“

I was tempted to give this five stars, since in so many ways it strikes me as the kind of masterpiece, like Heart of Darkness, that I imagine will retain its horror and readability for centuries. The prose veers (or as Golding would say it, "tends") from plain to painterly. The story is well known: a sort of allegorical morality play set in modern times -- fancy English boys left to their own devices don't so much as revert to darkness as discover primitive outlets for the darkness reflected in their greater society. This is what I love about Heart of Darkness: try as one might, Kurtz cannot be pigeonholed into good or evil. He is excellent at what he does, and what he does is evil. Kurtz is a true reflection of what excellence was to Colonial Europe, and in so far as Colonial Europe was good, cultivated, honorable, and esteemed, so is Kurtz. Kurtz isn't good or evil; he is true.

Golding's version is darker. It centers mostly around the corrupting power of urges to overwhelm social order. Freudian criticism abounds, but the parallel I kept coming back to was Rome. I found that Piggy, no matter how truly annoying he is (another brilliant stroke by Golding is to make Piggy strangely unsympathetic), recalled those numerous Republicans of the Early Empire who advocated in a shrill but useless manner for a return to Senate rule but were shunted aside and usually killed by deranged sociopaths who behaved quite like like Jack. But be it Freudian or historic, any framing of this book feels cheap and hollow because the story has such a complexity of primal urges that it feels almost biological.

Golding said he came up with the idea of book after reading his children "Treasure Island or Coral Island or some such Island" in the years of the hydrogen bomb and Stalin and asked his wife, "why don't I write a children's story about how people really are, about how people actually behave?" To me that's a chilling question and it reveals an architecture not based on rigid Freudian or historical or symbolic parallels. Its portrait of sadism could have been lifted out of the newspapers; its struggle for dominion over the weak is an almost sexual frenzy recalls everything I know about torture in the dungeons of Argentine or US military prisons. In this respect, I think the book, like Heart of Darkness, is timeless.

But I chose not to give it five stars because at the center of Golding's book is a kind of rigid Christian iconography, like that you find in the Poisonwood Bible, that offends me, perhaps because it reminds me of the way I wrote my Freshman year of college, or perhaps because that rigidity, that allegiance to a=b symbolic logic insults my intelligence. The martyrdom of Simon, I felt, demeaned the human quality of Simon. I liked him best because he struck me as the most shrewd and practical. Reducing him to an icon transforms him into a variable: Simon = Paul or Peter or whomever, but ergo facto Simon ≠ Simon. When he comes down to the beach mutting "something about a body on a hill" Simon ceases to be a reflection of human complexity, or biological completeness, and instead becomes a rehashed precedent from Sunday school.

I've often felt that Heart of Darkness' genius was that it somehow reflected the effect of Darwin and modern thinking on the antiquated ideas of Colonial Europe, ie Kurtz isn't good or evil because good and evil are artifices that wilt beneath analysis. When Golding adheres to this materialist perspective, the book is masterly. When he swears allegiance to worn out Christian parables, that complexity is reduced to slips of paper.

Book 2⭐
Author 1 ⭐

I'm glad I can check this one off my list. I wish I had enjoyed it more. I was pretty bored after chapter two so I started to read online articles and other reviews. To find out the author confessed that he attempted to rape a girl named Nora (15) when he was 18 while home from his first year at Oxford made my skin crawl. He was sure the girl "wanted heavy sex". There are plenty of articles online with a simple search "William Golding+rape". Nobel Prize for Literature novelist, yea whatever.

Another Golding confession was when he was a teacher, he got schoolboys to fight among themselves. Maybe that's the origin of Lord of the Flies?

The audiobook on Libby/Overdrive read by the author was dreadful. I searched and found much superior narration on Youtube by Martin Jarvis. A disturbing story, more so because they were kids.

