Monday, October 15, 2012

Lord of the Flies by William Golding


"The most influential novel...since Salinger's Catcher in the Rye." 
-Time

"Lord of the Flies [is my selection for the Book That Changed My Life] because it is both a story with a message and because it is a great tale of adventure. My advice about reading is do a lot of it." 
-Stephen King, for the National Book Foundation, The Book That Changed My Life

At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate. This far from civilization they can do anything they want. Anything. 
But as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far removed from reality as the hope of being rescued... 

"This brilliant work is a frightening parody on man's return [in a few weeks] to that state of darkness from which it took him thousands of years to emerge. Fully to succeed, a fantasy must approach very close to reality. Lord of the Flies does. It must also be superbly written. It is." 
-The New York Times Book Review 

I think you're starting to get the idea of just what kind of book this is. Lord of the Flies is ethereal, eerie, and definitely can keep you up at night. It changes the way you think about the world and the nature of human beings. You question how you would act in that situation, what your behavior would be like. It scares you to think that you just might behave like these boys. Or would you? 

This book can be disturbing in places, but it also strikes really close to the true nature of humanity. It's scary just how real this work of fiction is. William Golding was a brilliant author, and everyone should read this novel introspectively. It has the power to change the views and behaviors of humanity. 

Right now in my AP Literature class, we just finished reading this book a few weeks ago. We now, as is usual in English classes, are writing an essay on it. I'll post my essay when it's finished, and maybe Kelsey will as well. There are so many different interesting topics you can discuss with this book. I could talk about the symbolism alone all day. 

I encourage everyone to read this book. It will change the way you think about your life. 

--Sadie 

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