Description
The Lord of the Flies is a novel by William Golding about a group of boys stranded on a deserted island and their descent into savagery. The novel is just as chilling and relevant today as when it was first published in 1954.
These deluxe editions are packaged with French flaps, acid-free paper, and rough front. "This brilliant work is a frightening parody on man's return. . . to that state of darkness from which it took him thousands of years to emerge. . . Superbly written." --
The New York Times Other Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce Swann's Way by Marcel Proust My Antonia by Willa Cather On the Road by Jack Kerouac White Noise by Don DeLillo
William Golding's classic tale about a group of English schoolboys who are plane-wrecked on a deserted island is just as chilling and relevant today as when it was first published in 1954. At first, the stranded boys cooperate, attempting to gather food, make shelters, and maintain signal fires. Overseeing their efforts are Ralph, "the boy with fair hair," and Piggy, Ralph's chubby, wisdom-dispensing sidekick whose thick spectacles come in handy for lighting fires. Although Ralph tries to impose order and delegate responsibility, there are many in their number who would rather swim, play, or hunt the island's wild pig population. Soon Ralph's rules are being ignored or challenged outright. His fiercest antagonist is Jack, the redheaded leader of the pig hunters, who manages to lure away many of the boys to join his band of painted savages. The situation deteriorates as the trappings of civilization continue to fall away, until Ralph discovers that instead of being hunters, he and Piggy have become the hunted: "He forgot his words, his hunger and thirst, and became fear; hopeless fear on flying feet." Golding's gripping novel explores the boundary between human reason and animal instinct, all on the brutal playing field of adolescent competition.
--Jennifer Hubert
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