Customer Reviews
promising idea, failed execution 
2009-06-30
I give this book three stars just on the strength of the underlying idea, but I think the author just failed to deliver on it. Granted, the author faced a difficult task in making this work, so I'm sympathetic, but I still can't recommend it. Paul Gehrman, Author, Kaleidoscope
Hard to get through...so dirty in every way possible 
2009-06-07
Reading through this book was like a punishment. The more I think about it the more it makes me feel sick to my stomach. Golding created such a real scene.
A mass of 7-12 year old, sweaty, smelly, dirty boys all trapped together. Blood, bile, urine, poop, spit, body odor.
The boys have no repercussions. That is the scariest part.
I did not like reading this one bit.
The Heart of Mankind 
2009-05-28
The Heart of Mankind
"Which is better - to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill? ... Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?" (p. 162). Published in 1954, this amazing piece of work illustrates society and society's reaction to isolation apart from law. The knowledgeable Piggy, one of the many characters in the novel The Lord of the Flies, articulated this quote. This novel shows a group of young boys stranded on an island after their plane was shot down and the pilot killed. All by themselves, the juvenile, vigorous boys are trying to get off the island and get home ... or are they? Selfishness and a lust for power undermine the aim for rescue. While a few of the boys are working hard to obtain liberation from the atoll, several are obsessed with the thought of acquiring supremacy and relishing in the freedom and separation from their previous normal, boring lives with rules and adults.
This story, furthermore, examines the hearts and motivations of mankind. The message is that deep down inside of us as humans is a bent toward evil. The author, William Golding, presents this point by demonstrating that when there is no one around to enforce law, evil comes out of the boys and, consequently, causes much mayhem and destruction. "The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws" (p. 136). This quote shows how brutal and savage the boys have become. They strike with a mob mentality mistaking one of their own for the "beast." Earlier in the novel, this very character makes a prophetic statement about the beast while addressing the group: "What I mean is ... maybe it's only us" (p. 77). He is saying that the beast, whatever it is, is the evil within themselves.
Lord of the Flies is an exciting and riveting story that captures your heart. Some critics say the book ends rather abruptly, but others feel strongly that the ending is consistent with the author's purpose. The reader is left with a sense of contrast where instant law and order replaces chaos. Rich imagery and symbolism are discovered throughout the book and personal introspection is promoted. The book also causes the reader to take a deeper look at and analyze the true condition of the heart and soul of man and the role of society in maintaining morality. Lord of the Flies is an American classic and is written by the brilliant author William Golding. This timeless masterpiece should be read over and over again by every generation.
The Flies that Plague Us All 2009-05-17
The Flies that Plague Us All
"The most influential novel... since Salinger's Catcher in the Rye." - Time William Golding's amazing novel, Lord of the Flies, is a thoughtful allegory that should be read and pondered by all people. The seemingly simple plot covers a world of intriguing themes and symbols. The diverse characters shape the storyline while at the same time represent ideas and concepts with deeper meanings. All should enjoy this marvelous novel.
The book begins when a group of English schoolboys are stranded on a deserted island in the Pacific. A terrible storm causes their doomed plane to crash and with no adult supervision, the boys run wild. Initially, they elect a chief and call group meetings to discuss important things to do such as building shelters and maintaining a signal fire. However, as the boys bask in the joy of their new found freedom and find no limits to hold them back or adults to punish them for misbehaving, they begin their fall from the heights of civilization and order to the depths of chaos.
In the novel, written after World War II, Golding portrays his views on society through symbolism and themes in the novel. One of the themes explores the nature of evil. The boys become very afraid of a beast that they are sure exists on the island. One of the boys, Simon, however, suggests that perhaps the evil is within them and not in the form of a beast. As the boys become more malicious in their acts toward each other, they undergo a terrible experience in which they lose their childhood innocence. They are no longer the good little boys who arrived on the island. Golding also makes a point about civilization and savagery. Towards the end of the novel, the boys signify that they have left civilization behind by smearing blood on their faces as war paint and making animal sacrifices. In addition to themes, symbols are widely used in the novel. The boys use a conch to call group meetings where each boy can voice his own opinion without interruption. The shattering of the conch signifies that the boys have lost their last shred of civility. By using symbols and themes to express his ideas, Golding has created a spectacular novel.
