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What are readers saying about LORD OF THE FLIES?
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-12-20 11:52:18.
(Language: English)
  
This book is suggested to me by a writer friend. I disliked it at first.I cannot grasp the untimely and seemingly out of place background. The seemingly forced situation. But that said friend urged me to give the book a chance. So I gave it a chance, I read it during my leave. And he was right. I love the book. Not loving the book with vibrant romanticism like a like some books. I love it with nagging realization, as I proceed in reading it....how much it symbolizes the same time it conceals them. Darn the book is great...the book spoke clearly regarding my hesitance towards humanity in itself, regarding demoralization, degradation in values and system. My hesitance to be married and have a child myself. It tries to speak out what most of us do not dare to speak out....that the basis of society, should depend on the ethical nature of individual and NOT on any political system however logical or respectable it seems. Jeez...there u get it....the words I've been looking for all this long. THE SHAPE OF A SOCIETY MUST DEPEND ON THE ETHICAL NATURE OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND NOT ON ANY POLITICAL SYSTEM HOWEVER APPARENTLY LOGICAL OR RESPECTABLE. I think WE ALL as a society MUST STOP BEING IGNORANT...must analyze carefully of things that we are told to do....and contest things that we consider not right based on sound & logical judgment. We all have the responsibility to shape our society. All...each and every one of us that is. 
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A Reader posted a review at 2012-11-18 08:41:43.
(Language: English)
OMG! Piggy is my favorite character. I read it in form 5.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-09 11:24:36.
(Language: English)
Dark, depressing, hopeless. I enjoyed this book immensely. Maybe ‘enjoyed’ is too upbeat a word, but I was glad to be reading such a work. It’s an important book, making the ideas of innate human evil and the breakdown of civilisation accessible and engrossing. Beautifully constructed with a great economy of language, timeless themes and an unhurried tone, Lord of the Flies is essential reading. There are no preachy overtones, an almost complete avoidance of sentimentality, and clever yet comprehensible metaphor throughout. The lack of redemption at the conclusion is not only refreshing and rewarding, it is right.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-15 11:36:06.
(Language: English)
I suppose that a lot of people will feel that Golding is a cynic; that children are incorruptible, etc... But that's not the point of the book. You may not agree with what he says, (I do, but that's besides the point) but the point that he's trying to get across is that most people are what circumstances force them to be. I read a review which said that "Lost" and the episode in "The Simpsons" which parodies this book are both better than the actual book. To say that I was surprised would be putting it lightly... And even if you totally disagree with what he says, the "Lord of the Flies" is a powerful story. At the very least, its a thriller, which holds you to the edge of your seat.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-13 08:39:35.
(Language: English)
This novel is an absolutely wonderful piece of literature. It is funny, moving, emotional, and beautifully crafted. Golding's attention to detail here are second to none, and the symbolism he uses in this fantastic novel is extremely complex. The whole experience can smilarly be described as complex, but not complicated. It is easy to follow and enjoy, but as you look beneath the surface, the novel features surprises, foreshaddowing and religious significance. As the boys lose their rules they develop and Jack forms his own tribe of terror, events in the book progress from simple bullying to stylised animal rape and even murder. Golding effectively uses these episodes to explore the darkness of man's heart, and the novel can show us what we are capable of in a similar situation. The characters range from the Christ-like figure of Simon to the Satanic symbol that is Roger, and the opposite extremes provide a great contrast to create the tensions Golding has in the novel. The effective conclusion is very pessimistic as is Golding's outlook on the subject: "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". It is a wonderful novel that everyone should read; as a good story, as beautiful literature and as a dire warning.
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Shes posted a review at 2011-01-18 11:29:14.
(Language: English)
A very well written story that describes how quickly a community can change just based on circumstances. The changes of the small society are subtle but move quickly, to the point where you wonder how on earth it reached the levels it did...but it is believable. I love how the story wraps up, bring you swiftly and coldly back to reality and the beginning, thus strengthening the impact it has on the read. Incredible story.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-03-07 09:59:28.
(Language: English)
I loved the book - not for it's story thread - but for what the story makes one learn and open up to. It is an ugly truth that people (in this case children - but adults are no different!) revert to their basest insticts when order and logic leave. There is much in this book - which can be sen as a description to many of the savagery happening out there in our world today. Perhaps worth a read again - to remind ourselves that law and order is necessary to avoid the pitfalls and horror we can (and are) (be) confronted with without it!
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-05-31 03:21:29.
