I read John Fowles novel The Collector in the mid 90s and was quite stunned by it but real life seems to be even worse than fiction

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7370285.stm

I've only ever read The Collector and The French Lieutenant's Woman of Fowles: the latter I think is hugely overrated on account of a reasonably modest structural novelty (in a book that seems to be preaching feminist liberation, but otherwise comes from little more than an ethos of 1960s free love); The Collector I found really objectionable in many ways. Whilst ostensibly to do with the mentality of the collector, obsessive jealousy and possessiveness, and so on, the real sub-text, as I read it, was in the diary entries of Miranda about Clegg, which reveal a much deeper set of ultra-dehumanising attitudes, presented seemingly without critique or reservation (at least as they came across to me - this was Fowles speaking as much as Miranda), towards the lower classes. Typical arrogant British aesthete's hatred for anyone significantly 'other' to them. Reprehensible and sad.

I bought The Collector in a Duty-Free bookshop in an airport, after a severe flight delay had been announced.

I threw it away in a dustbin in the same airport about an hour later, and the bin is where this talentless trash belongs.  I'd rather read HM Consular Advice To Travellers than anything by Fowles. 

Sadly, the film of The Magus is an utter travesty, SK: way beyond merely dreadful. The complete omission of one major character and loss of the paranoia its presence induces in the 'hero' severely undercuts the plot, and Michael Caine is so utterly wrong as Nicholas in age, looks, class and attitude that it's hard to recall a worse blunder by any casting director. The decision to rationalise the the story's (very intentional) irrationalities from the beginning further weakens any hope of the central game of the novel (akin to those engineered by the playwright Pirandello) being transferred to the screen in any way.

To return to the novel: I much preferred the original version before its rewrite, by the way.

Posted by Ian Pace

Though hardly the sole domain of æsthetes in particular, Ian, let alone uniquely those from Britain.

I haven't read anything by Fowles for 20 years (it seems longer but I've checked the publication dates and A Maggot is from 1985 and it's on my shelves somewhere) but, like most people here, I found The Magus (either version) much better than anything else.  I seem to remember Fowles, in the foreword to the revised version, being rather dismissive - "where a tyro taught himself to write" or some such words; in which case he'll be rather disappointed with what seems to be the general view of the novel's status.  When reading Fowles I often got the impression that, rather like Anthony Burgess, he seemed keen to let the reader know how erudite he (Fowles) is.  The Magus - and, to a lesser extent, Daniel Martin - at least entertained the reader while the author was showing off.  I found The Collector and The French Lieutenant's Woman tedious and Mantissa quite irritating.

The films of The Collector and The French Lieutenant's Woman would certainly not get a place on my 'must see again' list but they are in a different league from the film of The Magus which is firmly on my 'avoid seeing again at all costs' list.  In all cases I had read the book before seeing the film.  I suppose my aversion to  The Magus could be a consequence of my enjoyment of the book; but I suspect it's just a consequence of it being a catastrophically awful film.

Agreed, Reiner.  Purely as a matter of personal opinion I find Burgess much more satisfying.  I just meant they have that one aspect in common.

I read The Magus when I was in my mid-twenties and absolutely loved it. The fascinating parade of characters, the duplicity, unease and paranoia that ran through it - wonderful! I thought then. A few years ago I revisited the novel and rather wished I hadn't. I was unable to finish it and was left questioning why it had made such a deep impression on me originally. I don't have a problem with the ever present 'maleness' that runs through Fowles work, but the 'show-off', 'Look at me, I'm erudite I am' aspect irritates the hell out of me now in a way that it didn't when I was younger. The French Lieutenant's Woman went straight to the nearest charity shop Tosh shelf and I finally ground to a halt with Fowles after Mantissa and A Maggot. More irritation.

The Collector is certainly a dark, unpleasant and unsettling work. The experience is rather akin to watching someone take obvious pleasure in pulling the wings off a fly. I'm referring to Fowles btw, not Clegg.

This has reminded me, did not Fowles attempt a kind of reprise of the Magus scenario in his short story The Ebony Tower? I seem to remember similarities

Mort, it may have something to do with the appeal Fowles has for adolescents.  In the 70s, the Magus was a a top read amongst the 16-25 age bracket - probably more so in the US, than in Europe.  As often happens, when you revisit something you enjoyed as a young and impressionable person, you react adversely to it - partly because you notice flaws in the work that you were blind to before, partly because you feel guilty for your apparent naivety.  I feel the same way about the plays of Peter Shaffer, which I thought were Olympian stuff back in my teens and recognise as a right load of old cobblers nowadays.

I read Fowles's journals last summer....they are fascinating and I'd recommend them to anyone who's ever been intrigued and/or irritated by the man's work.  It seems he was a bit of a misery all round and the 'showing off' that people discern in the novels was very much part of his character.  It seems he was largely to blame for the film of The Magus himself, as he was allowed to write (or, at least, co-write) the screenplay (though he naturally blames director Guy Green for the final result). 

Interesting that a leftist like Ian reacts so strongly to The Collector, when Fowles considered himself a socialist.