Lord of the Flies
Ratings1,522
Average rating3.6
HOLY F*CK, this book is disturbing yet it was a good read; a must-read classic!
I thought I wouldn't connect to any of the characters, but I was wrong! Ralph was a born-to-be leader, brave chief that only had one goal in mind shared with Piggy: to be rescued from the island. I wish we got to know more about Simon because man hE IS PRECIOUS. RIP to Simon and Piggy. They didn't deserve to die at all. I'm not even going to talk about Jack. No.
“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.”
To be honest, the beginning was a bit boring, and there were times where the dialogue gets confusing. Other than those, the story was well-written!
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Stressful, but solid, reading.
My rating is based on how much I personally enjoyed the story. It was pretty heavy reading, and perhaps more so as I knew there was an underlying bullying aspect that ran through the story - and bullying always puts me on edge.
The book itself is brilliantly written and the climax of the story is masterfully executed. Golding does an excellent job of slowly building up the tension throughout the story until it's crashing so hard at the end of the story it seems like there's no way out.
Ralph's (one of the protagonists) feeling of peril at the end of the book is visceral. Reminding me of my typical nightmares and stress dreams where I'm unable to escape the terror no matter what choice I make.
Another book that proves my fears of reading the classics to be true.
“A plane crashes on a desert island, only children survive, they try to establish a society to live in. They have to deal with food, shelter, order and trying to be rescued.” This could have been one sentence, it is the 50% of the book however. Nothing interesting happens, the characters are very uninteresting. Think the opposite of Ender. They all are children and behave as such.
Here are some of the events. They may seen somewhat interesting, but they are not, really. Maybe if it were as concise as I describe it would be acceptable.
- the plane crashed, and all of the children are dispersed on the island. Ralph, the main protagonist, meets “Piggy”, who finds a conch and give to Ralph to blow and with the loud sound, attract everybody to him. Among other kids, an “army” of children comes marching in guided by a boy named Jack.
- they decide to vote on a leader. The decision is between Jack and Ralph. Ralph is chosen. Jack is a little resented.
- Ralph decides to explore the island, to make sure they are really on an island, surrounded by water and wether there is anybody else living there. He, Jack and Simon go on to explore, but they find no one.
- fruits are plentiful, but it is not long since they see the need to form a group to hunt down boars for meat. Soon a small rivalry between the hunters and the “gatherers” start to form.
- they try to build a fire to produce smoke to be seen from afar by a possible rescue ship.
– first the fire spreads and destroy a good part of the forest. They worry that some of the younger kids may have died in the process, and they have no way of telling if that is the case because of a failed attempt of a census previously.
– second, a group of kids is assigned to keep the fire running at all times. When a ship passes by, they have abandoned their post.
- they choose a common place as bathroom, where their leavings are easily washed away by the ocean tide. The younger children don't quite follow that rule.
- some of the smaller children have nightmares about a creature that comes in the night. They start to spread panic among the others.
- they also need to build a shelter. Most kids soon give up in favor of playing in the water, while only Simon and Ralph remains. This makes Ralph more bitter.
Read 2:55/ 7:00 40%
It's obviously not a very creative theme, but the intensity of this novel dragged me through the pages effortlessly. In that regard, with the true human nature shining through the depths of darkness in this book, it's a 4.
As far as books about the breakdown of society and the collapse of utilitarian morality, this is one of the most prized, but certainly not amongst the best, in my opinion.
I remember reading this in high school - I thought it was a bit hyperbolic (even if it was about children) and the analogies to modern society (the elite, the clergy, the uneducated masses, the power-hungry leaders...) are so blatant its not even fun to analyze.
But oh well, I guess some people need to be beaten over the head with books like this... even though I felt it was crude.
A story with a great message about the fragility of men gets lost in a bunch of clichés and sloppy writing. If one had put more hought into writing a coherent plot, instead of describing the beautiful scenery for pages, this book would have been way better.
I have finally read this. Now I will understand references that are frequently made in other media I enjoy.
Reading this book was a pain. I only managed to go through with it after I looked up an audiobook for the last chapters.
I understand what Golding did here, but it didn't work out for me at all. And I prefer the original, real story better.
Since this book seems to be in a lot of reading lists, I wanted to pick it up. But the story was boring and expected. The writing is not very special.