A February Readalong

الرواية تحكي عن مجموعة أطفال يجدون أنفسهم في جزيرة نائية بعد أن سقطت بهم الطائرة. انقسم الأطفال إلى قسمين، قسم يريد الصلاح والقانون ليتمكنوا من الحياة وإشعال النار لربما تمر سفينة صدفة فترى الدخان وتنقذهم بقيادة رالف، وقسم آخر آثر التوحش والتعجرف البُدائي حبًّا في السلطة بقيادة جاك.
الهدف والمغزى من الرواية عميق جدًا. تستحق القراءة.

اقتباسات:

“إذا ما خفت من شخص فإنك تكرهه من دون أن تتمكن من التوقف عن التفكير فيه. تحاول إيهام نفسك بأنه شخص لا ضير منه، لكن حينما تراه بعد ذلك يصبح الأمر أشبه بنوبة الربو ولا تعود قادراً على التنفس.”

“أيها أفضل .. أن يكون لديكم قوانين وتوافق بينكم، أم أن تصطادوا وتقتلوا؟”

“أيهما أفضل، القانون والإنقاذ، أم الصيد وتقويض كل شيء؟”

“كان رالف يبكي نهاية البراءة، وظلامية قلب الإنسان والسقوط المريع في الهواء للصديق الحقيقي العاقل المسمّى بيغي.”

Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us.


This book doesn't fall under horror category, right? Then why did it scare living crap out of me?

Lord of the Flies is a story about a group of boys who get marooned on one island after their plane crashed. Now, from the first page of this book, I had this uneasy feeling for some reason. And the more I read, the more that feeling grew. I've already heard that this book was not an easy book to read and that there were some pretty disturbing scenes. But still, I did not expect this.

And what scared me the most was just how realistic (at least in my opinion) this book was. And how these children are not any different than adults. I'm positive that we would get similar outcome if a group of adults got marooned on an island. And that is why (unlike The Maze Runner) this book got it right. And I'll definitely re-read this book in the future many times, because I fell that this is one of those books that just needs a re-read to be completely understood.

I HATE THIS BOOK!!!

I've got the conch now, so listen up!

In Lord of the Flies Golding deconstructed civilization, wiping it out and showing us our world in chaos. It's not pretty. Man without governance is apt to slide into savagery. At first the castaway children on this deserted isle set up rules and leadership, but law and order is overwhelmed when the majority discover there is no immediate consequence if they give in to their wants and desires. In the place of civility, a brutal world is born in which might is right, the weak are stamped out, and the female voice all but silenced (Piggy's frequent references to his auntie).

Golding pounded away at that theme, so much so as to rankle some readers who criticize the book's heavy-handed use of cardboard cut-out stereotypes to force the author's point across. I don't deny it, but in this instance I'm okay with it because I found the outcome, depressing and disheartening as it is, satisfying as a statement and, the whole, enjoyable as a fully contained tale. Surely the characters could've been invested with deeper background, which would have added greatly to the story in detail as well as pages. Both are unessential, for the intended purpose is served...Golding held the conch and Lord of the Flies is what he had to say.

"El Señor de las Moscas" de William Golding es una obra literaria que evoca reflexiones profundas sobre la naturaleza humana y el orden social. Ambientada en una isla desierta, la novela sigue a un grupo de niños que luchan por establecer una sociedad organizada después de quedar varados sin adultos. Golding hábilmente teje temas de poder, violencia y la dualidad inherente entre el bien y el mal a lo largo de la narrativa.

La fuerza de esta obra radica en su capacidad para provocar la reflexión y el debate. La exploración de la psicología humana en un entorno aislado es fascinante y plantea preguntas importantes sobre la civilización y la barbarie. La narrativa está llena de simbolismo y metáforas que invitan al lector a analizar más allá de la superficie de la historia.

Sin embargo, la complejidad de la trama y los personajes puede resultar confusa para algunos. La naturaleza sombría y a menudo perturbadora de los eventos descritos puede ser difícil de digerir, especialmente para aquellos que buscan una lectura más ligera. Además, la falta de desarrollo completo de algunos personajes deja ciertas partes de la historia sintiéndose incompletas.

