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Lord of the Flies (1954)

by William Golding

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
50,62974525 (3.71)1 / 1103
The classic study of human nature which depicts the degeneration of a group of schoolboys marooned on a desert island.
all members
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▾Member recommendations
  1. 194
    Battle Royale by Koushun Takami (JGKC, Panairjdde)
    Panairjdde: Two books that explore the survival instinct of people, even at youg age, as fueled by fear and lust for violence
  2. 61
    A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes (pitjrw)
    pitjrw: Similar outlook on youth but a lot funnier and great description of a hurricane that plays the same role as the nuclear holacaust in Lord.
  3. 50
    High-Rise by J. G. Ballard (bertilak)
    bertilak: Two books about 'civilized' people becoming tribal and violent. However, Ballard is a disinterested diagnostician and Golding is a moralist.
  4. 73
    The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan (KayCliff)
  5. 40
    Animal Farm by George Orwell (sturlington)
  6. 139
    The Giver by Lois Lowry (FFortuna)
  7. 30
    Friday and Robinson: life on Esperanza Island by Michel Tournier (yokai)
  8. 30
    Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein (sandstone78)
    sandstone78: A more optimistic view of young people in a society of their own- I read this on my own from the school library a few years before Lord of the Flies was required reading, and it seemed much more reasonable to me.
  9. 20
    Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe (JuliaMaria)
    JuliaMaria: Kinder auf sich allein gestellt - was sagt es über die Gesellschaft aus?
  10. 10
    The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne (Cecrow)
  11. 10
    The Only Ones by Aaron Starmer (Anonymous user)
    Anonymous user: A world without adults with some differences and similarities.
  12. 21
    Under the Dome by Stephen King (sturlington)
    sturlington: Under the Dome is an adult version of Lord of the Flies.
  13. 32
    The Beach by Alex Garland (booklove2, mcenroeucsb)
    booklove2: The Beach is like Lord of the Flies for adults, starring adults.
  14. 00
    A Luminous Republic by Andrés Barba (stretch)
  15. 00
    Queen of Stones by Emma Tennant (KayCliff)
  16. 00
    Gone by Michael Grant (Anonymous user)
  17. 00
    Orphan Island by Rose Macaulay (KayCliff)
  18. 00
    Variant by Robison Wells (JenniferRobb)
  19. 00
    I'm the King of the Castle by Susan Hill (KayCliff)
  20. 56
    The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks (villanova)

(see all 32 recommendations)

▾Lists
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1950s (20)
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date ▼ | votes
Showing 1-5 of 684 (next | show all)
Lord of the Flies was the first novel to impact my psyche. It introduced me, long before I became a Christian, to the idea that human nature is inherently not good. For years after I read it (at age 14), I was so sure that if you isolated a group of people (children or not) from society, they would become savages. (I now doubt it, though, believing that that in most people, the desire to go home would prevent or at least discourage the descent into savagery.) ( )
  joshkn | Aug 24, 2024 |
I feel like I need to reread this again now that I know how to analyze literature. The ending made the book for me though. ( )
  sahara685 | Aug 18, 2024 |
Book 87
Lord of the Flies.
William Golding.
I would have thought everybody knew and quoted out of this book but was surprised that my mom didn't seem to know the story and hasn't seen the film?
Diana Green tell Geoffrey Green to find it (he must have it?) And we will watch it again with Stewart Green when he comes up in 2 weeks?
This book still has a profound effect on me...
9.5/10 ( )
  janicearkulisz | Aug 1, 2024 |
Honestly, I don't remember much from this, it was a school read ages ago. from what I do recall I did not enjoy it. ( )
  thebacklistbook | Jul 31, 2024 |
From my high school years, still a formative read ( )
  Rostie | Jul 9, 2024 |
date ▼ | votes
Showing 1-5 of 684 (next | show all)
?
▾Published reviews
35 livres cultes à lire au moins une fois dans sa vie
Quels sont les romans qu'il faut avoir lu absolument ? Un livre culte qui transcende, fait réfléchir, frissonner, rire ou pleurer… La littérature est indéniablement créatrice d’émotions. Si vous êtes adeptes des classiques, ces titres devraient vous plaire.
De temps en temps, il n'y a vraiment rien de mieux que de se poser devant un bon bouquin, et d'oublier un instant le monde réel. Mais si vous êtes une grosse lectrice ou un gros lecteur, et que vous avez épuisé le stock de votre bibliothèque personnelle, laissez-vous tenter par ces quelques classiques de la littérature.
added by Joop-le-philosophe | editCosmopolitan, V. Lasserre ; C. Fischer ; M. Bonvard (Jul 8, 2022)
 
