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William Golding (1911–1993)

Author of Lord of the Flies

84+ Works 60,191 Members 941 Reviews 57 Favorited

About the Author

William Golding was born in Cornwall, England on September 19, 1911. Although educated to be a scientist at the request of his father, he developed an interest in literature. At Oxford University, he studied natural science for two years and then transferred to a program for English literature and show more philosophy. He eventually became a schoolmaster at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury. During World War II, he joined the Royal Navy and was involved in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck. After the war, he returned to Bishop Wordsworth's School and taught there until 1962. His first novel, Lord of the Flies, was published in 1954 and was made into a film in 1963. His other novels include The Inheritors, Free Fall, The Spire, The Pyramid, The Paper Men, Close Quarters, and Fire down Below. He won the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage in 1980 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983. He also wrote plays, essays, and short stories. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1988. He died on June 19, 1993. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: From Owen Barfield Website

Series

Works by William Golding

Lord of the Flies (1954) 49,978 copies
The Inheritors (1955) 1,523 copies
Rites of Passage (1980) 1,243 copies
The Spire (1964) 1,153 copies
Pincher Martin (1956) 894 copies
Darkness Visible (1979) 661 copies
Free Fall (1959) 601 copies
The paper men (1984) 457 copies
Close Quarters (1987) 367 copies
Fire Down Below (1980) 350 copies
The Pyramid (1967) 327 copies
The Double Tongue (1995) 255 copies
The Hot Gates (1957) 150 copies
An Egyptian Journal (1605) 123 copies
A Moving Target (1982) 93 copies
Lord of the flies (1954) 19 copies
Karbeste jumal ; Mereristsed : [romaanid] (1989) — Author — 13 copies
Lord of the flies (2006) 8 copies
Envoy Extraordinary (2006) 8 copies
Novelas (1983) 7 copies
Ceberut Martin (2018) 4 copies
Poems 2 copies
The Spire / The Pyramid (1965) 2 copies
Tæt på (1988) 1 copy
Kâ?ıt Adamlar (2024) 1 copy
Lord of the Rings (1954) 1 copy
O Deus das Moscas — Author — 1 copy
Sobranie sochinenii. Tom 2 (1999) — Author — 1 copy
Sobranie sochinenij. Tom 1 (1998) — Author — 1 copy
Vidna tema 1 copy
1983 1 copy
Nasljednici (2022) 1 copy

Associated Works

The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories (1989) — Contributor — 433 copies
Lord of the Flies [1963 film] (1963) — Original book — 130 copies
The Norton Book of Travel (1987) — Contributor — 111 copies
Lord of the Flies [1990 film] (1990) — Original novel — 53 copies
The Genius of the Later English Theater (1962) — Contributor — 36 copies

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Reviews

A book club pick :)

Imagine two aliens landing on Earth, and attempting to study humans. One of them lands in a concentration camp in a totalitarian state, the other in a scout summer camp. They will have very different views of what humans are like. These views will not be untrue; neither will these views be true. They will be limited and one-sided.

Lord of the Flies is a fable of darker sides of human nature (disclaimer: I hate fables). The book is packed with symbols and allusions that I got tired of. I prefer not to be hit over the head with author’s messages. The characters are two-dimensional at best, and I would have preferred to care for them more. I liked Piggy, the voice of reason, very much. There was very obvious fat shaming, though. The bullying was awful. “Piggy was once more the center of social derision so that everyone felt cheerful and normal.”

The grisly, beastly things were true, very plausible, and horrifying. According to the book, this seemed to be the only possible view of human nature, though. The reader who thinks that this is not always true will not be satisfied.

But I thought that the writing was very good. Golding pulls you in, you keep reading almost despite yourself, you cannot let the book go, except to say “what a great sentence”. A saving grace!

“They were twins, and the eye was shocked and incredulous at such cheery duplication.”

“Darkness poured out, submerging the ways between the trees till they were dim and strange as the bottom of the sea.”


The ending has too much of deus ex machina and feels anticlimatic.

One more thing: other reviewers pointed to “the real Lord of the Flies”, a story that is quite different from this book. It’s an interesting read, I’ll say no more.
… ( more )
 
Flagged
Alexandra_book_life | 748 other reviews | Jun 4, 2024 |
Re-read (2009) many years after doing it in school & got a lot more out of it.
(Re-read 2015) Raised star rating.
 
Flagged
Abcdarian | 748 other reviews | May 18, 2024 |
Read this so long ago, it probably doesn't count, although the description is memorable enough I don't think I'll reread it. Man on rock in ocean scavenging, or drowned?
 
Flagged
featherbooks | 22 other reviews | May 7, 2024 |
I'm the kind of person who likes to believe in the inherent good of every person, whether it is true or not, but this novel basically takes that idea and throws it out the window altogether. Can society devolve as quickly as it is presented in this tale? That may be a question that can't be answered; we may never know for sure. But if something like this could really happen, why doesn't it happen more often. Sure, kids can be cruel, but can they really turn into bloodthirsty animals so quickly? I'd like to think that in reality a good portion of their moral values would be retained enough for them to establish a somewhat humane society instead, rather than the absolute worst, as Golding seems to believe. … ( more )

Lists

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1970s (1)
100 (1)
scav (1)
1950s (2)
1960s (1)

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Statistics

Works
84
Also by
20
Members
60,191
Popularity
#240
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
941
ISBNs
776
Languages
32
Favorited
57

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