Customer Reviews
Human pyschology textbook disguised as an adventure novel 
2008-09-06
This book begins a little fuzzy, but by the end of the first few pages the explanation for the boys' current situation is revealed: A plane carrying many British schoolboys crashed on a tropical island, and only some amount of them survive. There are no adults. Sounds like your typical survival-on-a-desert-island beginning, right?
In a way, it is. For the most part, this book details the boys' struggle to survive under the leadership of Ralph and his intelligent friend Piggy. Ralph attempts to lead the boys under a sort of democratic establishment, and it works, for a while. But the "model boy" of the school, Jack Merridrew, gains a crazed obsession with hunting. Soon his target becomes a "Beast" of the island and, aided by his fellow hunters, begins committing criminal acts such as beatings, robbery, and murder in an attempt to "kill the beast". The boys desert Ralph and Piggy and join Jack's society of madness, believing in the misguided leadership of Jack. However, all that's well ends well, as all the boys are eventually rescued. That's the end of the story, right?
Wrong. The true meaning of the book is much, much deeper than that. What you thought was an island adventure is revealed to be an insightful look into the reasons why men do what they do, why certain societies fail, how fear and darkness penetrates man, and what humans do when they are desperate. It also explores the boundary between human reason and animal instinct, all on the brutal playing field of adolescent competition.
This book will appeal to adventure-seekers and philosophers alike. It is gripping enough to hold your attention and fascinating enough that you will still recall it months later.
Children without Adults 2008-08-28
"Lord of the Flies" is Golding's fascinating novelistic expression of the theory that human beings are born violent savages, requiring adult supervision and training to moderate and tame. I find "Lord of the Flies" excellent both artistically and conceptually because, in part, because I am in agreement with Golding.
In the story, children marooned on an island, without adults, quickly revert to the savagery from which they sprang. One group even develops a crude religion to explain things they cannot see and to justify their use of brutal power. Some of the children are more 'civilized' and it is through their eyes that we regard the reversion of others with an equal measure of alarm and distaste. The young savages hunt, stage wild parties and make offerings of pig's heads to their newfound God. They finally murder. It is only with the arrival of adults that total chaos is prevented.
Ron Braithwaite--author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico
Grrrr-8 Book! 2008-07-14
This is a great book to read! Very interesting and intense. Great reading material.
I have the conch...let me speak! 
2008-07-10
OK now that I have the conch I have a few things I'd like to say about this book. First if you don't know what the conch is all about then you'd better pick up this book and read it. Secondly if you think you know who the Lord of Flies might be without reading this book your wrong. Third and lastly do yourself a favor anyway and pick up this book, it's a fun, quick read. I liked this story of young boys stranded on a island having to fend for themselves and at the same time trying to keep some sort of organization among themselves as they wait for a possible rescue. But therein lies the problem as their little world begins to turn up-side down as different personalities begin to clash. I felt as though I too was on the island with these kids as I read along. I've said enough now, who wants the conch now?
Do Humans Make Civilization, or vice versa? 2008-06-29
What an incredible first novel, a story of civilization, how humans create it and how easily it can be destroyed. It deals with fear, and the atrocities it can make people commit. Golding wrote often about the connection between humanity and civilization. Does civilization make us human? This story can mean many things to many people, making it wonderful fodder for literature classes and idle pondering.
The worst book I ever read 
2008-06-12
These deluxe editions are packaged with French flaps, acid-free paper, and rough front.
"This brilliant work is a frightening parody on man's return. . . to that state of darkness from which it took him thousands of years to emerge. . . Superbly written." --
The New York TimesOther Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century:
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
My Antonia by Willa Cather
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
White Noise by Don DeLillo
A week story with the outline shining through 
2008-06-04
Ted Brautigan from Hearts In Atlantis called this book a rare good story written well (not a quote, but close enough). It must have been in the world from which Ted came. In this world the story is weak, predictable, laboriously plotted, written in rather lame language festering with pronouns and descriptions that paint no picture.
The innocence of the age in which the book was written shows through and through: things that the author intended to be shocking pale in comparison with daily news stories of today.
Who needs Rowling when you've got Golding? 2008-05-16
LORD OF THE FLIES, by William Golding, is one of the best books to come along in literature since Chaucer and his CANTERBURY TALES. Mr. Golding writes beautifully and poetically of this tragic commentary on humans and our society, making the story of these young boys all the more poignant and thought-provoking.
This book is not for the weak of mind, nor the faint of heart. Several high school peers of mine found it "boring and stupid," simply because they felt there was not enough adventurous action and "too many big words." They did not understand that Golding wrote as many of the time did, with detailed description of the small things, so as to give the reader a better vision of events and enthrall them further with the story. Truly, this may be his greatest strength: his ability to completely captivate the reader by way of giving descriptions so thorough our mind cannot blur it.
Many of my peers also would've liked "more blood and guts." It's a shame they did not realize that Golding did not write of gruesome things to revel in the macabre. He wrote of these to make stick in our hearts the tragedy that young boys, devoid of civilized society, had no ability to stop themselves from committing atrocities. For one to read this book looking to enjoy an unremarkable fairy tale, where things end as happily as they begin, I'm afraid one would be sorely disappointed.
I, however, was not disappointed in the least. I expected great things from this story and I received them: an enthralling plot, sincere characters, vivid descriptions, beautifully tragic writing, a deeply affecting social commentary and an ending that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
If anyone is bored with a simple movie, I'd suggest buying a copy of William Golding's LORD OF THE FLIES. This is one adventure that will never disappoint!
The Monsters of the Island . . . 2008-05-13
Well, most people in America have already read "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding, which is definitely a classic. So I'm not going to give a synopsis, just a general appraisal of the work.
The main characters (Ralph, Jack, Piggy, Roger, and many more) are very complex and very riveting. You can clearly observe their distinctive personalities with their actions and their dialogue. And you feel sorry for these characters when something goes horribly wrong.
There are many symbolisms in this book (the conch, the pigs, the flies, etc.), and they work very well here. Interpretations are open (except when it comes to the obvious ones). Tensions are high as we slowly move towards the climax. No Hollywood ending here.
Golding has created an influential work of art, as highlights in this book are many. This isn't an innocent story, and it's no cliché, either. Kudos to the author.
A+
Lord of the Flies 2008-05-12
William Golding's book of classic woe and hardship, the book tells of a group of young boys who are stranded on a deserted island. With no adults there with them they have to find the strength inside of them to survive on their own. The book starts off great with the boys getting along and learning how to work together, until they start to get power hungry. Ralph is voted to be chief of the group but you see the inner battle of how to rule, the side of hunting and playing and enjoying the stay at the island with out parents, or watching and tending the fire to get rescued. While Ralph is dealing with this another one of the boys wants to be chief and decides that hunting and playing is the way to go, he wants Ralph out of leadership and that is where the struggle begins. The fighting between the two boys brings out the evil in all the boys on the island. The book is the tale of the evil that mankind carries around, unknowingly, with them. It tells of the evil in all of us. Can society live and survive being good? Or does this inner evil take over? This book does a marvelous job telling of that.
