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The Lord of The Flies (平装)
by William Golding, E. L. Epstein
| Category:
Fiction |
| Market price: ¥ 118.00
MSL price:
¥ 108.00
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MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A startling classic is this perennially bestselling portrait of human nature. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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Oxzillia Schmitt (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
This book still haunts me after reading it a year ago. I just need to look at the cover to get shivers down my spine. Lord of the Flies is a horrifying piece of fiction about how cruel, hideous, even, no, especially, murderous a group of boys could become, left deserted on a desert island with no one to trust but each other, no resourses but the island, and no adults in sight. This is not a flurry little kid's book with a morel about a happy band of friends and their adventures on a desert island. It is about young boys with real feelings, real emotions, real fears. It is about a bullying scenario that goes majorly overboard. And it is about choices, which is more important, to be safe or to insure the safety of others, to follow the crowd of bullying, brutal persons, or to stand up, even if standing up could cost you your life.
In Lord of the Flies, as I've already said, a large number of boys end up on a desert island after a plane crash. You never find out where or why they were going, which leaves it free for you to imagine. Ralf, a determined boy, though by no means perfect as he has the tendensy to bully a fat boy whom he christened 'Piggy', takes leadership. At first all goes well, apart from squabbles over leadership with Jack, a tyranising boy with a thirst to kill. Then the boys decide to light a fire to attract the attention of boats on the ocean that could rescue them and one boy of about five years disapeers. Was he burned to death by the uncontrolable fire? He was never found. It only went down-hill from there. All of the boys but Simon, my favourite character, refused to help make shelters. Jack and his choirboys went on mad hunts in the hopes to catch a wild pig. When they finally did they impaled its head on a stick and began to worship it. Simon could hear it talk to him and slowly began to go insane. The younger children were afraid of a 'monster' which one is lead to believe was really a lost, dying parachuter. That's when the total choas and brutality of the boys imerges. They divide into two groups, Jack's and Ralph's. Jack's group steals Piggie's glasses to create imense fires. They sharpen spears for the kill and create death machines out of boulders. And their target is Ralph.
Lord of the Flies will haunt you with its beautiful writing, disturbing plot, and terrible reality until the end. When I finished it I was sobbing. But if you are ready to step into a rolercoaster ride of fear, wildness, and action, step aboard. |
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Eiyass Alberuti (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
This is one of the few books that have left an indelible mark on my being. What is presented to students across the country as a kids' adventure story is far from it. It is a timeless statement about the nature of human beings, who may fundamentally be innocent and civilized, but can quickly degenerate into adversarial brutes when they become free from the reins of authoritative supervision or isolated from collective notions of propriety. The chaos and terror that Golding so palpably illustrates results from Jack's pride and his ability to garner followers by appealing to their weakness during trying times. But perhaps this was only possible because of the lost - or killed - hope of rescue. This rescue was for a time the unifying and motivating vision that formed the basis of the children's activities on the island, and the eventual arrival of the rescuer is the moment of truth, when the depth of this tragedy is fathomed, and the aggression from Jack's camp becomes apparent to everybody. The novel is more than a chilling tale; it serves as a warning to us, who inhabit the island called 'Earth,' that if we allow our actions and egos to go unchecked, and if we lose hope in the future, then our fate will be dismal. It also exposes the precarious nature of civil order from beneath its veneer of stability. If we value order and harmony, then we need to appreciate that contravention of even simple standards of civility (e.g. speaking without the conch) may spell the beginning of societal decay. I would highly recommend (re)reading this book, because our society needs greater human consciousness. |
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
When I was in eighth grade, I loved reading Lord of the Flies. Two college degrees and a lot of time later, I am not sure what I was thinking. What I saw in the book then, I can not find now. Coming from an era in which literature had a greater market, this book achieved notoriety. Released today, I suspect this book might be a failure.
A plane crash leaves an undetermined number of boys on an island to fend for themselves. The idea that the children must live independent from adults is an interesting premise. While the story itself is interesting, it is difficult to identify with any of the characters. Ralph, the original leader of the group, is weak and a poor leader. His lack of focus and self-loathing make him hard to empathize with. Jack, the second leader and founder of the hunters/savages, is a megalomanical monster. More than anything, he needs a good old fashioned beating from his father. The most sympathetic character is Piggy, the obese and asthmatic voice of reason. Unfortauntely, the other boys would rather mock him than listen to him. When Piggy dies, I found myself wishing that the rest of the boys would starve to death, never being rescued. Unfortunately, the boys are rescued. Despite irrational fears and squabbles for power, the worst of the bunch are rescued while two other boys die cruel deaths.
