot. Good for you for making progress on your Classics Club list.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to your take on The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I don't think I've read the book, but I've seen the movie, at least a couple of times. It's fun to think about how Maggie Smith will one day be Minerva McGonagall and the Dowager Countess of Grantham.
Joy, I am in quite a bit so I have been reading more. I started Miss Jean Brodie and it's not as engaging (for me) as To Sir, With Love. Two different approaches in teaching and different circumstances. That is fun to think about Maggie Smith in so many roles.
DeleteI've heard of this author and this book, but I've never read it. I love to see butterflies, but I only want to collect them in photos. I can't read or view stories, fiction or non, that linger with me in a horrifying way; I have to hide my eyes when I know the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz are about to appear on screen!
ReplyDeleteDeb, Fowles is a very prolific British author and this is his only creepy one. I believe that is corrent anyway. Oh, I just loved the time of year the Wizard of Oz would air and looked forward to it all that day. Have not seen it in since I watched with my granddaughter about 10 years ago.
DeleteDefinitely creepy. Years ago, I might have given this a try, but I think it would disturb me for weeks after reading and I don't want to ruin my summer!
ReplyDeleteJane, I like Fowles and it had been awhile since I'd read one o his novels. This was good, and yeah...creepy.
DeleteWhoa, that sounds so creepy!! I've never read Fowles and have recently started to avoid books that make me feel tense or anxious. It sure sounds like this one qualifies, but it sounds very intriguing...
ReplyDeleteJoAnn, I hope to get to his book The French Lieutenant's Woman as well!
DeleteI used to be so fascinated by the underlying psychology in these sorts of books but I’ve lost my interest in it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts
ReplyDeleteShelleyrae, I don't read as many books with that slant as I used to but this was one I had on the list. Different tastes with different folks.
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