EDIT: I switched from the book to the audiobook and it was more enjoyable and understandable.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Rounded down to 3 stars
I love the historical and allegorical nature of this book, but I do admit that it's just incredibly boring. My eyes easily slid from page to page, sometimes not really absorbing what I read and it didn't feel important that I needed to know.
Do I agree with Golding's point of view that humans are on a thin ledge between civility and chaos/cruelty? I think I mostly do. I think a lot of the things that we take for granted in civilization are incredibly fragile and not everyone believes the same thing and many would likely devolve if things were upended. Humans are definitely capable of great evil as shown in this small tale.
I don't really remember what was taught when I read this in high school. However, I most definitely did not understand what Golding (or my teacher) was trying to say to me, the reader. I wonder if there was a deeper conversation about things and it was just more simplistic in nature, since we were teenagers, or if the teacher did bring up some of these moral and ethical questions. I just don't remember enough to say one way or the other.
Quotes:
“Maybe there is a beast... maybe it's only us.”
“The thing is - fear can't hurt you any more than a dream.”
“The greatest ideas are the simplest.”
“I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been.”
Written in a sober yet powerful manner,it's definitely a classic worth reading. Superb allegory of the human condition and a parable about childhood's end.
Homo homini lupus.
____
Un clásico imprescindible cuya lectura debería ser ampliamente fomentada en el bachillerato. Una alegoría de la condición humana y una parábola sobre la pérdida de la inocencia.
El hombre es un lobo para el hombre.
“El mundo, aquel mundo comprensible y racional, se escapaba sin sentir. Antes se podía distinguir una cosa de otra, pero ahora...”
“Tenéis que daros cuenta que el miedo no os puede hacer más daño que un sueño.”
One of those books I read over and over again! When we were assigned it in school, I read ahead because I couldn't stop myself. An amazing look at what makes us human and what truly makes us ‘civilized'. EVERYONE should read this, no matter what gender/culture. It makes one wonder what they would be like if they were thrown into a similar situation. You look into yourself, and sometimes it's terrifying what you see.
⭐⭐
Not a book for me and not one I would recommend. It didn't hold my interest, and probably felt more of a chore to get through. Not completely terrible, but I didn't have a good experience. This book was an enjoyable read, but there are several things I wish were done differently.
Funny how time changes our point of view.
I thought this book was great when I read it in high school. It seemed to pull back the curtain on how brutal and cruel people can be both on a macro and micro level.
From Ralph telling the group first off to call Peterkin, Piggy, even after he revealed how much he didn't want that to happen, to the violent, mob mentality that takes over the group.
The majority of the boys in the story tease and speak so unkindly to each other. Each one looking to exert power over someone else. There are all kinds of slurs thrown around which no matter how many times people say you have to remember the time in which it was written does not excuse how horrific it is to here, especially coming from children.
It's not that I don't think it's an accurate depiction of people, it's that the impact isn't the same for me as when I was younger.
Not to mention part of the reason the pig slaying/rape description was so accurate because the author freely admitted to attempting to rape someone as a teenager. He also said that if he had been born in Germany during Hitler's reign he would have been a Nazi.
So nope, I'm gonna pass on any praise I would have bestowed on William Golding's work.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/lord-of-the-flies-author-tried-to-rape-a-girl-1773099.html
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/aug/16/william-golding-attempted-rape
The idea of these children stranded on an isolated island and trying to find ways to survive is a fascinating plotline. The fact that these children create their own little groups is also quite captivating. If this were to happen in real life, the grouping of the boys would have most likely happened because as history can back up, people always separate themselves based on difference, whether it be due to opinions or race, people always segregate themselves. The symbolism in this book is heavily implied. Ralph for instance is the leader, and it is implied that he is the voice of reason. Piggy is the timid follower who is very logical, but no one ever listens to him. Then, you have Jack. Jack is meant to represent the story's own antgonist. He leads the children away from Ralph and teaches them to kill and disobey Ralph. People who didn't enjoy the book missed all of this. All of these symbolisms made the story so much more interesting because it turned a survival story into a story about human nature and the struggles of good vs. evil.
I will agree with the critics that the book did start out a little bit slow, but it picked up shortly after. I have enjoyed this book for the most part. It may not be one of the best books out there, but it must be a classic for some reason.
Lord of the Flies is a very influential book, but the books that it inspired did the same concept better.