Perhaps this book is made for children to appreciate their parents. This would explain why I liked the book as a child. Unfortunately, the innocence of children throwing spears at each other has left me. Now I only wonder how much therapy these poor kids needed to get past this episode in their lives. It is still a good book, but your level of enjoyment is dependent upon your perspective. The child in me gave it five stars, while as an adult I give it three stars. Average: 4 stars. |
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Randy Ormsby (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
This review comes as a response to some of the other reviews on the site. Before I actually review the story, I'd like to respond to several accusations made by others.
1) Some say that Golding's writing style is too slow when dealing with the environment, sun setting, etc., but very abrupt when dealing with death. The reason for this abruptness is to underline the character's nonchalance about death and dying. They don't care if Piggy dies, and the book is written to feel the same way. The writing that is long about seemingly unimportant things is only to create a mood, although, to be fair, mood need no be created with such laborious attention to detail.
2) Several reviewers made the point to say that most teenagers don't talk the way the characters in the novel do. Well, of course they don't. The teenagers are merely a metaphor for the adult world and all of its pompousness.
3) Lastly, it should be mentioned that the beast is more important as a metaphor than as an actual thing, i.e. the children's irrational fear drives them to madness. But, you do in fact find out what the beast is, in a short passage of the book. If you watch the movie, it will become even more obvious.
Now, on with the review.
This was William Golding's first novel, and it is a classic. There are some problems with the writing, but the same can be said about most amatuer writers. But writing, in this novel, takes a back seat to Story and Message. Their are several different messages you can take from this, but this edition contains a section called notes on Lord of the Flies if you've read this and want to further your understanding of the novel.
In the end, this is a very desparing story of humanity, with a few flickers of hope. This is a good place to start if you're begining to read deep literature. Supplemental works could include 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and A Clockwork Orange, because while this doesn't take place in the future, it might as well be a dystopian novel about the evils of government by tyrants. |
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Justin Claus (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a very interesting and exciting novel that has many double meanings and symbolism by the characters and their actions. The kids in the book represent how mankind would be without any rules or restictions. It shows how as a society we could not function without the presence of a formal government. The boys that get stranded on the island, quickly forget about the laws that they used to abide by. They become savages on this island and soon violience becomes an everyday occurance. The kids would of continued their savage behavior if not for the interference from the outside wolrd. Symbolism is a big part of this book. Most ideas in this book should not be taken literally. The island that the kids landed on represents the world. The conch represents law and democracy. The conch is the only thing that all the kids listen to and follow. When ever they hear it they always meet. The "beast" represents the darkside within everyone. The beast does not actually exist. It is just the kids excuse for violence and death. This book exposes human nature and how we would act if not for the laws that we are forced to follow. When the stronger kids see that they can get power, they do anything to achieve it. They do not care if they have to kill oposing forces. Overall I enjoyed this book because it made you think why we need a central government that tells us what to do. Without it there would be chaos, which is what happened in the the book, The Lord of the Flies. |
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Marcelo Halpern (MSL quote) , USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
In my opinion, Lord of the Flies was on of the dullest books I have ever read. It started off slow and at times I found myself trying hard not to fall asleep. The plot was actually quite interesting, but William Golding wrote it in such a way, sometimes I couldn't understand exactly what was going on. His word choice left me scanning through a dictionary a majority of the book. Yet this book did contain some quite profound symbolism. The theme would have to be the best party of this novel, being it relates to the real world or the cruelties of the real world.
Some of the scenes in this book are actually quite violent, and unrealistic being that the kids are so young. In fact, numerous times I became sick to my stomach. Some of the scenes were good and beautifully written but overall I felt most of it was superfluous.
(A negative review. MSL remarks)
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Alaura Maharet (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
The book Lord of the Flies was an exceptional book though there were a few vacant areas where the plot needed to be moved along faster and more eventful. The book takes place on a deserted island out in the middle of nowhere after a plane carrying some young boys crashes into the sea and the survivors are forced to take refuge on the island. After many days of frightening events dealing with being alone on the island, one boy named Jack, turns into a savage and persuades the rest of the group to leave Ralph, who is the one in charge, to join his wild ways. Many horrible events take place that embed disturbing images in your head throughout the story. It is a unique way for teaching the readers exactly how brutal and harsh being stranded alone on an island with no special form of government or order of any kind could be. The story portrays many real-life aspects about the struggles for power and leadership that the boys go through on the island. It greatly outlines the conflicts between two boys, Ralph and Jack, who are constantly competing for total control over the group. With no grown-ups around, the boys are forced to deal with the harsh reality by themselves. This experience in itself will change the lives of the boys forever.
