Lord of the Flies

also need to reread, dang we read a lot of these kinda books in the ninth grade

Quick and easy read.

Escrita monótona, plot interessante e demasiado patriotismo.

glances at the headlines

Boy, I picked a hell of a time to re-read this one...

Haunting and brilliant

I did not like this book is all i need to say about this one.

Lord of the Flies is a novel that everyone seems to have read previously. I was never asked to read this book for school, and I never had a desire to read it. I don't know why. I guess by the time I'd really been given a proper introduction to this book, I was too old and it seemed like a juvenile story.

A few months ago, someone was talking to me about this novel and was surprised I hadn't read it. “It seems like something you'll love.” I don't know why she said this. I suspect it may have had to do more with me being a guy and this being a “guy book,” but I could be wrong. (Note: if anything, the “dick lit” label is generally a turn off for me.)

Aside from a knowledge that Lord of the Flies was about boys alone on an island, I wasn't familiar with this story at all. And yet, it all seemed so familiar. I'm sure that I've come across other stories that either referenced or emulated this one, and that explains the recognition. Regardless, there's a very classic, perhaps you could call it nostalgic, quality to this story. As I was reading, I couldn't shake a couple author comparisons: Golding reminded me at every step of the way of Stephen King writing in the style of Nevil Shute.

I suspect the reason this novel is so often discussed in high school is because of the discourse a group can have concerning theme. Much can be said about the behaviors of these survivors, but I think perhaps too much can be said. Lord of the Flies isn't a scholarly journal about human behavior, it's a novel meant to entertain. Though the intended message was far from subtle, this story succeeded in keeping me entertained. Particularly, I enjoyed the characters and their relationships with one another. I think Golding did a wonderful job showing the fractures and bonds of children.

I vacillated between a three and four star rating on this one, because it really isn't all that amazing of a story in many ways, but it is one that sticks with you. To honor Piggy and all the wonderful stories inspired by this one, I've decided the higher rating seems more apt.

I feel it's written in a boring way, I didn't care about any of the characters and I didn't learn anything about them aside from them being generic archetypes. While it could be argued that the blatant racism in the book was a way to subvert the ideas of British racial superiority that was prevalent when the book was published, there are still many undertones of racism.

Perhaps the concept of the book was original in the 50s? The book got slightly more interesting near the end.

Reading this book was a pain. I only managed to go through with it after I looked up an audiobook for the last chapters.

I understand what Golding did here, but it didn't work out for me at all. And I prefer the original, real story better.

More like a 3.5/5

blows a kiss in the direction of the pacific ocean for simon

What the fuck...

I don't have anything much to say except this is wicked and scary.

A story with a great message about the fragility of men gets lost in a bunch of clichés and sloppy writing. If one had put more hought into writing a coherent plot, instead of describing the beautiful scenery for pages, this book would have been way better.

Golding portrays the rapid disintegration of civilized society when there is no real authority holding a big stick over our heads. First come the clothes, then the hunt, then warpaint. It's eerily daunting how easily we could all fall prey to this, were we to find ourselves in a similar situation.

Stressful, but solid, reading.

My rating is based on how much I personally enjoyed the story. It was pretty heavy reading, and perhaps more so as I knew there was an underlying bullying aspect that ran through the story - and bullying always puts me on edge.

The book itself is brilliantly written and the climax of the story is masterfully executed. Golding does an excellent job of slowly building up the tension throughout the story until it's crashing so hard at the end of the story it seems like there's no way out.

Ralph's (one of the protagonists) feeling of peril at the end of the book is visceral. Reminding me of my typical nightmares and stress dreams where I'm unable to escape the terror no matter what choice I make.

Read a book that was banned at some point

Diese pessimistische Haltung nach dem Krieg, die der Autor offensichtlich besaß, kam gut rüber.

Heute mag es vielleicht “out of Context” etwas eigenartig erscheinen, dass aus einer Demokratie eine Diktatur wird... Aber betrachtet man so die Weltgeschichte, ist dies gar nicht mal so unmöglich, Weimar als Stichwort. Dieses Buch zeigt auch den Kontrast zwischen Demokratie und Diktatur ganz gut auf, finde ich. Golding fragt sich natürlich als Kind seiner Zeit, wie Menschen zu so etwas fähig sein können. Seine Erklärung ist dann das Böse im Menschen, wie es in der Bibel schon geschrieben steht, Stichwort Sündenfall.

