Lord of the Flies

[Bailers77]

I did enjoy the story line. I listened to it as an audio book so i found it difficult to follow but overall a good book.

[TheBookMaven]

I read this in high school and again in a college psychology class. I enjoyed it enough to buy it and I have reread it several times since. I enjoyed it better after high school because I could read it just for fun and without having to do all of the English class stuff like explain the symbolism of the color green as you go through the book. Although, I do notice how often the color green is mentioned and will never be able to not notice it now. I think it was a great book and shows how the rules of society can make a huge difference in behavior, good or bad.

[Bookwoman]

I read this book a long time ago probably when I was just approaching my 20s. This is one book that I have not been able to bring myself to re-read, I guess it made such an impact when I first read it, I do not wish to go through the same emotions again.
I should give it another try though.

[mvg_80]

An allegory adventure story of lost innocence and an investigation into the primitive being in man - William Golding traces a picture of man as a primarily instinctive being. As the unexplainable, though unanimous, vote of the pack of English boys is cast on Ralph to be their chief, the primitive spark that lies beneath the pursuit of hapiness and self-satisfaction, breaks into a consuming, unquenchable fire, in the heart of a disappointed Jack. The conscience of the sensible leader is belittled and derided by everyone, sadly confirming the universal truth that sanity is a still little voice in the mind of man so easily taken adrift in the sea of his internal darkness.

An island of many marvelous colors and phenomena leads readers through a devastating and feverish adventure.... A Compelling read from cover to cover.

[amybo82]

I read it when I was in high school, and I loved it! I didn't have a problem with the way it was written--it was like an adventure for me to keep up with the story and the characters. The savagery was so raw and the emotions were very real to me. I remember crying a time or two. I think one of the reasons it had such an impact was that I could see it happening in real life. It changed the way I approached and thought about group dynamics.

[chongjasmine]

I enjoy the story.
I read it for my literature class.
It is a nice story.

[Michelle-lit]

Love it, one of my favourite books. I love how the children fall into the two groups, one trying to create a civilised state and the other totally barbaric and reverting to basic instinct and savagery. It raises questions about ourselves as a species, do all of us have this basic savage instinct in us and what would happen if society failed,say after a war.

I completely agree. Definitely a compelling book. I always love books that try to analyze psychology and sociology. Golding smartly took children, who we consider to embody innocence, and an uninhabited island without outside influence to analyze his opinion of our natural, instinctive behavior, which turned out to be predominately barbaric. It makes us question what actually keeps us "civilized."

[LozMel9]

I loathed this book when I read it a couple of years ago and I can't stomach the thought of reading it again now. I believe the idea behind it was probably a good one... if had all been done, well, a lot better then yeah, I might've enjoyed it.

[Gizemkuzu]

Lord of the Flies is a book which explores failure of humanity and dark side of it. This novel that has charmed schoolchildren for decades I think the reason of that the symbology in the book.
The story begins with right after a plane crash. And the schoolboys have survived the crash and find themselves on a desert island without any adult with them. The boy Ralph, leads the other kids, is assigning responsibilities for each one and he knows little more than the others. Stands with him, clever Piggy. Ralph's election is opposed by Jack, the other boy who has the capability of leadership. And Simon, symbolises pure kindness, foreseeing boy. The other one, Roger, pure nefariousness.
Under the leadership of Ralph, the plan is lightning a fire for to escape from the island. After a while Jack can not accept not being a leader and things changes. They accidentally kill one of the boys because they set part of the island on fire and after that they are separated into two groups. They hunt, kill pigs and start dancing absurdly after killing something.

There is a few things that we should understand in this book. One of them is what it really means to be immoral and the true meaning of evil. It makes us to realise how thin is the line between pure goodness and evil.

I enjoyed finally getting to read this classic and slowly discovering the meanings behind certain things. I also appreciated the symbolism of the characters. Overall, Lord of the Flies is an extremely readable book.
Enjoy!
Gizemkuzu

[Dania]

I think it's a great novel, I'm a psychologist and when I read this book I was fascinated about the groups dynamics, the characters and the storyline.
But I was scared too, I don't blush to say it.
Maybe I was scared beacuse I thought it really coud happen.
Sorry for my bad english, I'm italian
enjoy your reading (do you say so?)

[mui-scrimp]

I read this book when I was 13 when a friend of mine recommended it. I loved the storyline, and at that time, it was very different than anything else I was reading. A little disturbing, I'll admit, but I enjoyed the slight morbidity... I had also just come from a summer camp with about 110 kids and not much supervision, so it was something to think about.

[LivreAmour217]

I personally enjoyed reading this book, even if it was all the way back in high school. I understood the story to be a commentary on the inherently evil nature of humans--but then again, this was my English teacher's opinion and I pretty much swallowed it without much thought. Looking back, I am beginning to wonder if the author was instead pointing out the inevitability of the presence of evil, but not necessarily stating that all humans are inherently evil (I hope I'm making sense). I really should read this book again soon.

[lincolnp]

I have always read any books assigned to my children from school, so I can help them if needed (I also want to know what they are reading). My 15 yr old is just finishing Lord of the Flies now. I finished it a couple of days ago. I thought it was an amazing book. I still am wrestling with the barbarism (Simon and Piggy's death), and Jack's systematic plan for eliminating Ralph. I found it interesting that the book compared Roger to the village hangman. I like books that leave me questioning or pondering after I have read them. I wonder what a sequel would look like, a discussion of the permanent changes to the boy's personalities and their relationships with others because of their experiences on the island. Would Jack be able to function within the structure of a "civilized" society? How about Jack's and Ralph's future relationship?

[Robee]

I read it in high school and thought it was so violent for kids to act like that. I did enjoy the survival struggles as well as the social problems faced by the children. All the symbolism and metaphors though was so complex and mind bending at that time for me.

[Blackbeez]

I read this book in high school because it was required reading. My teacher was creative, we had to read Lord of the Flies, Fahrenheit 451, and 1984 in the same year. After I had read them all and had done the required analysis via reports, my view on society and the world as a whole had changed. I now see humans acting as if they are characters in the Lord of the Flies daily. Every individual that craves anarchy in our society should read this book. It definitely puts out the idea, proven or otherwise, that humans cannot function without some sort of rules in place. I have always wondered whether the author used children as examples of how adults can act when they have lost all control. I am still horrified over what happened to Piggy after all these years. Also, when I hear of bullying, I think of Lord of the Flies and how vicious we can be to one another, the influences of peer pressure and how vulnerable certain individuals are to bending to the will of others simply to be excepted. Yes, this book helped form quite a few of my views on society.