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Loading... Lord of the Flies (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)by William Golding
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. 1   calvetti | Dec 21, 2009 |  2000  katiemertz | Nov 20, 2009 | Lord of the Flies, the classic novel about a group of English boys trapped on a deserted island during World War II. The boys band together and create their own civilization with structure, orders, and a leader: Ralph, in an attempt to be rescued. The civilization quickly falls apart, when a separate tribe "the hunters" break off f and form a combative sub-group. Chaos ensues, and two boys are killed in the violence. Ralph's death quickly becomes imminent after Jack turns everyone against him and a hunting expedition begins. In the end, Ralph's life is saved when a British officer appears at the scene to rescue the lost boys. In my opinion, Lord of the Flies is a short masterpiece. The book utilizes children’s lives to mirror the adult world, in a fantastically mesmerizing way. I believe that it might go over the heads of some younger children, because its message is portrayed in such a different way. At the same time, I truly think that it was an amazing read. I would recommend it to older teenagers looking for a suspenseful and intriguing novel. rbiedry | Nov 6, 2009 | This was a wonderful book. My favorite moment is when they realize who the Lord of the Flies is. Magnificent. (  ) Anagarika | Nov 3, 2009 | Left to their own devices on a tropical island, children slowly slide into a primitive, barbaric lifestyle. Good, but overrated. Much of the novel's strength comes from its concept, little from the treatment. (  ) Kuiperdolin | Nov 1, 2009 | 
 There is no blinking the fact that this English schoolmaster turned novelist understands growing boys to the heart; one must go back to"High Wind in Jamaica" to find a comparable tour de force. The uneasy conviction persists that he despises the child who is father to the man-and the man as well. Homo sapiens needs all the friends he can find these days, in and out of novels.  "Lord of the Flies" is an allegory on human society today, the novel's primary implication being that what we have come to call civilization is, at best, skin deep. With undertones of "1984" and "High Wind in Jamaica," this brilliant work is a frightening parody on man's return (in a few weeks) to that state of darkness from which it took him thousands of years to return. Fully to succeed, a fantasy must approach very close to reality. "Lord of the Flies" does. It must also be superbly written. It is.
Amazon.com (ISBN 0399501487, Mass Market Paperback)William Golding's classic tale about a group of English schoolboys who are plane-wrecked on a deserted island is just as chilling and relevant today as when it was first published in 1954. At first, the stranded boys cooperate, attempting to gather food, make shelters, and maintain signal fires. Overseeing their efforts are Ralph, "the boy with fair hair," and Piggy, Ralph's chubby, wisdom-dispensing sidekick whose thick spectacles come in handy for lighting fires. Although Ralph tries to impose order and delegate responsibility, there are many in their number who would rather swim, play, or hunt the island's wild pig population. Soon Ralph's rules are being ignored or challenged outright. His fiercest antagonist is Jack, the redheaded leader of the pig hunters, who manages to lure away many of the boys to join his band of painted savages. The situation deteriorates as the trappings of civilization continue to fall away, until Ralph discovers that instead of being hunters, he and Piggy have become the hunted: "He forgot his words, his hunger and thirst, and became fear; hopeless fear on flying feet." Golding's gripping novel explores the boundary between human reason and animal instinct, all on the brutal playing field of adolescent competition. --Jennifer Hubert(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:09 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Wikipedia in English (2)
"Lord of the Flies" gives teenagers that very experience. A group of boys are stranded on a deserted tropical island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean and all of their chaperones have died due to a horrible boating accident.
While on the island, the boys soon realize that they are going to have to provide for themselves, defend themselves, and create some sort of government in order to establish some order amongst the group. It is at this point that they realize that life isn't as easy as they once thought it might be - and the reader gets this realization as well.
Golding does a great job in establishing enough fear in teenagers that they may actually believe that there is still more to learn and that parents and teachers are actually out there to help them. (