# Lord of The Flies



## Worlds (Mar 11, 2006)

Alright, I apologize if this a repostor anything. I absolutely loved this book. Brilliant. I just recently finished reading it for the fourth time, and it was as fantastic as the first. Just the whole book, the themes and ideas presented in it are great. And the writing is awesome too. One of my favorite books of all time, if not my favorite. Anyone else agree?

Also, I think my favorite scene is when Simon is talking ot the Lord of the Flies. That part always gives me chills


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## Lucifiel (Mar 12, 2006)

I read both the book and the film made off it. I first tried to read the book as a child but lacked the maturity to understand it and so, I only read it a second time when I was about 15.

Totally freaking and a real nutcase writer, I must say! :razz:


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## Walkio (Mar 12, 2006)

Yeah - I really liked it. It's unusual to find a good book that has a strong moral message too.


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## Wilderness (Mar 13, 2006)

I studied this book at school and really REALLY didnt like it. 
That was 2-3 years ago, though. I dont like I would like it if I read it again now. 

Lani


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## Dresdor (Mar 13, 2006)

That's a book ripe for literary analysis and over-analysis.  The entertainment value of it is largely dwarfed by that fact.


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## Mike C (Mar 13, 2006)

Which is a pity, because I found it to be hugely entertaining. having read it at several ages, I got something different from ot every time.

Wilderness, I'd suggest that when you get time, read it afresh. School can kill any book.


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## Wilderness (Mar 14, 2006)

Tell me about it. It killed a book which I really loved (Blueprints for a barbed-wire canoe, Wayne Macauley) and its killing all the other ones I'm reading...Argh. 

But I dont think it was school. It just wasnt my sort of book. 

Lani


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## Ennui (May 29, 2006)

It was a good book. Personally, I only have read it once, IN school, and I enjoyed it.

So school doesn't kill ALL books, just a large majortiy of them.


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## Ilan Bouchard (May 29, 2006)

Just about every page of the book made me wish I could experience something as free as being trapped on an island.

Call me crazy, but being able to shed social structures and adheres would be pretty sweet in my opinion.  (The scurvy might be a little tough to get used to, though.)


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## Farror (May 30, 2006)

You can get scurvy anywhere.

http://www.snopes.com/college/horrors/scurvy.asp


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## Ilan Bouchard (May 30, 2006)

Ya, but on an island I imagine my food choices will be a bit more limited.


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## kalibantre (May 30, 2006)

I read it in school and I adored it.. no one else in my class did but hey other people suck.

It's just awe inspiring, and yes it does make you want to appreciate nature, I got a confused grunt off my brither when I asked if Lost was like an adult Lord of the Flies. We watched a movie of it in school too, black and white one if I remember correctly. I shed many tears over that, I think my sister has it downstairs.. hmm...


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## BillyLiar (Jun 8, 2006)

I loved this book. I found a copy from 1975 at my local Salvation Army (the best book store!) for fifty cents. There were some notes by a young girl named Kate in it, but nothing overbearing. Even though much of the story was rather predictable, it was still so great. Some parts were so serene and calming like when they first are lolling around the beach, while others such as the "Lord of the Flies" scene were terribly haunting, in a good way.


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## BeautifulDisaster (Jun 8, 2006)

I really did NOT like Lord of the Flies, but I also read it in high school. Maybe if I read it now..I'd have a different opinion, but somehow I don't think so.


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## BillyLiar (Jun 8, 2006)

I'm surprised someone can have an aversion to a book like this. It tells a great story very well. It isn't difficult reading like anything that Melville or Dickens ever wrote. I suggest you pick it up again, you can breeze through it in a few days.


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## Dan Price (Jun 12, 2006)

I had to study it for 10th grade. To be honest i never read it. But I read chapter summeries. It freightend me to be honest. Trapped on an island, never going to go home, and half the boys on the island are a whole lot of jerks who are insecure and band otgether to bully others.
Of course having read the chapter summeries a few years back i might have no idea what im talking about. I think i'd rather watch the show Lost.


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## mandax (Jul 2, 2006)

I rather enjoyed the book.  I also studied it in school, and school did kill a lot of the appeal for me.  Over-analyzing drives me insane.  Maybe I'm just partial to islands, since LOST is in fact my favorite show.


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## Arin (Jul 5, 2006)

Ilan Bouchard said:
			
		

> Just about every page of the book made me wish I could experience something as free as being trapped on an island.
> 
> Call me crazy, but being able to shed social structures and adheres would be pretty sweet in my opinion. (The scurvy might be a little tough to get used to, though.)


 
For me, it's kind of the opposite. Though the book did spark some fantasies of freedom and exciting survival, they were quickly quenched when I saw the destructive nature of their lawless society. I mean, if I were trapped on an island with a group of people I knew and liked, yeah it would be fun. But there's no telling what people can do---the main theme of the book, I believe. irate:


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## BillyLiar (Jul 5, 2006)

Arin said:
			
		

> For me, it's kind of the opposite. Though the book did spark some fantasies of freedom and exciting survival, they were quickly quenched when I saw the destructive nature of their lawless society. I mean, if I were trapped on an island with a group of people I knew and liked, yeah it would be fun. But there's no telling what people can do---the main theme of the book, I believe. irate:


see what happens when people stop acting, and start getting REAL! Next week on the Real World..
=D


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## sanctuary (Jul 5, 2006)

BillyLiar said:
			
		

> see what happens when people stop acting, and start getting REAL! Next week on the Real World..
> =D


funny.
 Although I didnt like it, the whole microcosm on society at it's worst was captivating in a way. I wouldn't read it again though.