Andere biblische Ansätze sind auch erkennbar, beispielsweise beim Titel “Beelzebub” = “Herr der Fliegen”. Beelzebub ist der Gott der Heiden, in der Bibel ist er der Teufel. Dies unterstreicht den Interpretationsansatz, dass zunächst Garten Eden vorgefunden wird (Beschreibung der Insel als Paradies), der dann durch das Buschfeuer zur Hölle wird.

Ich finde darin ist der Beginn der Menschheit in der Bibel nacherzählt. Bloß eben mit Kindern. Den Konflikt zwischen Kain und Abel, mit Kain, der seinen Bruder aus Neid tötet... Wenn man das Buch vor diesem Hintergrund reflektiert, denk ich, sind recht viele Parallelen vorhanden. Das Urböse findet sich sowohl in Goldings Buch als auch in der Bibel. Und bei beiden stellt sich die Frage, warum sind Menschen böse, warum töten sie andere? Ein Grund, der in der Bibel genannt wird, ist eine gestörte Beziehung. Die ist in dem Buch auch vorhanden, hier aber nicht von Gott zu Mensch, wie bei Kain und Abel, sondern eher von Mensch zu Mensch. Ich bezweifle aber, dass es die Intention des Autors war, uns Gott hinzuwenden oder sonstiges, ich habe in dem Buch keine Hinweise gefunden, die auf sowas abzielen.
Es wirft Fragen auf und lässt uns nachdenken über unsere eigene Natur. Grausamkeiten gibt es auch heute noch beim Menschen, das ist nicht “Schnee von gestern”. Diktaturen sind leider auch nicht passé. Was aber der Grund für die menschliche Bosheit ist, das muss jeder für sich beantworten. Jeder sollte sich dazu angeregt fühlen, nachzudenken, ob er denn auch zu solchen Taten fähig ist und was es dazu braucht, dass man zum Monster wird. Auch Existenzängste oder sogar noch weniger?

Finally finished this book. Unfortunately I didn't understand much about it. The writing was hard for me to follow. Apparently the book is full of symbolism and everything represents something. I'm not that smart to figure these things out though.

Another book that proves my fears of reading the classics to be true.

“A plane crashes on a desert island, only children survive, they try to establish a society to live in. They have to deal with food, shelter, order and trying to be rescued.” This could have been one sentence, it is the 50% of the book however. Nothing interesting happens, the characters are very uninteresting. Think the opposite of Ender. They all are children and behave as such.

Here are some of the events. They may seen somewhat interesting, but they are not, really. Maybe if it were as concise as I describe it would be acceptable.
- the plane crashed, and all of the children are dispersed on the island. Ralph, the main protagonist, meets “Piggy”, who finds a conch and give to Ralph to blow and with the loud sound, attract everybody to him. Among other kids, an “army” of children comes marching in guided by a boy named Jack.
- they decide to vote on a leader. The decision is between Jack and Ralph. Ralph is chosen. Jack is a little resented.
- Ralph decides to explore the island, to make sure they are really on an island, surrounded by water and wether there is anybody else living there. He, Jack and Simon go on to explore, but they find no one.
- fruits are plentiful, but it is not long since they see the need to form a group to hunt down boars for meat. Soon a small rivalry between the hunters and the “gatherers” start to form.
- they try to build a fire to produce smoke to be seen from afar by a possible rescue ship.
– first the fire spreads and destroy a good part of the forest. They worry that some of the younger kids may have died in the process, and they have no way of telling if that is the case because of a failed attempt of a census previously.
– second, a group of kids is assigned to keep the fire running at all times. When a ship passes by, they have abandoned their post.
- they choose a common place as bathroom, where their leavings are easily washed away by the ocean tide. The younger children don't quite follow that rule.
- some of the smaller children have nightmares about a creature that comes in the night. They start to spread panic among the others.
- they also need to build a shelter. Most kids soon give up in favor of playing in the water, while only Simon and Ralph remains. This makes Ralph more bitter.

Read 2:55/ 7:00 40%

A well known book about the nature of men (boys) when abandoned to the wild, to fend for themselves and make their own rules.

A group of boys, stranded on a small desert island after a plan crash. A natural leader, a power struggle, brutal violence, scary monsters, tribal rules.

It is a simply written book, well suited to a range of readers - probably why it is read at school so frequently.

A good quick read with interesting character development.

Poor little Piggy
the chubby voice of reason
sucks to your conch shell.

“El mundo, aquel mundo comprensible y racional, se escapaba sin sentir. Antes se podía distinguir una cosa de otra, pero ahora...”

I have finally read this. Now I will understand references that are frequently made in other media I enjoy.

Thought it was too odd back in beginning of high school... maybe my opinion would change today?