(Language: English)
It is a book that has a question to start with, and an answer at the end. The question is "is human original evil who tries to civilize himself with rules and regulations?" It is a very deep question and a very nice story. Symbolizim is everywhere. It is worthy mentioning that this story is written by William Golding, its his first story and he recieved a nobel prize on it, it has been written in the fifties. The second world war, and the drama he has seen on it has made him wonder about the question this book has been rotating around. The author, William Golding, has seen the World War II, and came after this dreadful experience with a question; is human nature evil?A highly symbolized story of a bunch of kids found themselves alone on an island and trying to establish a society, where there has to be "rules" and there has to be "hope" to be rescued.Which value would dominate, power, descipline, civilization or hope?
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-10-16 08:46:50.
(Language: English)
No matter what book I read in life and decide I love, I always come back to the Lord of the Flies. I find it to be sadly gorgeous that a group of children (innocent and pure, by most adult standards) can become corrupted by power and rules. A social commentary? A commentary on human nature? Is hatred innate, or is everyone born good? Can we argue nature vs. nurture because they're children, or should we continue to argue that up until a certain point, children do what they're told? What kinds of role models should we, as the so-called "adults," be then? None of these questions are answered in the book-- it is the conversation which follows that helps us to better understand, and I love that Golding allows us to make up our own minds about it all.
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A Reader posted a review at 2012-04-11 08:46:38.
(Language: English)
So I'm not really sure what I thought about this one...It was like, uh....majorly creepy....and somehow I managed to read the entire thing without getting the supposed "Huge meaning". I mean, the degeneration of the human race was pretty obvious, and I was majorly disturbed by a lot of it...Anyway, the writing wasn't the best in my opinion, but I suppose it was intruiging. I shall now spend the next hour on the internet reading people's opinions. I wish I hadn't been homeschooled so I could have discussed this book in class, crappit.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-15 02:18:51.
(Language: English)
Spoiler I understand why many people love this book, or even just like it. And I also understand why it’s often picked as a required reading. It's chalk full of symbolism and it proves a point, even if you don't agree with the point. But that’s unfortunately all the book is. Golding got so wrapped up in the symbolism and the point of the story, which is that humanity is evil, the story became unrealistic. It's also overly graphic. I understand that in some cases being graphic is needed to prove the point. And some detail was needed for us to truly understand, but it was overly and unnecessarily graphic. The book spends about a chapter covering the conflict between Simon, Jesus, and a pig’s head, the devil. I do not believe very much description was needed to get across the point of the pig’s head, but Golding rambled on about it for the whole chapter. Then, what are the chances of this event ever taking place? Pretty slim. If all the children had been slightly older or younger, if there had been girls, if there had been adults, or if a ship had arrived just a little bit earlier, it never would have happened. And then what are the chances that you would get people like Jack and Ralph? The perfect opposites. And then Piggy, who was the only intelligent one (although annoying and too low to actually be of any help) and that he had glasses, giving them fire. You could argue that the point of books (unless they're meant to be real life) is to come up with situations that didn’t actually happen. But the reader should be able to picture it happening. I can not see this happening. I do not believe that humanity is as evil as this book claims. When I first started reading this book I was not only disturbed, but I found the book unrealistic and dull. I later sat down and forced myself to finish it. I say that Golding was traumatized by the war and went so far as to claim humanity was evil. This book was unrealistic and disturbing. And honestly, are children that evil?
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Scott'n'Shana posted a review at 2012-04-26 03:53:43.
(Language: English)
Saw "Hunger Games" and had to go take another look at the classics to get my bearings. This book has so many probing questions about how we are brought up, creation/destruction of civilization, man's inner nature, and the manipulation of fear by rational-instrumental opportunists. The imagery is beautiful (kinda like Eden, huh?) and the characters are flawed and real enough to jump off the page for comparison with a reader's life experience. We all have met personalities like Piggy, Ralph, Simon, and Jack; Golding takes it a step further by asking where each would fit in and how he would act if cut loose from adult supervision and put under pressure. Written in the '50s in the interim between the Nazis and the Cuban Missile Crisis, this book's observations on human nature and society hold up just as well today.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-17 10:00:46.
(Language: English)
Isn't it frustrating when a book squanders a brilliant premise? That's what I was thinking the whole time I read "Lord of the Flies." It had such potential, and yet the execution is abysmal.By now, you probably know the story: group of children get stranded on an island, and have to fend for themselves. It's the basis behind the show "Lost," and has been parodied in "The Simpsons." Both of those are better than the book.The metaphors are overwrought to the point that he practically bashes you over the head (alright! We get it! The glasses represent intelligence! You can move on to something more creative now! Alright! We get it! Simon is a Christ-like figure, what with the name, his skill at carpentry, his kindness, and his death at the hands of a mob! You can move onto something less blatant and more full of substance now!), and unlike some of the people here, I could not find for the life of me any suspenseful moment.The only good part of this book is the end, which I will not spoil. But the end is a great satire on humanity (just how different are we all, really; whether we're seven or forty-seven, we all act the same). Too bad you have to slog through tripe to get a good ending. In the end, it's a pity. This scenario had such potential to be a deep exploration into the psyche of man, and instead we get uncreative symbols and zero drama. And now, no other piece of literature will be able to use this scenario in a more complete and thoughtful way, because this book ruins it. Such a shame.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-08 11:44:47.
