(Stand-Alone)
Published: October 1st 1999 (first published 1954)
Synopsis:
William Golding’s compelling story about a group of very ordinary small boys marooned on a coral island has become a modern classic. At first, it seems as though it’s all going to be great fun; but the fun before long becomes furious & life on the island turns into a nightmare of panic & death. As ordinary standards of behavior collapse, the whole world the boys know collapses with them—the world of cricket & homework & adventure stories—& another world is revealed beneath, primitive & terrible. Lord of the Flies remains as provocative today as when it was 1st published in 1954, igniting passionate debate with its startling, brutal portrait of human nature. Though critically acclaimed, it was largely ignored upon its initial publication. Yet soon it became a cult favorite among both students and literary critics who compared it to J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye in its influence on modern thought & literature. Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies has established itself as a classic.
My Rating:
4/5 (Really Good)
Book Information
Publisher: Penguin Books
Genre(s): Classic, Dystopia, Horror, Young Adult
Page Count: 182
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0140283331
This was used for the Popsugar challenge: A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t.
Hello fellow bookworms! Today I have for you a review on Lord of the Flies by William Golding. This book seems to be a favorite for everybody, and I’m happy to say I’ve become one of those people! This book was really good, and very well written.
Quick Summary
A group of school boys find themselves stranded on an island. With no one to be found, and no one who know of their predicament, the boys have no choice but to decide on a leader and how to survive. What started off as seemingly fun and games quickly turns into a savage battle of survival-of-the-fittest and fights over leadership.
Plot
I honestly don’t know what I was expecting of the plot. All I know is that whatever the expectations were, they were met, for the most part. A lot of the book had a very haunting and creepy feel to it, which was cool. I don’t think I would’ve expected something like it in a classic. I will say that the ending was very anti-climactic, and I think the ending could’ve been written much better. But don’t get me wrong, I still really liked the plot. I think what I liked most about it was essentially the idea of the whole thing, but I think it could’ve been executed a bit better. Just a teensy bit. I think the pacing kind of felt off with me, I don’t know, one second I was on the tip of my toes waiting to see what will happen and the next I’m waiting for some action. A lot of the time I felt was spent arguing over making fires, and who’s the leader, etc. but maybe that’s just me? Nonetheless, it was a good storyline. Is it for everybody? No, but I think most of you would enjoy it.
Characters
A lot of the characters irked me, but I did like how the author crafted the characters. I couldn’t bring myself to really root for any of the characters, even the supposed ‘good guys’, and the bad guy was very interesting. I really liked how while one of the boys, Jack, and his group of buddies, were set up as the antagonists of the ‘good guys’ while there was still a bigger threat to all of them. This bigger threat was very interesting to read about, not to mention the creepiness factor!
“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?”
It was also cool to see the characters as they were becoming less and less human, and more savage. Jack and his crew were despicable from the start, really, they might be able to hunt, but other than that they were no use and instead acted like animals. But the supposed good guys, started off decent enough, mostly, but also started to become savage and more odd.
Writing Style
The writing was gripping, to say the least! It was very descriptive, and as far as classics go, I’d say is pretty easy to follow and understand.
Towards midnight the rain ceased and the clouds drifted away, so that the sky was scattered once more with the incredible lamps of stars. Then the breeze died too and there was no noise save the drip and tickle of water that ran out of clefts and spilled down, leaf by leaf, to the brown earth of the island. The air was cool, moist, and clear; and presently even the sound of the water was still. The beast lay huddled on the pale beach and the stains spread, inch by inch.
Sometimes I think the descriptions were a bit too descriptive, and might cause people to skim over the passages, but I still really liked the writing. I found most of it to be quite beautiful, I could picture everything clearly and that was both a welcome and unwelcome addition to the overall story. Welcome, because, well, who wouldn’t want to be able to visualize things by simply reading the words off a page, and unwelcome, well… let’s just say that some of the descriptions don’t go easy on the stomach, or on the creepy meter. But to me this all goes to say that the writing is great!
Overall…
A very enjoyable classic! I have a feeling this book is going to be sticking with me for many years to come. I may have not been rooting for the characters, (although I’m not quite positive that that was the goal in the first place… Perhaps they were made to be that way?) but they were, say, diverse to say the least! The writing was great, and if you’re fairly new to classics, I think it would be mostly easy to follow. But maybe that’s just me. I definitely recommend this for those of you looking for a different kind of horror/dystopia read!
Better eat this up before you see the lord of the flies! Or else you might not get the chance!
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