Product Description

Golding's best-known novel is the story of a group of boys who, after a plane crash, set up a fragile community on a previously uninhabited island. As memories of home recede and the blood from frenzied pig-hunts arouses them, the boys' childish fear turns into something deeper and more primitive.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #908 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Lord of the Flies , William Golding's classic tale about a group of English schoolboys who are plane-wrecked on a deserted island, is just as chilling and relevant today as when it was first published in 1954. At first, the stranded boys cooperate, attempting to gather food, make shelters, and maintain signal fires. Overseeing their efforts are Ralph, "the boy with fair hair," and Piggy, Ralph's chubby, wisdom-dispensing sidekick whose thick spectacles come in handy for lighting fires. Although Ralph tries to impose order and delegate responsibility, there are many in their number who would rather swim, play, or hunt the island's wild pig population. Soon Ralph's rules are being ignored or challenged outright. His fiercest antagonist is Jack, the redheaded leader of the pig hunters, who manages to lure away many of the boys to join his band of painted savages. The situation deteriorates as the trappings of civilization continue to fall away, until Ralph discovers that instead of being hunters, he and Piggy have become the hunted: "He forgot his words, his hunger and thirst, and became fear; hopeless fear on flying feet." Golding's gripping novel explores the boundary between human reason and animal instinct, all on the brutal playing field of adolescent competition. --Jennifer Hubert

Review
A fantasy is a singular- and singularly believable spellbinder, and within the framework of its premises- achieves a tremendous impetus and impact. During an atomic war, a group of boys aged from about six to twelve crash-land on an uninhabited tropical island. There Ralph, a responsible boy, is chosen chief- and a certain routine established; a fire is made and to be kept going as a signal, huts are to be built, and certain of the boys are to hunt wild pig?? But as the days pass in increasing discomfort, there is increasing dissension between them; the "littluns" are frightened by the untold terrors of the dark, and the fear of breasties and bogeys spreads; the duties are neglected; and the older boys, save Simon and Piggy and Samneric (twins) desert Ralph, appoint a new leader, and run amok hunting savagely. In their primitive regression, they feel they must propitiate the beast and a ritualistic dance precedes the murder of Simon; Piggy, his specs taken, falls to his death; and finally Ralph is left to face the pack when a cruiser lands- to rescue them all.... A first novel, originally conceived and convincingly sustained, this should find an audience as vulnerable as its young derelicts. The publishers parallel this- not without justification- with Richard Hughes' High Wind In Jamaica. (Kirkus Reviews)

Customer Reviews

Contender for 'Worst Book Ever'
Let me just say one thing; I am an avid reader. I love books. Whenever I begin reading, I cannot stop halfway through, even if it is an absolutely awful book. However, this book went beyond awful. It was so far past awful it made me want to throw up (and I wish I were exaggerating). Not just because the book is basically a doctoral thesis on human psychology wrapped in a plot stolen from 'The Coral Island', but mainly because it makes no sense.

Let's start at the beginning: The arrival. The pilot manages to safely land the plane on the one island in the middle of nowhere, while the cockpit is on fire. Having done this, the several tonne plane then washes out to sea, after all the boys have left, without a scratch on them. Not even a bruise, after an emergency crash-landing through a forest. This is stupid.

Also, why is this deserted island of such importance that there are enemy planes patrolling? It cannot be between them and the enemy's target, or the plane would be going in exactly the wrong direction. This is also stupid.

Next, these boys, rather than being even slightly upset, and without the faintest trace of post-traumatic shock, begin to get naked and swim. Because once you are stranded on an Island with no hope of rescue, swimming is the first priority. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The conch. Hands up everyone who remembers the conch. Not A conch, THE conch. This is highly unlikely. Where you find one, you find many. And yet, miraculously, they find a single conch, completely undamaged. And immediately Ralph knows how to 'play' it. Suspiciously stupid.

Skipping forward a bit: The pigs. Not suspicious having pigs, is it? Yes. Yes it is. How are there just pigs on this island? If you have pigs, you have other animals. There are no other animals. Then how did the pigs come to be there? Quite stupid. Taking it as read that they did miraculously appear, why do they act as they do? We know from experience (See Dodos) that an animal without predators loses its fight or flight instincts. The population should A) have been booming, and B) be so tame that the conch would draw them all to find out what the fuss was about.

Then there is the Beast: Lt's talk about the pilot. He (while dead, mind you) floats down directly on to this one island, in the middle of the ocean, and lands on the island. Once more this shows that there are ennemy planes over head, and this island must be of some importance, which would suggest the rapid discovery of the children, with their fires etc. Anyway, this pilot floats down, and gets lodged, inextricably, so that it cannot move. Until the plot requires it. Upon the death of Simon, the ropes all free themselves at once, and the pilot glides away. And this isn't the last appearance of our good friend unlikely coincidence.

No. To finish, I shall turn to the end (of the book; we already know we're coming to the end of the review. How? I just said so.). At the very end, the schoolboys, who are now all insane in the fastest downfall since... actually, the fastest downfall full stop(.) They are attacking Ralph, who miraculously retains his moral compass, and set fire to the island. At this precise moment, a naval ship appears, and a boat dispatched to investigate, just in time to save Ralph. Absolute tripe. The boys all then immediately regain their minds, and all is well.

I think my point is clear, that this book was not thought through, and was merely a vessel for Golding's feelings. The amount of symbolism in the book is beyond belief, to the point where it becomes unreadable (well, more so), and the plot feels contrived. After having done this book for GCSE (and somehow scraped an A, despite the ludicrously ambiguous questions), I felt like throwing the book through the window of the exam hall. I am now physically unable to read the book, without suffering from a headache, and I urge you not to even attempt to read this, and I pity all of you who are forced to do it for GCSE.

(As a post-script, I feel I should point out that this 'book' was lambasted when it came out, as it should have been, and it was only the Americans who decided it was worth the read (it wasn't), so we can all blame them for inflicting this on us)

Loved it
I was fortunate enough to not have to read this novel at school. It meant I could read it at my own pace and not have to write 10,000 words on the symbolism of blah, blah, blah. Lord of the Flies has become one of those tales that is a stereotype of itself. But I still enjoyed reading it. I think this book holds up well and it has stood the test of time. But as we move deeper into the Blu-ray generation, however, time can only tell?

It's a slow book that doesn't really go anywhere
For years this has been on my list of books to read, when I bought it I got ten other books as well. I started reading three or four to begin with. This was the first one I left reading. When I got some of the other books read I went back to it, still no, I picked up a different book. After another while I went back to it but started a few chapters into it. This time I finished it.

The plot I felt didn't go far. The psychological aspect only got interesting towards the end of the book and could've continued into the boys during the aftermath of what had happened. That is what I would be more interested in.

I know that that wasn't really his message but I just think it would have made for a better book.