Although the characters are only boys, they represent mature concepts. Ralph is the elected chief of the boys and is the image of kindness; he represents democracy. However, although his kindness is what gets him elected it is also his undoing. Jack is Ralph's opposite, using the boys' fear to govern them as a tyrannous dictator when order crumbles. Simon is quiet and spiritual; he is the one who realizes that the supposed "beast" on the island exists only in the boys' imaginations, and that the evil lies within the boys themselves. The scientist among the boys, logical Piggy, is the backbone of civilization. He helps Ralph make decisions as chief and is his loyal friend. A sullen, mysterious figure, Roger is probably the most feared of all the boys. He has no conscience, and without adults to administer punishment, Roger knows no limit to his horrific acts. By presenting the readers with these characters, Golding enhances his work significantly.
Lord of the Flies is a stunning book that you should definitely read. All the elements of the novel hold the reader in a tight grasp all the way to the end. The themes and symbols are delightful to contemplate and certainly open one's mind. Golding's characters are very realistic and easy to believe. Readers aged thirteen and older should read this novel by all means.
The Flies that Plague Us All 2009-05-17
The Flies that Plague Us All
"The most influential novel... since Salinger's Catcher in the Rye." - Time William Golding's amazing novel, Lord of the Flies, is a thoughtful allegory that should be read and pondered by all people. The seemingly simple plot covers a world of intriguing themes and symbols. The diverse characters shape the storyline while at the same time represent ideas and concepts with deeper meanings. All should enjoy this marvelous novel.
The book begins when a group of English schoolboys are stranded on a deserted island in the Pacific. A terrible storm causes their doomed plane to crash and with no adult supervision, the boys run wild. Initially, they elect a chief and call group meetings to discuss important things to do such as building shelters and maintaining a signal fire. However, as the boys bask in the joy of their new found freedom and find no limits to hold them back or adults to punish them for misbehaving, they begin their fall from the heights of civilization and order to the depths of chaos.
In the novel, written after World War II, Golding portrays his views on society through symbolism and themes in the novel. One of the themes explores the nature of evil. The boys become very afraid of a beast that they are sure exists on the island. One of the boys, Simon, however, suggests that perhaps the evil is within them and not in the form of a beast. As the boys become more malicious in their acts toward each other, they undergo a terrible experience in which they lose their childhood innocence. They are no longer the good little boys who arrived on the island. Golding also makes a point about civilization and savagery. Towards the end of the novel, the boys signify that they have left civilization behind by smearing blood on their faces as war paint and making animal sacrifices. In addition to themes, symbols are widely used in the novel. The boys use a conch to call group meetings where each boy can voice his own opinion without interruption. The shattering of the conch signifies that the boys have lost their last shred of civility. By using symbols and themes to express his ideas, Golding has created a spectacular novel.
Although the characters are only boys, they represent mature concepts. Ralph is the elected chief of the boys and is the image of kindness; he represents democracy. However, although his kindness is what gets him elected it is also his undoing. Jack is Ralph's opposite, using the boys' fear to govern them as a tyrannous dictator when order crumbles. Simon is quiet and spiritual; he is the one who realizes that the supposed "beast" on the island exists only in the boys' imaginations, and that the evil lies within the boys themselves. The scientist among the boys, logical Piggy, is the backbone of civilization. He helps Ralph make decisions as chief and is his loyal friend. A sullen, mysterious figure, Roger is probably the most feared of all the boys. He has no conscience, and without adults to administer punishment, Roger knows no limit to his horrific acts. By presenting the readers with these characters, Golding enhances his work significantly.
Lord of the Flies is a stunning book that you should definitely read. All the elements of the novel hold the reader in a tight grasp all the way to the end. The themes and symbols are delightful to contemplate and certainly open one's mind. Golding's characters are very realistic and easy to believe. Readers aged thirteen and older should read this novel by all means.
The Flies that Plague Us All 2009-05-17
14.5 Million copies sold to date
The classic, startling, and perennially bestselling portrait of human nature-now available as a Premium Edition with a stunning new cover and re-set, easy-to-read text.
Wasted on schoolkids 2009-05-08
William Golding's first novel has been read, most probably by most people, when they were at school as Lord of the Flies has long been a staple text of GCSE English classes. As a result many people read it at an age where they are filleting its pages for 'symbols' to be reprocessed in exam answers, and sniggering at innuendos such as blowing the conch.
