JOHN FOWLES

The Collector - fragments
 

First sentences of the novel:
When she was home from her boarding-school I used to see her almost every day sometimes, because their house was right opposite the Town Hall Annexe. She and her younger sister used to go in and out a lot, often with young men, which of course I didn't like. When I had a free moment from the files and ledgers I stood by the window and used to look down over the road over the frosting and sometimes I'd see her. In the evening I marked it in my observations diary, at first with X, and then when I knew her name with M.
Last paragraph of the novel:
I shall put what she wrote and her hair up in the loft in the deed-box which will not be opened till my death, so I don't expect for forty or fifty years. I have not made up my mind about Marian (another M! I heard the supervisor call her name), this time it won't be love, it would just be for the interest of the thing and to compare them and also the other thing, which as I say I would like to go into in more detail and I could teach her how. And the clothes would fit. Of course I would make it clear from the start who's boss and what I expect.
But it is still just an idea. I only put the stove down there today because the room needs drying out anyway.

Reliana Andra Craciun

John Fowles
 

Uneori, cand venea acasa de la internat, o vedeam aproape zilnic, caci locuiau chiar peste drum de anexa primariei. Ea si sora ei mai mica intrau si ieseau mereu din casa, adesea insotite de tineri pe care, normal, ca nu-i placeam. Cand luam o pauza de la dosare si hartoage, ma duceam la fereastra si ma uitam in josul strazii prin sticla inghetata, iar cateodata o vedeam. Seara, notam evenimentul in jurnalul de observatii, la inceput denumind-o X, iar apoi, cand i-am aflat numele, i-am spus M.
Ii voi pune scrierile si parul sus, in pod, in cutia-marturie ce nu va fi deschisa decat dupa moartea mea, peste vreo 40-50 de ani. Inca nu m-am decis in privinta lui Marian (tot cu M! L-am auzit pe supraveghetor strigand-o pe nume), dar de data asta nu va mai fi vorba de dragoste, va fi de dragul experimentului si al comparatiei, si va mai fi si cealalta chestie, pe care spuneam ca as vrea s-o aprofundez si s-o invat cate ceva. Si ii vor veni si hainele. Bineinteles ca as clarifica din start cine este seful si la ce ma astept din partea ei.
Dar deocamdata e doar o idee. Azi am mutat masina de gatit in pivnita doar pentru ca oricum trebuie sa zvant camera.