Asi pues, "El Señor de las Moscas" es una obra literaria que desafía al lector a examinar las profundidades oscuras de la humanidad. Aunque su complejidad y sombrío tono pueden no ser para todos los gustos, aquellos que buscan una exploración provocativa de la psicología humana encontrarán mucho que ponderar en esta novela.

'Ισως ένα από τα πιο πρωτοποριακά και 'σκληρά' μυθιστορήματα της Βρετανικής Λογοτεχνίας των μέσων της δεκαετίας του '50, το οποίο είχε τέτοια μακροπρόθεσμη επίδραση, ώστε θα μπορούσε κάποιος να πει ότι αποτέλεσε και τη βασική ιδέα στις reality τηλεποτικές εκπομπές 'επιβίωσης', όπως το 'Survivor', το 'Nomads' κ.τ.λ.

Ήταν η πρώτη συγγραφική προσπάθεια του Γκόλντινγκ, η οποία, αφού απορρίφθηκε πολλές φορές από αρκετούς εκδοτικούς οίκους, κατέληξε να εκδοθεί μέν, αλλά στην αρχή να πουλήσει λίγα αντίτυπα στις Η.Π.Α (www.wikipedia.org). Σε σχετικά σύντομο χρονικό διάστημα, όμως, αγαπήθηκε από το αναγνωστικό κοινό, έγινε best seller, και έφτασε μέχρι καί στις αρχές της δεκαετίας του '60 να αποτελεί ένα από τα προτεινόμενα βιβλία σε πολλά σχολεία και κολλέγια.

Πολλοί αναγνώστες, ξεκινώντας το βιβλίο, ενδεχομένως να σχηματίσουν την εντύπωση ότι πρόκειται για μια απλή περιπέτεια επιβίωσης παιδιών και εφήβων σε ένα εξωτικό νησί, έπειτα από ένα αεροπορικό δυστύχημα. Όντως, το 1ο μέρος του βιβλίου εστιάζει στην προσαρμογή τους στο νησί, την εύρεση τροφής και τη διατήρηση ενός συλλογικού πνεύματος (αλληλεγγύης). Ωστόσο, εδώ ο συγγραφέας δίνει μεγαλύτερο βάρος στη περιγραφή της βλάστησης, του δάσους, του βουνού και, γενικά, περιγράφει με υπερβολικές λεπτομέρειες τη φύση στο νησί, με κίνδυνο να κουράσει και να αποπροσανατολίσει το αναγνωστικό κοινό, αφού ούτε οι χαρακτήρες αναπτύσσονται επαρκώς, ούτε υπάρχει έντονη ή σημαντική δράση.

Το 2ο μέρος του βιβλίου, όμως, αιφνιδιάζει τον αναγνώστη με την έντονη πλοκή του, τα 'σκοτεινά' στοιχεία της ιστορίας που 'αγγίζουν' το ψυχολογικό θρίλερ, και τη πάλη των ιδιαίτερων χαρακτήρων των ηρώων του μυθιστορήματος. Εντυπωσιάζει το γεγ��νός ότι, ενώ, οι ήρωες είναι παιδιά και έφηβοι μιας 'κλειστής' κοινωνίας που προσπαθεί να επιβιώσει σε ένα νησί, επιδεικνύουν μεγαλύτερη αγριότητα και αμείλικτη διάθεση από τους ενήλικες.

Το βιβλίο με παραστατικό, αν και, αρκετές φορές, με ωμό τρόπο, θίγει σοβαρά ζητήματα όπως είναι η ομαδικότητα, η αλληλεγγύη, η συντροφικότητα, η κοινωνικοποίηση, η πάλη λογικής-συναισθήματος/σωματικής δύναμης-πνευματικής δύναμης, ο εγωϊσμός, η ηγεσία, η στέρηση αγαθών που οδηγούν στην εξαθλίωση και, τέλος, η οικουμενικότητα, η οποία, στις μέρες μας, αμφισβητείται υπό το πρίσμα της 'παγκοσμιοποίησης'.

