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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this has been on my list for a while and whew that sure was a wild one. i was so very creeped out. this piece of shit guy was so expertly crafted, good job on that one mr. fowles (takes one to know one). i liked miranda's diary portion. let it be known that john fowles was a racist, antisemitic, & homophobic person
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Kidnapping
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Acephobia/Arophobia
Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Even knowing how these things end I was still outraged when I finished it.
Read this over the last 2 or 3 days. I almost wish I hadn't.
It's a dark journey. Is there humor in it? Sure, but it's a bleak kind of humor. This is not a happy novel.
My first encounter with Fowles was "The French Lieutenant's Woman," with the same kind of melancholy plot, the same longing, and the same bits of existentialism.
Where Fowles excels is how he humanizes both the victim and the perpetrator through the two accounts. Certainly, we lose sympathy for Clegg as his mental situation declines, but it is that glimpse we get of "hm, I see what he's saying, this guy seems rational" early on that makes the novel disturbing. There's a twisted psychology here that Fowles skillfully creates and explores. In the same way that the characters spar with each other for leverage, the reader is brought in through the different details described by Clegg and Miranda. We are left to wonder about the reliability of both of our narrators.
In this novel are provocative conversations on aesthetics. There are probing questions of what money allows a man (or woman) to do.
There is talk of what it means to truly collect something, and whether or not "collecting" by its nature deprives something of its own nature. Clegg has a hard time imagining situations with Miranda in front of him because she can fly in the face of the situations he has "collected" in his mind. The essence of her life cannot allow him to do so, and so he can only imagine when he away from her. The symbolism of the collected butterflies is not lost.
But the obsession is not sexual. It seems to come from enjoying her captivity in a bell jar--to see and observe, but also to own.
Miranda is a strong female character. She's flawed, sure, but she's also incredibly strong. It doesn't matter that Clegg is in physical control. Miranda refuses to accept it and the novel is a chess match of power moves, verbal barbs, and tense situations.
It's a dense novel that's hard to break down into a neat, concise review, and I certainly don't want to ramble on any one thing. Suffice to say, it's a heck of a novel, and it's even more impressive that it's only 200 and some odd pages depending upon your edition.
It's a dark journey. Is there humor in it? Sure, but it's a bleak kind of humor. This is not a happy novel.
My first encounter with Fowles was "The French Lieutenant's Woman," with the same kind of melancholy plot, the same longing, and the same bits of existentialism.
Where Fowles excels is how he humanizes both the victim and the perpetrator through the two accounts. Certainly, we lose sympathy for Clegg as his mental situation declines, but it is that glimpse we get of "hm, I see what he's saying, this guy seems rational" early on that makes the novel disturbing. There's a twisted psychology here that Fowles skillfully creates and explores. In the same way that the characters spar with each other for leverage, the reader is brought in through the different details described by Clegg and Miranda. We are left to wonder about the reliability of both of our narrators.
In this novel are provocative conversations on aesthetics. There are probing questions of what money allows a man (or woman) to do.
There is talk of what it means to truly collect something, and whether or not "collecting" by its nature deprives something of its own nature. Clegg has a hard time imagining situations with Miranda in front of him because she can fly in the face of the situations he has "collected" in his mind. The essence of her life cannot allow him to do so, and so he can only imagine when he away from her. The symbolism of the collected butterflies is not lost.
But the obsession is not sexual. It seems to come from enjoying her captivity in a bell jar--to see and observe, but also to own.
Miranda is a strong female character. She's flawed, sure, but she's also incredibly strong. It doesn't matter that Clegg is in physical control. Miranda refuses to accept it and the novel is a chess match of power moves, verbal barbs, and tense situations.
It's a dense novel that's hard to break down into a neat, concise review, and I certainly don't want to ramble on any one thing. Suffice to say, it's a heck of a novel, and it's even more impressive that it's only 200 and some odd pages depending upon your edition.
This book has very good reviews, so it obviously just wasn’t for me. The topic of kidnapping didn’t bother me, as I primarily read dark books.
It was just boring and drawn out. I found both characters unlikeable. I found it trying to be something it wasn’t (but apparently was to many other readers). Many believe it’s a metaphor for different classes and how they are perceived. I missed the mark or just wasn’t intelligent enough for it.
That’s fine, I’m sure it’s for other people!
It was just boring and drawn out. I found both characters unlikeable. I found it trying to be something it wasn’t (but apparently was to many other readers). Many believe it’s a metaphor for different classes and how they are perceived. I missed the mark or just wasn’t intelligent enough for it.
That’s fine, I’m sure it’s for other people!
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Second time reading this novel and loved it even more second time around. Weird, creepy and somewhat funny? But maybe that’s just me. I’ll be picking up more by John Fowles.
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Begin van het boek pakte me meer het perspectief van haar voelde minder uitgewerkt als karakter. Begin was wel echt heel goed though