Lord of the Flies

So so many layers to unpack. The dialogue perfectly represents the boys descent into madness and shows the power that perceived authority holds. Definitely a must read for anyone who likes classics, enjoys psychology, or simply wants to understand human nature a little better.

WOAHHH then kinda boring then CRA ZE

Sucks to your asthma

heavy symbolism; a skillful depiction of the savageness of man

It was ok. Not the best book and there were times where the plot was good. I liked the subtle foreshadowing things but it can be better.

I read this book mostly in the airport and at the pool of my hotel, so either it's not a great beach read or it's just a bad book. Too close to call.

A very interesting tale that discusses the human psyche I went into this book know that it was celebrated throughout recent history for some reason. Now I understand why a little better. This story essentially covers what would happen if a group of boys whose intelligence and knowledge of the world was slightly lesser than an adult's would deal with being left on an island by themselves. It goes through the ideas of making rules, breaking rules, rebellion and more. It's a great and likely realistic look at what may well happen.

I can definitely see why Stephen King was inspired by this book.

my first reaction to the ending of this book was ‘i wish jack had died’. and then because i read the book, i proceeded to actually think and re-evaluate that. i did. and i still want jack dead. anyways, after being forced to read this for english 12, i will say that it is not the worst i’ve ever had to read for school. was it the best? no. but it did make me feel terror at the end and the same grief and anger at the unfairness ralph experienced. not many authors are capable of that, but golding was. if i wasn’t so bored in some parts this book would have been a 4 stars for me. also after reading the note, i’m so glad i wasn’t crazy for thinking the killing of the sow was written somehow erotically.

the first half of the book felt a bit stale in its repetitiveness but the slow start to action and gradual relationship building was absolutely necessary to offset the intensity of the final 60 pages…that was rough

This book is incredibly dark and intense. I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. I found the first 150 pages to be a bit boring, but the last 50 pages were just insane. What these children go through is simply horrific and deeply upsetting. I understand why this is a classic; it definitely made me think and the author poses a lot of questions and comments about humanity and war. But did I enjoy this book? I simply don’t know.

It was very entertaining and well-written. One of the things I liked most about it is that it was so vivid. The scenery was written so intricately that I felt as if I were there myself. I also liked that the scenery, rich in detail, was also very relevant to how it all plays out or while the story's still playing out. I love how it emphasizes the humanity, the innocence of the characters. It was all very natural. It was a nice read... in spite of my flawed copy (I don't know if it's just my copy or if he really writes that way. By that way, I mean he doesn't write who said that particular line and it's really confusing most of the time and you have to really figure out who said that. At times it could be fun figuring it out but it gets old, you know?).

[ BOOK IG: @clumsyciel ] overall rating: 3/5 ⭐️ time taken to read: ~6 days number of notes: 13 "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." (page 202) a plane crashes onto an uninhabited island, stranding a group of schoolboys, ranging from ages six to about sixteen. without any adult supervision, the boys cheer for their freedom and realise they can have fun to their hearts' content. as disputes occur and order collapses, the hope for rescue seems to get further from reach. LOTF by William Golding is loved and praised by many, for his amazing writing and metaphors to portray problems we face in our modern world. i must say that Golding's language and usage of metaphors is simply a 5/5. i absolutely loved the way he described the setting of the island, it was easy to visualise it, as well as how they boys acted. there were many new words i learnt as well! Golding's usage of metaphors relates to many of the current issues, such as racism and how we treat one another. the only reason why i gave it a 3/5 was because the book was rather.. how do i say this? lacking, per se. i never liked using the b-word (boring) for describe any book, but i was genuinely felt that way for the first half of the book. i was so tempted to leave this book and mark it as DNF so many times, just because i never felt an "obligation" to finish it. that's why i took so long to read the entire book. however, i did finish it because i never liked leaving any books at DNF. the book gets rather interesting in the last quarter though! i read this in early june and had the pleasure to discuss this with the lovely yuki (@simmerinwords on IG), who had asked for my thoughts. thank you for putting up with my mini-rant! i appreciate you always <3 *side note: this review is based solely on my experience on reading it. just because i didn't like the book so much, doesn't mean you'll have the same experience. you might enjoy it!

A classic, so I'll give it 4 stars. I don't really like the things Golding implies throughout the novel, but it was a decent read.

Absolutely brilliant! Wish I'd read it sooner.

2.5 Dark. (just one word) Why have I been reading such dark novels this year? Gonna pick something lighter now.

a little too predictable

** spoiler alert ** I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. The link of the title with the book seems forced, almost as if the author felt compelled to put it in the book in some way, shape, or form. In the beginning, there are so many characters, names, and switchbacks that we lose track of who is where and doing what. Eventually, as a reader, we tend to grasp onto the two leaders and piggy, and mesh all the rest together as side characters. It gets to the point that it doesn't matter who of these characters are doing what. We just know someone somewhere is doing something. Is it the same side character as we talked about a few pages ago? I'm not sure, and it doesn't matter. The whole ending to me was also absolutely ridiculous, as if in the event of asking how many people were killed, someone would respond? "Only two were there?" And transport them home with little to no consequence. I'm sure it's up to us to decide how the children acclimate back into society – but still, the ending was a total drag. Definitely doesn't live up to the hype or the expected literary novelty.

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us.” Out of all the books that were circulating my English classes in high school, this is the one that always caught my attention. The story is also the inspiration for a lot of my favourite survival horror stories. Despite this, I never got around to actually reading it until now. In the midst of a nuclear war, a group of British boys find themselves stranded without adult supervision on a tropical island. They develop rules and a system of organization, but without any adults to serve as a civilizing impulse, the children eventually become violent and brutal. Lord of the Flies explores the dark side of humanity, the savagery that underlies even the most civilized human beings. William Golding intended this novel as a tragic parody of children's adventure tales, illustrating humankind's intrinsic evil nature. He presents the reader with a chronology of events leading a group of young boys from hope to disaster as they attempt to survive their uncivilized, unsupervised, isolated environment until rescued. It may look as if Lord of the Flies is just a twisted version of a children’s adventure story. However, there is also a truth concealed deep inside the novel where Golding makes reader conscious of certain issues. The issues it concerns are: society, human nature, good vs. evil, ecological balance and cooperation. This is an allegorical novel where Golding employs the scene of a deserted island and a group of English school boys to serve as a framework, through which he explores the theme of his book. William Golding uses this deceptively simple setup to question just how civilized we really are and how quickly we can descend into a mob of crazies. The question for the reader is whether these are but immature children or an allegory for the adult world and how quickly mob rule can take over and how few dare to go against the herd. This story is a powerful depiction of human nature and its role in the rise and fall of democracy. Central to this story is the theme of fear: how it can be used as a means to control people and how it chisels away at our humanity. I loved the depiction of The Lord of the Flies and how it represented the primeval instincts of power and barbaric nature that take control of Jack’s tribe. This book leaves you feeling uncomfortable as you start to realize that man in a “civilized” society may not be any better. Golding reminds us that we all have the capacity for darkness and cruelty. This story stays with readers long after they have turned the last page because it is so savage, and it’s haunting because it’s clear that this could so easily happen in the society we live in today. This book is so simple and so effective. What makes this book so effective is the realization that our civilization is just one bad set of circumstances away from devolving into warring tribes, and given one bad day, any one of us could regress into our most primal and savage selves.

A disturbing vision of humanity through the eyes of a 20th century Brit. Says more about the culture in that time and place than humanity as a whole, as the author seems to think.

A classic. Great read.