Στις τελευταίες σελίδες, η αγωνία κορυφώνεται, ενώ η κάθαρση έρχεται την κατάλληλη στιγμή για να επιλύσει νομοτελειακά και να φέρει την ισορροπία στο αδιέξοδο της ζωής των παιδιών.

Είναι ένα μυθιστόρημα, το οποίο καλό είναι να διαβαστεί από εφήβους μέχρι ηλικιωμένους. Έχει να δώσει πολλή 'τροφή' στη σκέψη.

Συνολική βαθμολογία: 3,7/5 ή 7,4/10.

Βαθμολογία λόγω πρωτότυπου και πρωτοποριακού θέματος: 4,5/5 ή 9/10.

Here is another book I read in school. This was another story to open my eyes. I was shocked at how horrible the children became, including willing to murder. I was a wallflower in school and I was scared of most people around me and this book inflamed my fears.

I had just come through Junior High School, which is 'humanity in the raw' as my uncle says and it was the toughest 3 years of my life. High School was better and people seemed to be more reasonable and human, but I can't forget the cruelties of Junior High. If a group of Junior high students were away from adults, I can totally see this story of the boys on the island playing out this way and tribes forming and the kids devolving into murderous beasts. High School, I think there is more of a collective feeling and people branch out. Difference begin to be okay. I think High Schoolers would come together, mostly, to survive, while those in Junior high, well, William Golding had the right of it. That is the age of conformity.

We had some great discussions, my friends and I in high school. We came together and watched the R rated movie outside school and discussed the themes of the stories. I ran with a brainy bunch and I loved discussing literature with them or movies. The school wouldn't let us watch the movie during school hours, so the teacher actually came to one of my friends houses, to watch it with us and then discuss it. That was cool.

The story is harsh and I have heard many people say they find it farfetched and don't believe it would happen. Well, I was a different sort of child, on the outside, during those Junior high years and I can totally see this happening. If you were in the group, you didn't see the cruelties of the herd, but on the outside, oh you could see them. I'm not trying to say people are terrible. I think this stage in life is terrible. Kind things did happen and good people did good things, but there were some horrible things happening as well. If you were outside the herd, you certainly knew it. There was so much bullying going on and toxic masculinity too.

This book is like the shadow side of humanity. My dad is a councilor and he always said Jung had the right of it. We have to see our shadow side and accept it, or it will end up ruling us subconsciously if we only deny it. This book also shows the choices we have to make as humanity. We can come together and help one another, or we can hunt one another down for differences. I'm simply glad there were adults around while I was going through Junior high.

I think this is a fantastic book and I want to read it again. I do miss having people to discuss it with. Part of the reason I loved school was we would be assigned a book like this to get us thinking and then we would discuss it in class. I love hearing the opinions and the ways someone interprets the story or theme or idea or scene. Reading it alone, you experience the book, but there is no communal sharing of the story. That is what I miss. I love to read a book and have that communal experience.

This is a second read of this book. My first was at university as part of my course and maybe it was the impact of my outstanding tutor but I relished the book. Many years later my reaction was not the same. The author clearly had a very bleak view of mankind which in the light of recent events is probably justified but I found myself recoiling from it. I'll admit to boredom in places. It was interesting to read other people's opinions in the Readathon and thanks to Lisa for that.

DAMN!!
I think reading this book as an adult affects me more. You come to realize that things and circumstances can change drastically with no rules or repercussions.

I really loved Lord of the Flies and think everyone should read this one day. It's not a long book but it will make an impression on you.

It makes you think and dread what would happen if...
“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us.”

The writing of William Golding was well done and detailed on the breakdown of humanity and sensibility.
With no rules to govern, you can easily see how a group will follow the stronger and more manipulative leader. Let it be a lesson to us all to always have a sense of morality and know when as a society we've crossed the line.

Recommended to everyone!!