#167 in Classics
The Collector
- 288
- Pages
- about 5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“The Collector” is a cold, exact study of possession: a lonely young man kidnaps an art student and keeps her in his cellar. John Fowles lets both speak, the captor in his own account and the captive in what she writes. Some readers admire the prose and find the two figures believable, even when they like neither. Some find the second half grating and the ending flat, while others are moved to the last page.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Collector is a 1963 thriller novel by English author John Fowles, in his literary debut. Its plot follows a lonely young man who kidnaps a female art student in London and holds her captive in the cellar of his rural farmhouse. Divided in two sections, the novel contains both the perspective of the captor, Frederick, and that of Miranda, the captive. The portion of the novel told from Miranda's perspective is presented in epistolary form.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.8 across 211 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 59% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Classics average of 7.7. That is how 7.8 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.3 | 6 | 3% |
| Hardcover | 7.8 | 205 | 97% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Collector?
It has 288 pages — longer than 59% of the ranked books in Classics.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Classics — and a score of 7.8, the closest to this book.
