I am close to finishing The Collector by John Fowles; I can barely pause to write this blog, I'm so engrossed in the story. Fowles is one of my favorite writers; not only does he have a Nabokovian flair for the twisted-but-slightly endearing antagonist, he weaves a gripping plot through eccentric and realistic characters. In fact, the story really unfolds from his characters: he creates, in this case, a seemingly asexual working-class recluse who collects butterflies and turns him loose on the world and the rest falls into place...
The back cover of a Laurel paperback edition reads:
THE POWER OF PASSION
THE POWER OF EVIL,
THE POWER OF THE MOST SPELLBINDING STORYTELLER OF OUR TIME, come together in this sensational, million-copy-selling triumph by John Fowles, author of A Maggot and The Magus.
The setting is a lonely cottage in the English countryside. The characters are a brutal, tormented man and the beautiful, aristocratic young woman he has taken captive. The story is the struggle of two wills, two wasy of being, two paths of desire-- a story that mounts to the most shattering climax in modern fiction!
Well, that's a bit dramatic. But it's a very good read and I suggest you pick up a copy... and we have a whole John Fowles collection available at Wellington Square Bookshop. So come down and get one!
