Latest news with #TheCollector
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
5 novels with a psychopath or sociopath as narrator
What do a Wall Street banker, a butterfly collector, a teenage thug, a delusional dropout, and a self-styled poet of perversion have in common? Each is the narrator of their own story, and each warps that story to fit their desires. The books featured here dive into the minds of men who distort reality, sometimes to justify violence, sometimes to escape the void within. From Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho to Nabokov's infamous Lolita, these novels are unsettling not just because of what happens, but because of how it's told. Through unreliable narrators, we are invited into worlds of moral decay, manipulation, obsession, and horror. These are philosophical provocations that ask how far can narrative seduce us before we see the truth. Merger and acquisitions or murder and executions? It does not matter what one hears as both are the business of one Patrick Bateman, investment banker by day and murderer by night. Bateman, the narrator, is young and affluent. He goes to nightclubs, snorts narcotics, is particular about his appearance and keeps track of the fashions of the day. However, as Bateman's veneer of control begins to crack, the distinction between real and imagined blurs. He details his morning skincare routine with the same precision as his torture sessions, raising questions about what is real and what is imaginary. Is he a serial killer or just fantasising to fill the spiritual void? Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho is satirical plunge into the hollow soul of 1980s Wall Street culture. It is a picture of a man consumed, literally and metaphorically, by consumerism. First published in 1991, American Psycho, shocked readers with its graphic violence and was banned or censored in multiple countries. However, it also sparked intense academic debate. Most people have passions that keep them going, for some it is gathering collectables. It might be stamps, pebbles, rare books or plants. John Fowles' in his debut novel, The Collector, twists the concept and takes it to its extreme. First published in 1963, The Collector is the story of Frederick Clegg, a socially awkward butterfly collector who adds something new to his collection – a veritable social butterfly, a living, breathing woman. After winning the lottery, Frederick uses his newfound wealth to kidnap Miranda, an art student he has admired from afar, and lock her in the cellar of his secluded countryside home. He hopes that eventually his captive will fall in love with him. The book is divided into two parts, the first narrated through Clegg's eerily calm perspective and the second through Miranda's desperate diary entries. Narrated from the cellar, one can feel claustrophobia closing in. Zooming out, it is allegory of a world with constant struggles between power, class and control. Critics have called it everything from a twisted love story to a modern Gothic masterpiece. Horrifyingly, some serial killers have listed the book as an influence. In A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, presents a dystopian future where teenage gangs roam the streets. It is told entirely from the point of view of 15-year-old Alex, who leads a gang of 'droogs' through a nightmare of 'ultra-violence.' One cannot help but observe that he is smart, sadistic, and obsessed with Beethoven. Strangely, he is both self-aware and of a philosophical bend of mind. He speaks in Nadsat, a teenage slang mashup of English and Russian. Through this strange language and his charisma, Alex invites us into his nightly adventures of 'ultra-violence,' classical music, and drug-laced milk. This continues until he's betrayed, arrested, and subjected to a government experiment that forces him to become 'good.' First published in 1962, it raises the question that if a person's ability to choose evil is taken away, can they still be considered human? The novel's original UK version includes a controversial final chapter where Alex begins to seek redemption, and even imagine a future family. But for decades, American readers got a bleaker version, ending just as Alex reverts to his violent ways. Even Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film adaptation left that final chapter out. Set in the gritty chaos of early '90s New York, The Stalker introduces us to Robert Doughten Savile, known as 'Doughty' to those unfortunate enough to know him. Doughty's a privileged dropout from Darien, Connecticut, coasting on ego and delusions of grandeur while sinking ever deeper into the city's underbelly. He cons his way into the lives and homes of women who mistake his empty confidence for charm. He gaslights, manipulates, and lies with ease. While pretending to be a high-flying real estate mogul, Doughty is actually spending his days smoking in Tompkins Square Park and hustling in train station bathrooms. What he lacks in self-awareness or skill, he makes up for in calculated predation. Bomer through