With our hectic lives and all of the new books that we are trying to keep on top of, we can often forget about the classics, those books that we loved to re-visit or the books that we just haven’t got to quite yet. Every week, we pick a classic book of the week that is a favourite of ours in the office. This week will be the wonderful Lord of the Flies.
“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.”
A history of the Lord of the Flies.
Consistently picked as one of the best books ever written on many lists, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies remains an absolute classic to this day. The book was the first novel by Golding and at the time of its release, it sold only about 3000 copies. However, following two big screen adaptations and an increase in popularity, the novel is worshipped as Golding’s finest.
What is it about?
The book tells the story of a group of schoolboys who get stranded on a desert island in what is suggested to be the aftermath of a nucleur attack during wartime. Although there seems to be a leaning towards civilization and law and order initially, the book describes the descent into savagery and the complete breakdown of society. The main character, and the leader initially, Ralph, watches in horror as the boys seek to just assert their power. The boys attempt to survive on an island with little food and in constant danger and fear. Will they survive and who will be sacrificed in order that Jack, Ralph’s challenger for power, will assume the control of the group?
Why read it?
First of all, Lord of the Flies is probably the most terrifying read of your life; there are moments when Ralph is alone in the jungle that will leave you absolutely petrified. As well as that, the characters are some of the best written characters in the history of literature but the real message here is the presence of evil. The deafening and unavoidable truth is that evil exists among us and when society breaks down, everyone will make an attempt to grab power. Lord of the Flies still manages to remain one of those timeless books despite the years of its setting with a lot of lessons to learn about the times we live in. It is simply a modern masterpiece, one that you have to read.