All of which is a shame, as Lord of the Flies articulates a theme of the innate savage just under the surface of civilized man. A trope that has spawned a thousand imitators in films and books since, but Golding's novel was probably the first. Beginning as a deceptively simple fable about some well educated British schoolboys stranded on an island after a plane crash, the allegorical story traces their descent into frenzied barbarisim.
Golding himself was a schoolmaster for a number of years, and he knows exactly what boys are like. If they are not strictly regulated and controlled, chaos is the inevitable result.
Human Instincts for Dummies 2009-05-04
Many books try to show the essence of human emotion and feelings. Another common theme is to show the innocence of children in a world of adults. William Golding's Lord of the Flies Golding finds the true balance of the innocence of children with human instinct when it's thrown into the midst of the jungle.
In Lord of the Flies, the reader is placed into the world of children as they are stranded on an island. In a world without order, the kids have to rule themselves and make their own law. Soon the strongest of the pack come out and rule the weak-hearted. If a child disobeys the higher power, they get punished the sentence of death.
The characters of Piggy, Jack, Ralph, and Simon are characters that everyone can relate to. They all express different human emotions that are inside of all of us. From the strong leader Ralph who leads the children, to Simon who is the boy who could lead the children in a peaceful and productive way of life.
Many people say that there is too much symbolism and not enough on the story. I don't agree with this because the symbolism is what makes the book so powerful and lasting. Symbolism is something everyone can relate too and makes the reader think.
Golding's goal to show children breaking down into basic human nature works perfectly in this story because all the characters feel real. He makes the characters crash so much that they feel like normal kids but, they still have animal characteristics like the urge to kill that make the kids so complex. He also makes the characters likable and more believable without overdoing it.
To Sum it all up, I love the characters and the symbolism in the story. The Characters are well developed and have depth which is nice to get once and a while and the symbolism makes the reader think about human nature and emotions. The weakness I see is that it takes a while to get into but, if the reader continues to go through the story and stick with it, the reader will find the story fun and endearing. Personally, it made me think about life and how at the worst of times people become monsters and do not listen to themselves.
What This Book Did For Me 2009-03-27
I would just like to mention that 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 bad. 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.) I still consider it one of my favorite books.
The Lord of the Flies, an excellent read for a high school student 2009-02-09
The book The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an exciting novel about plane crash that leaves only boys on a desert island. The boys on the island start civilized and organized, but quickly break away from civility and erupt into chaos. Golding offers highly developed characters such as the main character Ralph; he starts out as the chief of the boys. He is a suitable leader, and he represents what is right and logical. Another boy who becomes his adviser is piggy. He is not respected on the island, but Ralph sees that he is actually very wise and values his ideas. The antagonist of the book is jack, who you will learn to hate throughout the book, at first he seems like a simple bully, but as innocence is lost form the island he turns into a controlling dictator.
What is so interesting about this book is the spontaneous events that keep you interested. Right when the book starts to get slow at some times, Golding introduces a new struggle or something new on the island. The theme of this book is the loss of innocence of the boys. At the beginning are an organized democracy, when times get harder on the island the boys could go as far as murder just for the pure bloodlust of it. It shows that when boys have no supervision or adults implanting good morals on them they start wondering how much they can get away with. Golding shows that society on the island it not responsible enough to plan for the future and instead they just give into simple wants. This is allegorical for Freud's theory of Id, ego, and superego. The boys lead on the island, lead by jack are the id. They only follow simple wants and do not look at the bigger picture, This proves harmful because a group of boys without w set of rules and only governed by simple wants turns into savagery.
The Lord of the Flies is more than just another survival story; it had a much deeper meaning. One of he characters in the story is a perfect example of a Christ figure, he represents what is innocent and pure, but he passes along with the presence of innocence on the island.
William Golding does a wonderful job of supplying very distinct images on the island. His writing style changes throughout the book from calm and orderly to chaos and complete anarchy. He supplies very tense moments and exciting events on the island. He doesn't get too much in details with the character's emotions, he doesn't go out and say them. He has a way of showing the characters emotions through their actions towards other characters.
I suggest this book to anyone who will enjoy a thrilling plotline. This is a very suitable book for young adults around 9th and 10th grade. This book is also very intriguing for any guy. Girls can enjoy it, but I think that it was more aimed towards guys. It teaches good moral lessons about how order is necessary to survive and we a nothing but savages without it. The Lord of the Flies is an excellent piece of literature that will be read for many years to come.
