READING LEVEL: 5.0 AR POINTS: 9.0

A classic first published in 1954 - This was nearly a 5-star read for me, but there was only one little hiccup. In his dialogue between the boys, the author constantly cut sentences short, not finishing a thought and having other boys cut in with one word or a few lines of thoughts and them not even finishing. This really annoyed the hell out of me. But, the story was great and he captured the immaturity of the boys thinking and their actions. There are two ways to read this book: 1) A super adventurous book full of young boys; or 2) A thought-provoking book on what happens to people when they are stripped of everything in life…what internal evils are pulled from your soul? What lines will you cross to survive? According to one interview with the author William Golding in 1964, he agrees with some of what is interpreted out of his writing and disagrees with others. So, get what you want out of this book. You are the critic.

You have a slew of stranded boys on an island, ages ranging from 6 to 12 years. The oldest boys take charge and try to behave like adults and create some kind of order out of chaos. The two oldest, Ralph and Jack, want to be in charge and eventually go head-to-head splitting up the group. Ralph, being the more mature one, and voted as chief, knows that keeping a fire is the most important thing encase there is a ship in passing, then they can be rescued. Jack, the hunter, knows that food is the most important for their survival; without it, they die. The difference between the boys? Ralph knows both are important and all boys are divvied out jobs. Jack does all the hunting with his boys, but that’s not enough, he is hellbent on being chief, voted on or not. So, he splits and creates his own club. The evil rises and they become more like savages, killing wild hog, painting their faces, dancing and chanting around the fire. Eventually, they kill two of their own, and work on killing Ralph. They no longer view each other as humans.

MOVIE: Lord of the Flies (1990) film, starring Balthazar Getty as Ralph, the one who tried to maintain order; Chris Furrh as Jack, the leader of the hunters; Danuel Pipoly as Piggy, as the smart but fat, blind, and asthmatic kid who is most loyal to Ralph and is killed, and James Badge Dale as Simon, who is also killed. NOTE: I haven't watched the movie yet. Couldn't stream it from anywhere, so ordered a used DVD movie for $1.84 through Amazon. Will review after watching.

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Top 10 Most Banned Classics because of its vulgar language and violence

https://www.thoughtco.com/most-banned-classic-novels-738741 ( )

#justiceforsimon ( )

Here's what I wrote about this read in 2010: "Finally read this classic published in 1954, after Katie read for high school. Allegories all over the place! What can I say that improves on anyone's else comments?" ( )

Another one I remember reading some years ago, without now recalling its details, except that I did not enjoy it and wondered why I continued reading to it's end. ( )

Incredible story. Powerfully written. This is Peter Pan, this is the Lost Boys. This is how humanity fails when there is no civility. ( )