Staff Pick
In this bleak tale of a community gone awry, a group of schoolboys are stranded on a deserted island. The untenable situation soon devolves into chaos and horror. The ending is surprising and satisfying. Golding's creepy story is amazing! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Lord of the Flies remains as provocative today as when it was first published in 1954, igniting passionate debate with its startling, brutal portrait of human nature. Though critically acclaimed, it was largely ignored upon its initial publication. Yet soon it became a cult favorite among both students and literary critics who compared it to J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye in its influence on modern thought and literature.
Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies has established itself as a true classic.
Synopsis
Before The Hunger Games there was Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies remains as provocative today as when it was first published in 1954, igniting passionate debate with its startling, brutal portrait of human nature. Though critically acclaimed, it was largely ignored upon its initial publication. Yet soon it became a cult favorite among both students and literary critics who compared it to J.D. Salinger's
The Catcher in the Rye in its influence on modern thought and literature.
William Golding's compelling story about a group of very ordinary small boys marooned on a coral island has become a modern classic. At first it seems as though it is all going to be great fun; but the fun before long becomes furious and life on the island turns into a nightmare of panic and death. As ordinary standards of behaviour collapse, the whole world the boys know collapses with them the world of cricket and homework and adventure stories and another world is revealed beneath, primitive and terrible.Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse,
Lord of the Flies has established itself as a true classic.
"Lord of the Fliesis one of my favorite books. That was a big influence on me as a teenager, I still read it every couple of years."
Suzanne Collins, author ofThe Hunger Games
"As exciting, relevant, and thought-provoking now as it was when Golding published it in 1954."
Stephen King
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About the Author
Born in Cornwall, England, in 1911 and educated at Oxford University, William Gerald Golding's first book, Poems, was published in 1935. Following a stint in the Royal Navy and other diversions during and after World War II, Golding wrote Lord of the Flies while teaching school. This was the first of several novels including Pincher Martin, Free Fall, and The Inheritors and a play, The Brass Butterfly, which led to his being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983.
Table of Contents
Lord of the Flies Introduction by E. M. Forster
One: The Sound of the Shell
Two: Fire on the Mountain
Three: Huts on the Beach
Four: Painted Faces and Long Hair
Five: Beast from Water
Six: Beast from Air
Seven: Shadows and Tall Trees
Eight: Gift for the Darkness
Nine: A View to a Death
Ten: The Shell and the Glasses
Eleven: Castle Rock
Twelve: Cry of the Hunters
Notes
Critical Analysis