Golding’s iconic 1954 novel, now with a new foreword by Lois Lowry, remains one of the greatest books ever written for young adults and an unforgettable classic for readers of any age. This edition includes a new Suggestions for Further Reading by Jennifer Buehler.At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult … of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate. This far from civilization they can do anything they want. Anything. But as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far removed from reality as the hope of being rescued.
more
Wasn’t too happy with it when I had to read it for high school, but got better the second time around
3 out of 5 stars to Lord of the Flies, a coming-of-age novel written in 1954 by William Golding, who was a Nobel Prize winner. Most people have either read this book during middle/high school (in America or Great Britain), or have heard of it because of its supposed cannibalism story line. But wait… it wasn’t cannibalism — huge exaggeration to …
I read this novel in high school and later in college, as many kids did. It’s considered a classic for good reason. It’s a well-crafted allegory with beautifully descriptive passages. But would I get much out of rereading a novel for a third time as a well-read, literary-critical adult? It turns out, I did. For this review, I listened to the …
This books tries to show what the center of human nature is. As the boys first land on the island they try to create a beneficial society. Overtime it decomposes and conflicts arise. A good book to get the mind thinking.
One of my favorite books! It is a great example of the following question: When left to our own devices, is man basically good or evil?
Piggy dies. 🙁
Reading this book for class wasn’t too bad. Our teacher did not make us do any tests or annotations. We also only had one essay at the end of it where it was mostly opinion. However, I found this book very hard to read independently. The writing and paragraph style confused me a little bit. Golding did a great job writing this book. Some say it …
I finished this book for the 2nd time. The first was in high school, and I had rated the book a 3-star remembering only it was one of the better classic books I had been forced to read. Now, 30 years later, I re-read it and got so much more out of it. (Maybe not having to write an essay helped increase my enjoyment.)
The book is about a group of British boys who end up on a deserted island. Over a period of weeks (just a guess), leaders emerge with different ideas of what is most important, keeping a fire burning – so they can be seen by a passing boat, or hunting – to eat. The themes of leadership, goodness, savagery and wisdom are as relevant today as they were when the book was written.
(Spoilers for the ending) love ending and what it’s mean to be a human being, that no matter how Stabilize we are deep down we are all animals
This surely is classic for good reason. It is original and unique. Got the reader thinking in many levels about the characters about the events that unfold and as the reader tries what to make out of all that is happening.
Like most books, it does not flirt and toy with the most obvious emotions of humans – love, anger, adoration and hate etc – but it does more by unraveling deeper, darker and primitive emotions and thoughts every human has, though we are too guilty to admit to ever having these feelings – savagery, the covert wants to hurt someone and the times when we lose control of all these emotions, layered up and well protected from ourselves as well, to give in to our most primitive desires!
This book calls for re-read!
A plane crashes on a remote island and the only survivors are a group of boys. This concept confused me a bit because none of them seem to be hurt very badly. Also, the plane and crash site are never mentioned. The boys all seem to come from the same school, but none of them know each other. Why? This was just a few of my questions after reading this book. I did enjoy the story and the idea of young men having to figure things out on their own. There is quite a bit of bullying and violence in the story that some readers may not like. The boys get pretty savage, but it wasn’t a surprise to me. If this story had been written about a group of girls it would have been boring. I liked how all the boys were so very different, but in the end some of them came together and worked together. There is always at least 1 dominating male in a group of men and Jack is that male. Ralph tries, but he lacks the commanding presence and self-confidence that Jack has. I feel like this story accurately portrays what can happen when a group of kids is left to rule themselves.
It’s an intense look at humanity under pressure.
A thought-provoking novel about the nature of evil that you will not soon forget.
Read this book years and years ago, but a classic that never leaves you. Human nature in the raw.
An inaccurately dark view of human nature that has been proven to be unrealistic from a real-world event with a similar premise. Making people believe the worst about each other harms society and ourselves.
William Golding takes an interesting stance on the fiction world, if kids were to make rules. The anarchy and law that carries out is phenomenal writing at its best. Great book to read, it’s a classic for a reason.
An incredible, genre-defining book. Simple yet massively effective storytelling, the perfect novel.
A classic that makes you think.
Great book, but truly horrific. Strong stomach needed. This is what we humans are really like! Read it and weep. A fairly easy read, it’s often assigned in high school for good reason as it’s easy enough for an adolescent. That means it’s easy enough for you!
I read this every few years. Love this book.