(Language: English)
I first read Lord of the Flies in school and enjoyed studying it then. But since I had not looked back on it, even when reading another William Golding novel Pincher Martin (which has many similarities). But since going back I rediscovered how wonderful this book is, and even more so reading it for pleasure rather than academic purposes. It is a startling novel in many regards because of it's seemingly naive and innocent begginings. Echoing the 'Tales for Boys' comics and short stories that were popular at the time of writing, it tells the story of young boys ranging in ages fending for themselves and creating a small society on a tropical island they have crashed and become stranded on. Under this conceit lies an exploration into the darkness and savagery of man taken out of civilisation. Wonderfully crafted classical style language makes it a pleasure to read, with some perfect religious allusions and similies involving characters. The adventure story gone awfully and bloodily wrong.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-22 03:12:43.
(Language: English)
this book by the english author William Golding talks about the effort of human to create its own placa.as the story goes,the characters change attitude.the changes in attitude make the society the created.they start to ruin each other to their own destruction.meanwhile,the story itself is a representation of sort.the story represent the universe which divided by two opposing energy each character represents each personality that could be found in a real society...
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-07 12:06:59.
(Language: English)
The writer did a real good job of climaxing the degredation of known "civilized" order into a chos of fear and might make right. Yes, the story was about children who try to survive, using their rules and regulations and systematic order that they knew from their previous life, until that order collapses and The Lord of the Flies order takes over. This is nature at its best/worst. In today's society, we live in a world that has rules and regulations and a supposed order. This world allows for the protection of women, elderly,children and all those who are in essence, weaker than stong men. In reality though, if we had a full on nuculear war and our society was ripped apart, those rules would no longer apply and our society would degenerate into the same"Lord of the Flies" that those childrens world degenerated into. Goodbye, Feminisim, goodbye equality, goodbye women and children first. Hello slavery, mastery, every man for himself.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-23 06:48:25.
(Language: English)
I seem to be one of the last people on this planet to have read it, but I'll give it my two-cents' worth anyway. Golding is a masterful writer. He brings the voices of these young boys to life, and manages to convey so many themes and ideas in such simple English. The book starts off in a light, almost whimsical tone - of innocent silliness, and joy of newfound freedom. Every boy's dream, to be marooned on an island with his buddies, without grown-ups. Then he toys with me, dropping hints of madness, walking the thin line between reason and uncontrolled frenzy. He escalates the suspense, builds anticipation. With irrefutable logic, he builds a scene of how reason and humanity slowly becomes unravelled, to reveal the ugly, raw side of human nature. The horror of this book is in how easily all the values that make us progressive as a society can be lost or forgotten, and that elements of its themes are mirrored in real life. There is a "Survivor - Outwit, Outplay, Outlast" feel to the story, of conformity and majority and power-plays. I can't articulate the complexity of his underlying themes properly, so I'll stop here haha. If anyone wants to find out more: http://www.novelguide.com/lordoftheflies/index.html This book, definitely worth reading. It's easy to understand, quick to read (took me a couple hours) and quite thought provoking. No wonder it's one of the modern classics.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-10-09 07:48:05.
(Language: English)
I remember thinking how dark this story is. I bit unrealistic in its time but very probable today. I think the depiction of possible hallucinations and psychosis could have been better drawn to the reader. A few of the dark characters a re a little to minimal for me compared to their potential in the story. I also feel that the ending lacked as much as the suspense, leaving little to the imagination and ready to spit instead of wanting more. However, that is an adult readers review. As a young man as much as i was a little disappointed, and ready to swear of books, I did enjoy from the male perspective the feeling of power and independence that the story portrays to a boy. This gave me the sense of adventure and foresight to plan what I would do in that situation. As a young boy it engulfed my imagination as it swept me up into a cloud of adventures.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-02 02:07:52.
(Language: English)
A set book at school, I have re-read it as an adult. It is much better to just read books and draw your own conclusions from them rather than being told to read only a chapter at a time and then being told what to think about it. The basis of the story is that a group of children are in a plane crash and end up on a remote island, way off course so there's little chance of rescue. Food is limited, but they do manage quite well for a while with different roles being done by parts of the group, but then trouble inevitably breaks out and the group splits. The story is so well known that I won't spoil it for any of you that haven't yet read it, and bore the rest of you with my interpretation of what is being said about society and boys in particular. It has been parodied a few times by programmes such as The Simpsons, quite well, I thought.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-09 12:18:28.
