Overall Impression: A disturbing insight into the deranged mind of a sociopath.
Ok, so I didn’t pick this book out of choice. It was set as 
required reading for my first module on my Creative and Professional Writing course. Previous to this I knew nothing about the book or the writer, so I went in blind! We haven’t actually started discussing it yet so my thoughts on it may change in the next few weeks. But for now, on with the review! 🙂
Withdrawn, uneducated and unloved, Frederick collects butterflies and takes photographs. He is obsessed with a beautiful stranger, the art student Miranda. When he wins the pools he buys a remote Sussex house and calmly abducts Miranda, believing she will grow to love him in time. Alone and desperate, Miranda must struggle to overcome her own prejudices and contempt if she is to understand her captor, and so gain her freedom.
I think that’s all the plot explanation you need; the premise is quite simple as the books emphasis is heavily character driven and busting with social commentary rather than plot points.
John Fowles writing is a hard one to critique in this case because I didn’t like it. In fact, I think the point is that you are not supposed to like it. There are no elaborate descriptions to paint a bright picture of the settings, places or people. The writing feels clinical and very matter of fact, and I think this is supposed to reflect the way that Frederick views the world; his detachment and his negative outlook on society. Continue reading
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