2000

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.

This was a wonderful book. My favorite moment is when they realize who the Lord of the Flies is. Magnificent. ( )

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. ( )

vastly over-rated book ( )

Reviewed by Nell (Class of 2010) ( )

In this book, the major conflict is that they are free from the rules that adult society formerly imposed on them, the boys that were "dropped" on the island struggle with the conflicting human instincts that exist within each of them. They have to work toward civilization and order which results in violence, and chaos. (Samantha, Fall 2009)

I read it first as a teenager & later as a parent. It was horrifying both times, but on different levels. Definitely a classic - timeless - since it deals with human nature & we certainly haven't changed much. ( )

Disclaimer: I, as a general rule of thumb, have no use for "classics". This is simply because nearly all of the 'classics' I have read have sucked, even though everybody ranted and raved about how wonderful they were.
I read Lord of the Flies when I was younger, but I think if I'd read it now I might have appreciated it more. I didn't really enjoy it, but it wasn't even 200 pages so can't gripe too much about wasted time and whatnot. The plot wasn't really to my liking, and more than one part made me want to toss my cookies, but it was fast-moving and I appreciated that. 1.5 out of 5 severely awkward sausage-fests. ( )

Like every other literate English-speaking person, I've heard of this book but had never read it before now. It is the story of a group of British school boys stranded on a tropical Pacific island following a plane crash. There are no adults, and the island is uninhabited. The story describes how the boys begin to organize themselves and provide for their needs. The story progresses as natural leaders emerge, disagreements over priorities arise, factions develop in the group. The young boys have developed only a thin veneer of civilization, and it wears away quickly in the harsh situation.

I had an audio version of the book, read by the author. (The recording was copyrighted 1977 - Golding died in 1993.) He introduced the book by explaining why he wrote the story about a group of boys, and not girls or a mixed group. After the story, he talked about how different - and contradictory - interpretations have arisen about what the book means. He said the story is about the importance of rules in society. I found the book to be, at turns, fascinating and disturbing, but always totally believable. He shows the whole spectrum of personalities - the thinker, the follower, the hunter, the leader. He also demonstrates how each one has the ability to move a group towards a goal, or hold it back, depending on the group, the goal, and the relative strength of the other people involved. I found it to be a remarkable distillation of the way that modern society operates on a global level. I think this will be one of those extraordinary books that are unforgettable, and I hope to read it again in the future. I highly recommend it. ( )

First off, this book was nothing like I expected from the title. I'd heard the name thrown around here and there for years and I imagined some Sci-Fi Thriller. I was far from the mark.

Obviously, this book was Golding's way of expressing his horror at the violence and chaos of the war he was living through, but doing it indirectly and through a medium that would be much more shocking to the reader- children. I actually found it, too to be an expose about children themselves and the dangers of requiring them to make decisions that they are not developmentally ready for.

As for Golding's style itself, it isn't really my favorite. I tend to like more flowing, pretty, descriptive writing. But there is something to be said for his straightforward, direct use of language in this book. I think this book needs that kind of writing. The situations become so chaotic and shocking, that a bald, undecorated narration seems best.

As to whether I liked it... I thought it was interesting. I'm glad I read it. But personally I'm not too excited about reading the classics right at this moment. I'm taking a college lit class and reading/reviewing this piece sort of felt like homework (except for the fact that our Lit professor would never assign us a book this interesting) ( )

I read this book first in high school. One of the few books i actually re-read. Great classic book! ( )

http://books.moonsoar.com/archives/20... ( )

Classic. I might not agree with all that Golding implies, but it still hits, hard. ( )

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 ( )

How many times can a bunch of kids get stuck on an island, and everything goes right? Well, hey, it might happen every day, but would that really be interesting reading? "Tommy said to Steve, 'Hey, let's start an ideal society that actually WORKS.' Steve said, 'Okay,' and they did, and it did!" Yawn.

While some don't consider Flies to be Golding's best work, it is quite possibly his more renown. Additionally, it opened up the door for all manner of children to have all manner of trial upon all manner of islands. Have you ever read Battle Royale, for example?

Flies is about a bunch of schoolboys who somehow survive a plane crash. They are left without any adult supervision, so they must form a society until help arrives. After all, they're British.

But, everything is not all roses and puppy's breath. Schisms form, parties separate, and the fate of the free world (on the island) is like a Frisbee being pulled by two very playful dogs.

The heroes of the novel must contend with the hunters (formerly choirboys), and provide their youthful society with necessities: food, shelter, clothing. The island gives them fruit, but the hunters give them meat.

I'm sure that if you were forced to read this book in high school, you probably hate it, and probably think, "why didn't we just watch the movie in which they reference Alf?" Well, if that's you, I recommend you willfully go back and reread the book, when there's no expectation that you have to write an essay on how Simon was Jesus or Jack was Satan or Piggy was Buddha, or any other such gobbledygook. Then, see if you still had to "suffer through it," as many of our high school-aged children seem to be doing these days.

However, if you're not one of those poor, unfortunate souls whose vile teachers crammed literature down their throats and expected t hem to regurgitate it back onto a piece of paper come test time, I recommend you too pick this book up and read it. It'll probably get you thinking twice about the stability of any form of order. And will make you glad you're not a British schoolboy trapped on an island with your peers.

If you are a British schoolboy trapped on an island with your peers, either start building that fire, or start sharpening that spear. If you have an embarrassing nickname, lose it. If you have an embarrassing affliction, hide it. And for goodness sake, start acting like a man! ( )

Well i had to read this several times to understand the book fully. At the beginnign the speech is confusing as you don't always know who is talkign and although i think both the messages and the themes are hugely poignant in this book i think the writing lets it down. Yes, it has good devices etc, but i find it lacks the flow. On the whole a very good book though with an excellent insight into boys behaviour human nature and many other things too. ( )

One of my favorites from high school. ( )

A very odd story about a group of boys trapped on an island. While being imaginative and full of anarchy, pig heads, and odd adventure it was not enough and barely held my interest. ( )

Like most books we were forced to read for English in High-School, I really didn't like this one either. While it had valid points, and is meant to be a 'classic' read, it was just a lot of pointless bickering and coversations between a lot of naked little boys. Can't say I want to read it, or look at it, ever again. ( )

A modern classic about a group of young boys marooned on an island. The traits of humanity surface and they forn into two opposing groups. A last minute rescue averts disaster.
Book club for June 2009 ( )