Lord of the Flies (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)
 

Lord of the Flies : (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)

by William Golding

William Golding's classic 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. Overseeing their efforts are Ralph, "the boy with fair hair," and Piggy, Ralph's chubby,... (read more)

Top tags: fictionclassicliteratureclassic literatureclassics (all tags)

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  • Luella S

    luella s said:

    This was assigned in high school, I cannot claim if it was well written or not as I was repulsed by the little beasts. Since then I do occassionally find myself thinking "I hope I'm never stranded on a island with him (or her)!" when around some people.

    posted 5 days ago
  • YLP

    ylp said:

    I am at chapter 6 and the narrative still fails to grip me. Somehow I don't have an affinity with this book. I find it so tedious! I hope it gets better in the next few chapters.

    posted 7 days ago
  • Vincent W

    vincent w said:

    Well, mark h, I'm not sure this is the only message of this book.
    (I've read it when I was a pupil in France)
    Thus, I can't deny the fact that it can be interpreted as an hymn to the adulthood(!), but I prefer to consider it as a simple adventure book, and it is in any case worse than the cruel tales children are told from the very beginning of their life (not thinking of the "W.Disney(c)'s versions" of these tales, of course)!
    "Lord of the Flies" may deal with matters like domination, basic (yes) social interactions, but this reading may be of some use to the children who wouldn't have thought about these subjects from that point of view, which is an interesting and original one, I think.

    posted Monday, July 7 2008
  • Fu Manchu

    fu manchu said:

    jim h make Fu Manchu smile Piggy reminds him of good ole days and bamboo water torture Piggy not so piggy eh

    posted Sunday, July 6 2008 ( | view 1 reply )
  • Fu Manchu

    fu manchu said:

    Vicky c tongue in cheek no vicky c read book like story and leave out righteous toning Upland may see point when he stop joking

    posted Thursday, July 3 2008
  • uplandpoet

    uplandpoet said:

    vicky, i am pretty sure that wasnt mr. goldings point! are you joking?

    posted Thursday, July 3 2008
  • Vicky C

    vicky c said:

    I think this book is very adventurous. What a way to learn how to be brave and solve problems by ourselves! This book is a couragous book. Don't you love it!!!

    posted Wednesday, July 2 2008 ( | view 2 replies )
  • Mark in Doha

    mark in doha said:

    This is indeed an outrageous list, if true, of books challenged or banned from public libraries:
    http://www.oclc.org/research/top1000/banned.htm

    Lord of the Flies is taught in school in the Uk, and it does seem objectionable in its thesis that children will revert to savagery if left unsupervised. Not a very positive message to feed to our children!

    posted Sunday, June 1 2008
  • Lisa

    lisa said:

    OK, I do have to say that it took me two tries before I ever finished this book. Am I glad I finally did? Yes. Would I read it again? I doubt it. It was well written and disturbing in the fact that I could see how easily something like this could happen. In all I wouldn't say I enjoyed the book, but one I think everyone should read at least once.

    posted Sunday, June 1 2008
  • Mark in Doha

    mark in doha said:

    Just When and where was this pot-boiler ever banned? [except from the classroom for being prejudicial to humanist values?]

    posted Sunday, June 1 2008 ( | view 1 reply )

Displaying 1-10 of 25 discussions

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