her dark humour peels back the layers of privilege, misogyny, and narcissism. If you're a fan of unreliable narrators, The Stalker is a must-read. In Lolita, Nabokov hands the pen to a predator. Like any storyteller worth his salt, Humbert Humbert is free to drive the narrative as he wishes. He paints himself as a tragic romantic, a man cursed by an 'overwhelming love' for nymphets. He is never a predator, always a poet. He quotes Poe, rhapsodises about beauty, and drops literary allusions, luring us into his warped perspective, until it is too late and the reader complicit in his crime. He calls Dolores 'Lolita,' cloaking her in a fantasy and silence. He blames her for his obsession. Even his name, a pretentious doubling, hints towards his tendency to self-mythologise. He is an unreliable narrator, spinning child abuse as a grand passion while casually admitting to drugging Dolores, gaslighting her, and isolating her from the world. Here's the genius, one catches oneself listening and pitying him. Nabokov forces us to confront how monstrosity wears a charming mask. It also forces one to consider how art aestheticises evil.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Avengers: Infinity War's Benicio del Toro on if He'll Return in Doomsday
Benicio del Toro recently shared his thoughts on whether he will join the cast of Avengers: Doomsday as The Collector. The actor debuted in the MCU in the 2013 film, Thor: The Dark World. Although after the 2018 film, Avengers: Infinity War, The Collector hasn't been seen in any Marvel movies. Benicio del Toro recently sat down for an interview with ComicBook to promote The Phoenician Scheme, when he talked about The Collector's potential role in Avengers: Doomsday. The outlet asked Benicio del Toro whether he would join the cast of the upcoming Avengers movie. In response, he expressed uncertainty about The Collector's future in the MCU and stated, 'I don't know. I mean, it's like, you gotta get invited to play in that international tournament, and I'd love to play in it, but fingers crossed that'll happen soon. I haven't been invited yet for a second round.' The Collector, aka Taneleer Tivan, last appeared on the big screen in Avengers: Infinity War when Thanos arrived at Knowhere to obtain the Reality Stone. Here, Tivan was shown in the illusion that Thanos created to deceive the Guardians of the Galaxy. However, whether The Collector survived or was killed by Thanos on Knowhere remained a mystery. In 2018, Benicio del Toro shared that he believed that The Collector was alive after Infinity War. He said, 'I think he's alive…I think that, you know. You're talking to him!' (via CinemaBlend) Additionally, in November 2022, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn also hinted that The Collector might be alive. While talking to Entertainment Tonight about the base the Guardians had in the GOTG Holiday Special, Gunn conveyed, 'They've bought Knowhere from The Collector, that's their home base now.' Avengers: Doomsday will come out on December 18, 2026. Originally reported by Ishita Verma on SuperHeroHype. The post Avengers: Infinity War's Benicio del Toro on if He'll Return in Doomsday appeared first on - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Fox News
05-03-2025
- Fox News
Virgin Mary sculpture standing nearly 200 feet set to be tallest religious statue in the world
Construction has begun on a 180-foot statue of the Virgin Mary in Konotopie, Poland. The project, once finished, is believed to be the tallest religious structure of its kind, according to Wirtalny Toruń, the tourism group associated with the structure. The statue of Mary itself is to be 133.2-feet high, sitting on top of a pedestal in the form of a 50-foot-high crown. The crown will form an observation serving as a place of pilgrimage. "Mary is the model of perfect love and obedience to Christ. God preserved Mary from sin, and she conceived our Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing Christ into our world," writes a faith resource site. In a press release from Wirtalny Toruń, the group says there is sentimental meaning behind the location of the statue. "The location of the monument to the Virgin Mary is not accidental, it will stand in close proximity to the existing Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Konotopia," said a press announcement released by the group. "It is there that there is a wonderful figure of Our Lady of Sorrows, where pilgrimages from all over the Dobrzyń Land have been coming for years," the release said. The Virgin Mary statue would surpass other notable landmarks of faith worldwide. The Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, stands almost 100 feet tall and Christ the King in Swiebodzin, Poland stretches 108 feet high. The Statue of Liberty in New York City is the tallest statue in the U.S., stretching 151 feet and made to resemble the Roman goddess Libertas, according news outlet The Collector. Construction work is expected to take approximately 18 months. Fox News Digital reached out to Wirtalny Toruń for comment.