(Language: English)
Qqch de très difficile...à en devenir pessimiste... La profonde (in?)humanité de l'homme... L'impossiblité de vivre en communauté? (tiens à lire: les identités meurtirères de Maalouf; la guerre n'aura pas lieu,exemples de résiliences intercommunautaire, Charles Piguet...; le présent liquide, de Bauman.....) si si, je crois que c'est possible...une société dans laquelle chaun à une place... Cette impression que ça l'était autrefois, du moins et nous n'avons pas à revenir en arrière des pogrès on été fait, mais au détriment d'essentiels que nous oublions (les liens, la communauté, l'entraide et la solidarité véritable (et non pr se déculpabilisé, miam Chien-Blanc de Gary, j'adore).... ...donc yaka...réinventer en faisant des pas en ce sens...chaunc pr soi..en partageant avec d'autres on réalise qu'on est pas seul...que du bonheur... Oui, aux prises de responsabilités, non aux prises de pouvoir. Comment agir, je crois que c'est possible..si chacun y met du siens...
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Marcela posted a review at 2012-04-22 03:56:26.
(Language: English)
it's really good, and disturbing.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-10-02 06:26:34.
(Language: English)
I must say I did not enjoy this book. It took to much time to get into the story. The writer seemed to try to hard by going into so much detail, really I can pain a picture of what he is talking about in a few words not a chapter and a half. There was just a lot of BS that was not needed in the story. As a whole I can see why it is a required school read, and after filtering out all the things that were unnecessary I do like the story. But I wouldn't recommend this, and I hear there is a movie so maybe that's a little easier to watch. I am disappointed in this book and it shames me.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-18 11:06:36.
(Language: English)
If you read the book without all of the symbolism being spoilt, then you'll most likely enjoy it and be intrigued when you figure out the symbolism yourself (or from a friend). However, if you've been told what every single little thing means before you read it yourself, you'll obviously hate it simply because you'll think the symbolism is "too obvious" or "too forced." This often results from having it forced on students for a reading assignment, even though it is a good book to use if introducing symbolism (same can be said for Animal Farm). As a warning, however, the writing style is unique, and not everyone enjoys it. Personally, I found it to be a very interesting story with much inner meaning. People who find it interesting to see how easily "evil" can spring up will probably enjoy this novel, along with those interested in the "human condition."
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Bonnie posted a review at 2012-04-29 10:10:32.
(Language: English)
I've read this book numerous times: first in High School, Second while in College, as a "grab it off the bookshelf" while traveling for business, and as a book of the month read in my local book club. Every time if read it, I found I picked up something I'd overlooked in previous reads. Lots of moral/ethics to be learned and/or discussed. I feel this is a MUST read for just about anyone!!!! A true classic. This is a 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. But, their new society breaks down as time goes on, and the outcome is most unpleasant.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-11-06 05:11:05.
(Language: English)
Well, first of all, this book is not everybody’s cup of tea. It is not for the weak hearted and definitely not for the people who believe that human beings are inherently GOOD.If you are a firm believer in the innocence of childhood, William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies will lead you to think otherwise. An unusual novel where the main protagonists areall young boys, the story takes drastic turns which leads one to think about their baser instincts. The author skillfully begins his tale in an island where a group of young boys find themselves stranded because of an atomic explosion. The pilot of the plane they are traveling in leaves them in an island that appears like a character by itself. We are slowly introduced to the characters: Ralph the obvious leader, because he is level headed and very much in favour of civilization, Jack, his savage competitor who won’t hesitate to kill, Simon who slowly reveals his visionary traits, Piggy, the object of everyone’s cruelty, who also symbolizes loyalty, and a couple of other boys. The story begins like an ordinary adventure tale about young boys left on their own, but transforms slowly into a tale of horror, mystery and terrifying realisation. Golding uses the boys to introduce the theme of the novel, civilization Vs savagery. While Ralph fights for the former, Jack helps create the latterThe marooned boys are assigned duties and they conduct regular meetings. It is hard to ignore the symbols that Golding generously offers. The Conch that Ralph uses to call the others is seen as a symbol of authority. Whoever has the conch is the leader, and when the conch is destroyed in a tussle, it signifies Jack’s victory; civilization is out. The scariest part however is the fact that Golding uses this novel to introduce to us our baser instincts that emerge in the absence of civilisation. When the novel begins, Ralph strives towards bringing civilization to the island. Jack, who represents our baser instincts, slowly emerges victorious. He who initially hesitates to kill a pig for meat later becomes responsible for two deaths...In short, a must read for those who feel that the society we live in stifles our growth
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