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.
added by Shortride | editThe New York Times, William du Bois (pay site) (Oct 21, 1955)
 
"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.
added by Shortride | editThe New York Times Book Review, James Stern (pay site) (Oct 23, 1954)
 
▾Other authors

» Add other authors (39 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Golding, William—primary authorall editionsconfirmed
Akyol, ÖzcanForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Buehler, JenniferContributorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Carvalho, AdamsCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Damsma, HarmTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Davidson, AndrewCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Déry, TiborTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Donini, FilippoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Epstein, E. L.Afterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Forster, E. M.Introductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
François, AndréCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gregor, IanIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Grieken, Roderik vanAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hansen, Jørgen ÅrupTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jessurun d'Oliveira, H.U.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kinkead-Weekes, MarkIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kovályová, HedaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lapointe, ClaudeIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lowry, LoisAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lowry, LoisForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Miedema, NiekTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Niepokólczycki, WacławTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pedersen, WernerTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pedrolo, Manuel deTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Perkki, JuhanaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Smolka, DieterHerausgebersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Torberg, PeterÜbersetzersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Tranec-Dubled, LolaTraductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Urgan, MinaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Vergara, CarmenTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Weber, SamIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
▾Series and work relationships

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▾Common Knowledge
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Canonical title
Original title
Lord of the Flies
Alternative titles
Original publication date
1954
People/Characters
Piggy
Ralph
Jack Merridew
Simon
the beast
Important places
Uninhabited Island, Pacific Ocean
United Kingdom
England, UK
Castle Rock, Uninhabited Island, Pacific Ocean
Important events
Related movies
Lord of the Flies (1990 | IMDb)
Lord of the Flies (1963 | IMDb)
Epigraph
Dedication
For my mother and father
First words
The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon.
Quotations
His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.
Maybe there is a beast - maybe it's only us.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
King, Stephen
Connell, John
Smith, Stevie
Original language
English
Canonical DDC/MDS
823.914
Canonical LCC
PR6013.O35
▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

▾Book descriptions
The classic study of human nature which depicts the degeneration of a group of schoolboys marooned on a desert island.
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▾LibraryThing members' description
Book description
When Lord of the Flies appeared in 1954 it received unprecedented reviews for a first novel. Critics used such phrases as "beautifully written, tragic and provocative...vivid and enthralling...this beautiful and desperate book...completely convincing and often very frightening...its progress is magnificent...like a fragment of nightmare...a dizzy climax of terror...the terrible spell of this book..." E.M. Forster chose it as the Outstanding Novel of the Year. Time and Tide touched upon perhaps the most important facet of this book when it said, "It is not only a first-rate adventure story but a parable of our times," and articles on this and subsequent Golding novels have stressed these twin aspects of Golding: a consummate control of the novel form, and a superb all-encompassing vision of reality which communicates itself with a power reminiscent of Conrad.

AR Level 5.0, 9 Pts.
Haiku summary
Diverging lenses
To start a fire? Golding knew
Nothing of optics.
(thorold)

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Genres

Melvil Decimal System (DDC)

823.914Literature › English › English fiction › Modern Period › 1901-1999 › 1945-1999

LC Classification

PR6013.O35Language and Literature › English › English Literature › 1900-1960

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