This book is a great reading experience for aspiring readers who are into adventure novels. Lord of the Flies gives off a dark and mysterious tale that is greatly expressed in detail. The emotions and actions of these boys were greatly presented in the writing in order to give full aspect of what is happening. Overall, we would recommend reading this novel because it is a wonderfully original story that takes your mind into a totally different world of thought. Also, if you are interested in dark, disturbing stories, this book would be an excellent choice because you never know what bizarre events are going to happen to them next. |
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Paul (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
William Golding's very first novel, Lord of the Flies, is an intriguing look at aspects of human nature as it explores the thin line between human reason and animal instinct. In Lord of the Flies, Golding tries to accurately portray human nature or at least as he saw it. The underlying theme of this novel is the idea of good vs. evil or order vs. chaos. The most notable struggle in the novel is between man and himself as the children fight with their instinct to live by rules against their instinct to act violently. The story begins when a group of English school boys become plane wrecked on a deserted island. In the beginning the group of stranded boys acts as one and cooperate well with eachother. They attempt to gather food, make shelters and signal fires, and anything else they can do just to survive. The novel's protagonist, Ralph, represents order and leadership. He steps forward as the leader and oversees their efforts to survive as well as maintain some amount of order and decency among the group. His sidekick, Piggy, is a chubby boy with glasses. His glasses represent the power of science and intellect. He also tries to help Ralph maintain order throughout the story. At first they manage establish some rules and some sense of order on the island. However, too many of the kids want to goof off and hunt animals rather than focus on survival or rescue. Ralph's leadership gets ignored and the desire of the boys to fool around and live in chaos leads to the splitting of the boys into two camps. Jack, the antagonist, represents savagery and the desire for power. He manages to lure most of the boys away to join his camp of savages. Ralph's camp represents good and Jack's camp represents evil. Ralph's camp focuses on the rescue effort while Jack's camp decides to hunt, feast, and lie around. The situation gets progressively worse as the values and morals of everyday civilization are lost. What happens next makes this classic novel a must read for everyone. |
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Johnson (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
Writing in the years after the Second World War Golding put his experiences as teacher together in what may be the most successful twist on the Garden of Eden story. While they have plenty of resources, a group of stranded schoolboys slowly disintegrates into violence and chaos. Since libraries have been filled about this book and more than a thousand reviewers had their say before me there is little more to add when it comes to deciphering the symbolism of the boys' various quests and the archetypes that the main players represent. Yet, in despite of all its simplicity, Golding deserves eternal praise for the effective synergy between a small number of strong ingredients.
Central is of course the idea of the monster, as a symbol of the outside threat to the group, a concept that many a dictator has used to disastrous effects throughout history. After finishing the book, I could not fully understand the emphasis the author had given the decaying pig's head, by using it's given name as title of this book. Doing a little homework, I learned that Lord of the Flies is a literal translation of Beelzebub. While many subtle and highly intelligent and equally far fetched alternative interpretations have been given of this book, it is clear that the writer aimed at a cautionary tale on the beast within. Many reviewers consider this view of humanity too dark. While this high spirited philosophy is laudable, one only needs to take a cursory glance at the trophy shots of our heroes in Abu Ghraib to see its blind futility. A classic must read. |
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
When human is stripped of all the amenities at home, all the luxuries and necessities and abandoned on a wild island with no guarantee of rescue, it is of human's nature to turn barbaric. When there's no food to eat and nothing seems to be going according to one's will, it is quite possible to kill one's friends. As illustrated in Lord of the Flies it is easy for such a tiny group of people (abandoned on an island) to turn against one another and form groups. Ralph, Piggy and Jack were initially leading the whole group of kids, but when Jack begins to feel that his ego is shaken, he attempts to form his own group of followers. Before, they used to guard fires together in hopes of rescue and hunt together. However, this diversion transforms into murder and vigorous fight between Jack and Ralph. Only later, when everyone's rescued by a passing ship do they realize how immoral they had been to one another.
My favorite part was during the introduction of the Lord of the Flies. I don't wanna give it away because it is the most intense and symbolic part of the book. It contains the combination of fear, rivalry, brutality and weakness in front of the nature. However, it was quite shocking to see such young kids transform so violently in a short period of time. Though it is true that under such difficult situations (wherein there's no guarantee of meat and time goes by so slowly) this book portrays the fact that even young and pure minds possess the evilness. Definitely, an interesting book and it reflects the nature of human. Really thought-provoking.
However, if you are looking for a dynamic book, this may not be your catch, because at times it can get quite boring. After all, this book shows quite tedious and routined lifestyle of the kids for the first 110 pages and then turns quick and brutal. But otherwise, it is an inspiring book! |
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1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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