The Collector

The Collector is an engrossing psychological thriller from John Fowles. The plot is simple enough, but the sophistication inherent in some of the themes this novel presents make it an incredible first novel.

Frederick Clegg is a socially awkward young man who collects butterflies and lives with an aunt and cousin after the deaths of his parents. He fantasizes a life with a local girl, Miranda Grey, who is far out of his league. By chance, Frederick wins the pools and no longer need worry about income. He buys a secluded country house, packs the aunt and cousin off to Australia, and puts into play a plan to realize his fantasy of a life with Miranda by kidnapping her off of a London street.

The first half of the novel is written from Frederick's point of view. His even, almost emotionless tone and awkward formality and Victorian sense of virtue make's one forget from time to time that he is a psychopath. He makes much of the fact that he does not violate Miranda sexually, and believes that this makes him a good person.

The second half is told from Miranda's point of view. The incidents are the same, but her explanations (in a hastily scrawled journal) show the motivations behind her interactions with Frederick. She longs, of course, for freedom, but she also analyzes her relationship with the much older artist G.P. and comes to a series of conclusions regarding art, beauty, and those who do and do not understand them.

The theme of imprisonment runs throughout the book. There is Frederick's physical imprisonment of Miranda as well as the fact that he is imprisoned by his set way of thinking. Miranda is imprisoned by her social and artistic elitism; she is a snob in the worst way. She not only disdains those of lower social status, but those 'new people' with their middle class wealth who do not and cannot properly appreciate art and culture the way that she and her high-minded friends can. The story is a journey for her as well as for Frederick, although the results for both are unexpected.

A creepy novel with a provocative ending for the early 1960s. A film version with Terence Stamp was also made.