October 2023 BOTM - The Collector

[La Tonya]

The Ocober 2023 BOTM is The Collector by John Fowles.


Post your thoughts and comments on the thread below.

Oct 1 - 7 Pages 1 - 76

Oct 8 - 14 Pages 77 - 152

Oct 15 - 21 Pages 153 - 228

Oct 22 - 31 Pages 229 - 305

[Cheryl]

I'm in!

[Larry]

I had a little issue finding a copy of this, so I ended up downloading the kindle edition. I found it used online but only a dollar or two less and then not sure how long it would take to get it. Anyway read a few pages and it starts out creepy from the start sooo here we go.

[La Tonya]

Larry wrote: "I had a little issue finding a copy of this, so I ended up downloading the kindle edition. I found it used online but only a dollar or two less and then not sure how long it would take to get it. A..."

I am glad you are getting started. I will put a reading list on the thread soon. Enjoy Reading, 📚

[Jazzy]

I found this
https://findaudiobook.com/john-fowles...

[Jazzy]

and you can also read it online from the Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/collector...

So i'm starting mine today.

[Danny]

I read this last year and loved it. A quiet kind of thriller.

[Cheryl]

I have bought the audiobook for this one and am now trying to rattle through my current audiobook as quickly as possible so I can start this asap!

[Jazzy]

From the premise, it bears a strong resemblance to Stephen King's Misery, and he is so well-read he probably read this one.

I'm halfway through it and it's horrendous. What a lucky life I live that this is only a book.

[Jazzy]

Done and dusted. *shudders*

[Sarah]

Me, too, Jazzy. Once I got started, I couldn't stop.

The scariest part is that the first person narrator makes it all sound so reasonable and understandable. He doesn't sound dangerous at all. Maybe just a little odd and awkward. You probably know someone like this.

Well, never going to walk to the train station alone again. Thanks a lot, Goodreads.

[Cheryl]

I haven't finished this, I want to keep going but just haven't had a chance, if I didnt have stupid work I would have finsihed this by now.

I thought the same abotu our lead guy, it's the way he makes everything sound all very reasonable and perfectly normal, like he's a sane guy that makes it all the more scary. This line for example is just said like it's normal and he's nice.

“And there I kept her captive in a nice way”. In a nice way!?? LOL.

[Jen: She Likes BigBooks]

Thank you for sharing a link to the book. I couldn’t find.

[Jazzy]

Sarah, the buses are on strike so i had to walk home alone (about an hour) from my fiddle class in the dark. I started to reqret reading this ahaha

[Jazzy]

She Likes BigBooks wrote: "Thank you for sharing a link to the book. I couldn’t find."

you're most welcome!

[Cheryl]

Jazzy wrote: "Sarah, the buses are on strike so i had to walk home alone (about an hour) from my fiddle class in the dark. I started to reqret reading this ahaha"

Noooooooo!!!!

[Jazzy]

Bwwaaahahaha!

[La Tonya]

I started this book. It has a good beginning. Enjoy Reading, 📚

[La Tonya]

I am half way thru this book. All I can think is The Collector has mental problems and needs professional help. There are many ways to toture a person. Mental abuse has to be in the top three.

[Cheryl]

Now I’m wondering what your top three ways to torture a person are!

[La Tonya]

Cheryl wrote: "Now I’m wondering what your top three ways to torture a person are!"

Physical
Mental
Dependence

[La Tonya]

Cheryl wrote: "Thanks! Haha"

Cheryl is not a Haha. It is the truth. Enjoy Reading, 📚

[Jazzy]

Gaslighting is an awful form of torture.

[Larry]

I am well into this book but I find it interesting that so many female readers are blowing through this so quickly. So far, I am disturbed by the actions of the man and feel terrible he would put her through all this. I imagine from a woman's perspective this is a story of vulnerability that all of you feel at some time in your lives and from me a man I see the cruelty of one person to another as the main story. I may not have explained that as well as I wanted but I do think women are more gripped by this story than men and wonder if anyone else feels the same.

[La Tonya]

Jazzy wrote: "Gaslighting is an awful form of torture."

This is very true Jazzy. Enjoy Reading, 📚

[Vera]

Initially I wasn’t planning on join the reading, but after this many positive reviews, I will be starting the book today! I’ll listen to the audiobook version available on YouTube.

[Danny]

This is top-notch subversive literature. It's an odd feeling to be in the abductor's head because his passive nature screws with my emotions. Because he's not overtly aggresssive, he normalizes this crazy "relationship".

[Cheryl]

Well put Daniel. I feel the same but you put it into words for me perfectly.

[La Tonya]

I finished this book. The abductor is mental insane. How he rationalizes everything. It is unthinkable. Enjoy Reading, 📚

[Cheryl]

I found Part One strange but not that scary, I think because of the way he talks and normalises everything and his strangeness was almost laughable. Part Two however seems so much darker and scarier. It comes across as incredibly sad and desperate and somehow seems more real. Terrifying really. Not to say I am not enjoying this book, how can I not when it makes you feel things like this!

[Danny]

La Tonya said the magic word: rationalization. In a way, we feel conflicted when we shouldn't.

Thank you, Cheryl. This strange book helped me understand Stockholm syndrome.

[Cheryl]

I've finished! I enjoyed that. Loved the ending.

[Danny]

Cheryl wrote: "I've finished! I enjoyed that. Loved the ending."

me too. A "Hollywood" ending would have ruined it.

[Cheryl]

My thoughts precisely Daniel.

[Larry]

I finished and here are my thoughts. I feel this was a great idea with a good beginning and end and a somewhat boring middle. I kept waiting for the climax that never really came. I realize that was the point but still disappointing to me. The first-person narrative gave it a creepy kind of window into the minds of the two characters but other than that the story was flat for me.

[Cheryl]

I agree in that I thought Miranda’s section was dull for me. I got bored hearing how wonderful she thought she was.

[Larry]

yes Cheryl I got tired of hearing about her infatuation with the old artist dude. I think maybe we were supposed to relate that with the collectors infatuation with her ??

[Cheryl]

Oh right Larry, I hadn’t thought of that, that may well be the case. Thanks for sharing, you’ve made me think.

[Danny]

At first, I did get annoyed when reading Miranda's sections; however, in hindsight, it drives the point that both captive and captor had naïve, idealized versions of the world. It was a slow, unraveling of attitude and perspective. And to do that, it's imperative to flesh out both.

Miranda's zest for life and art is so innocent that it made me nervous for her. I feel that Fowels had to lay that on thick to make the unraveling realistic. This also applies to the abductor and his rude awakening to reality, or rather, the realization that Miranda was not the flawless "insect" he thought she was.

I see this story as two people losing their faith in humanity, which is a complicated thing to write about.

In the end, you have two characters who have to look at the world less idealistically.

That being said, it would be easy to screw this up as a film because people would be latched onto the notion of a traditional climax. But the truth is painful and unpopular: nobody wins, even if they get away.

This is a real boring story if one reads it for the literal outcome of the situation, but I feel that it's more of a meditation on the breakdown of optimism, and the psychological effect of that.

In other words, you can win the physical war but lose the mental one.

[Cheryl]

That’s so insightful. Two people losing their sight or thoughts of humanity and their individual naïveté, which was clear now I think of it . I love your comments.

[Blueberry]

I love reading everyone's thoughts. The ending really cemented to me how really sick Frederick was...that he was now following another girl. I read on Google how this book and/or the movie inspired many serial killers. Shudder.