Review | Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Title: Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Series: N/A
Genre: Classic/YA
Publication: 1954 by Penguin Great Books of the 20th century
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
Rating: ★★

Synopsis: William Golding's classic novel of primitive savagery and survival is one of the most vividly realized and riveting works in modern fiction. The tale begins after a plane wreck deposits a group of English school boys, aged six to twelve on an isolated tropical island. Their struggle to survive and impose order quickly evolves from a battle against nature into a battle against their own primitive instincts. Golding's portrayal of the collapse of social order into chaos draws the fine line between innocence and savagery.

Thoughts: I really expected to enjoy this a little more than what I actually did. I started it off a little cautious, but excited because I've always heard pretty good things about this. I never read it in school, but I had plenty of friends who did and it sounded like they thought well enough of it so I wanted to give it a try. But, I must say, I was pretty disappointed overall with what this book actually was.

It starts off with two boys, Ralph and Piggy, trying to figure out where they were, what happened and what they were going to do. Really, the idea seems interesting enough: boys crash land on an island and must fend for themselves, but eventually become wild and must struggle to survive against each other. After other introductions of boys and their attempt to figure out what they are going to do while waiting to be rescued, the story doesn't really pick up much. After several chapters, I knew it was going to move too slow for my liking.

It didn't help that the narrators voice was a little...boring. It was actually read by the author and although I usually prefer that, because only the author knows how they want each character to sound, listening to Golding was terribly boring. He pretty much read the book in an almost monotone voice and it took me several weeks to get through the whole thing ( I wasn't giving up!) I lost interest several chapters in though, but the story picked up a little bit more than halfway in. I really don't remember much from the beginning though and usually I rewind anything I miss, but with this book I had no urge to actually try and listen to the beginning because it wasn't too interesting.

The story, like I said, sounds good to me. I really like the idea of the stranded boys and how they change when creating their own "society" and "government." It is a bit of a twist when the boys start to change, become dangerous and wild, start plotting against each other and fighting for power. I really don't want to discuss my actual beliefs, if I believe this would actually happen if boys were stranded in an island because it seems like quite a debate. I can say that I liked the way the author changed the boys as we got farther into the story, and it becomes a little disturbing, shocking and thought provoking.

I would recommend this book to those who prefer "classics" although, this one is directed towards young adults of that time, I think adults will enjoy this one. I really wanted to enjoy this book more than what I did and despite the fact that I thought it was mostly slow and a little boring, the ending picks up, you just have to work a little to get through the first half. The ending is great, and everything that leads to the ending, will definitely leave you a bit shocked, if not a little unnerved.