William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a classic of modern literature. It is one of the top one hundred books of our century.
Plot
In a fictional world that closely resembles our own, a group of young men are stranded on an island. After the exuberance of Childhood is replaced by the very real fear of starvation, the thin veneers of society begin to fall away, revealing the dangerous side of humanity. From civilization to savagery, the book describes the loss of both innocence then sanity by these group of young men as their population dwindles.Review
Golding's masterpiece displays both insight as well as a sense of adventure at first. Then it slowly turns from adventure into despair and finally to horror as we see the boys' descent from civilized schoolchildren to uncouth barbarians. The transition is so believable that it is scary. After reading Lord of the Flies, one is prompted to ask themselves what they would do in such a situation.
On the positive side, Golding's English flows uninterrupted, painting pictures of greenery, of rolling seas and vast forests from our adolescent protagonists point of view. The sheer details he puts into characters like Ralph and the Little 'uns leaves us in awe of the way he paints with his literatic brush.
One must look hard to see something wrong with Lord of the Flies, and indeed, in my experience, the only thing wrong with it is the fact that it isn't read by quite enough people. Golding's work is as pertinent now as it was then. Many authors and directors have reproduced his small-scale post-apocalytic world in much wider scope, but Golding's island is possibly more believable than their versions because it exists cut off from the rest of the world.
We see devolution of one facet of the boys and the struggle to remain civilized from another facet, with one facet eventually swallowing up the other. his work is a reflection of the human condition. It is quite possibly one of the best books one will ever read in one's entire life. Strongly recommended, but not for those with weak stomachs.
Rating: 9 out of 10
