A book that starts like your typical boys' adventure book grows into something very very dark quickly. The pacing of things getting gradually more sinister is marvelous. ( )

I am at a loss to explain how I made it through my secondary schooling without having Lord of the Flies handed to me by a single English teacher. Perhaps they all assumed I had read it? There does indeed seem to be a sort of automatic reverence for this novel, with its ability to lift the curtain on the ‘darkness of man’s heart’. My central criterion, therefore, from the moment I turned the first page, was ‘How well does Golding convince me of his scenario?’ In other words, how completely does he maintain the realism necessary to generalise his ‘moral’ to all men, everywhere? The answer: I am almost convinced.

I say ‘almost’ for a reason. From the moment Golding’s characters are introduced, they have the feel of stereotypes. Ralph the rebellious and daring protagonist, Piggy the overweight, visually impaired, asthmatic nerd who eats ‘ever so many sweets’, (a line that Golding’s editor should have scratched without a moment’s hesitation,) and, of course, Jack, the bombastic prefect. As the novel progresses and the characters become more familiar, the authenticity does improve, but there are still occasional moments where Golding oversteps and pulls free from realism rather than leading it along gently; for example, Ralph’s inability to remember the importance of the fire. To compound this, the writing has inevitably dated. Readers of fifty years ago might not have batted an eyelid at the bigoted similarities between Golding’s savages and the Native American peoples, but the readers of today certainly will.

That said, the quality of the writing is generally very high. Golding’s evocation of the island in all its humours is particularly skilful, as are his breadth of symbols and his subtle replacing of names to indicate the boys’ changing attitudes. His depiction of group psychology, though overly blunt at times, is interesting, and his exploration of the nature of power, in all its capriciousness and fragility, is a definite highlight. Between this richness and the reasonably brisk pace, Lord of the Flies might almost be called a gripping and absorbing read.

So, considering that this novel is almost convincing and almost a page-turner, I might almost recommend it. Almost. ( )

A all time favorite. One of my first major reads! Excellent look in to the unraveling of the society they think they are. ( )

Very interesting one.... to teach in school.
A touching story of a bunch of kids on an island; the art of writing - creating a new world for these kids, where they are the leaders, the warriors and their own enemies as well. Every single word used makes this story believable.... a fascinating one. ( )

i found this book scary. The very possibility of the anarchy , outright sadism that may be inherent in all of us and only needs a little spark to surface -- is completely agreeable. One tends to even recognise or agree with one or more of the actions of the boys and consider it as correct ( )