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## dwellerofthedeep (Jul 5, 2006)

I really liked this book.  It reminds me of my time in alternative school (Which was great for my personal growth and learning) and scares me more than a little sometimes with the way it gets my imagination working.


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## strangedaze (Jul 5, 2006)

Ilan Bouchard said:
			
		

> Call me crazy, but being able to shed social structures and adheres would be pretty sweet in my opinion.  (The scurvy might be a little tough to get used to, though.)



i can already envision your descent into, ahem, the dreadful HEART OF DARKNESS!

hee hee.


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## The Hack (Jul 29, 2007)

This is the book that turned me into an avid reader.  I was a slightly rebellious kid who did as much (and as little) as necessary to not flunk out of school.  If I was forced to read something, I tried to fake my way through it.  Reading was lame, I had no time for it.

When I was in 7th or 8th grade, I was bored one very hot summer day (we didn't have air conditioning at the time).  I spent most of time outside, but that day was just too hot - it was the cool basement for me.  The problem was that there was nothing to do in the basement.  I picked up my brothers copy of _Lord of the Flies_ and I've been reading ever since.  A great book.


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## Faustling (Aug 11, 2007)

I like the book but am I the only one bothered by a strong deus ex machina feeling at the ending?


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## cactusfruit (Sep 4, 2007)

Loved this book!


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## Girl in Story (Sep 16, 2007)

Gotta love those Christ Figures.


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## TWariner (Sep 22, 2007)

It's one of my favorite books.  I read it when I was a teenager and want to read it again.  Definitely a book that sticks in your mind and makes you think.


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## Thoth (Sep 26, 2007)

its been yrs since I read it but its one of my favorites.
Creepy, but with a message.


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## Damian_Rucci (Oct 17, 2007)

I was one of the only people in my class to actually enjoy the book. I felt it had a strong message but was also an amazing read as well. It really shows how humans break down when in a wild environment


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## Mike C (Oct 18, 2007)

Thoth said:


> Creepy, but with a message.




And the message is, fat kids die first. It's a warning to fat kids everywhere.


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## alanmt (Oct 18, 2007)

I love this book, in the sense that it brings forth such strong emotions.  I first read it young, when I wanted to be ralph, but was much more like piggy and simon. A fascinating tale of humanity with societal conventions removed.


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## Damian_Rucci (Oct 19, 2007)

Very true, sometimes I felt as if the book was very dry though, but the action would pick up soon after that


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## Kye (Nov 16, 2007)

I read it three quarters the way through and watched the movie? I will finish it eventually, but when I watch the movie mid-read, I don't really feel interested anymore. The first part was good, though ^_^


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## Amara-J (Nov 23, 2007)

Studied it as part of English Literature (besides other short stories, plays, and poems) for high school exams. I got somewhat poor marks at the end of the course... probably due to weak analysis, but I still like the story. It has this bizarre mix of fantasy and reality, and it's very creepy and believable. The '*deus ex machina*' element of the ending, I think, was probably the only way he could end it after building up to the massive forest fire. Simply killing everyone off would be a bit awkward... though I wonder what would've happened if Ralph died and the others lived. Interesting.


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## SevenWritez (Nov 28, 2007)

It's a shame that the fun and entertainment that can literally be drained from this novel is shadowed in literary over-analysis. The first time I read this book was during my Freshmen year at highschool, on my own time, and I absolutely loved it. The second time was Sophomore year, when I was forced to study every little damn thing that was happening. Odd how I seemed to loathe it then.


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## Storm Eagle (Nov 28, 2007)

I personally never liked the book. Way too much emphasis put on description for my tastes.


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## Truth-Teller (Nov 28, 2007)

My thoughts exactly.

This book was tedious, atrocious, and boring.


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## CroZ (Nov 30, 2007)

I enjoyed it but found the description tedious and often confusing.


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## SnipSnap (Dec 28, 2007)

I adored this book.  It was actually the first "classic" I ever read.

Also, as a random but correlated side-note ... has anyone read Pincher Martin, by Golding?  I haven't, mainly because I haven't been able to find a copy.


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## cowpops (Feb 10, 2008)

This book scared the crapola out of me.

I was jumpy for weeks.

I liked it though.

Sorta.


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## quarterscot (Feb 10, 2008)

I notice how many people, like me, first read the book when they were at school. It's probably the perfect time. At school, a story of children turning into savages and destroying the weakest members of the group does have a certain resonance. Maybe he wasn't writing about the whole of society after all. It could just have been an analysis of what happens every break time.


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## wren (Mar 4, 2008)

I was told it was dark and scary and all the rest of it by some friends who had read it at school and was left kind of unimpressed.  I didn't find it shocking at all (maybe because so many things have been written since in the same genre) and while the writing was undeniably good it didn't blow me away.  I think if I had read it without the hype it would have been better, but I still think of it as kind of a light read.


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## seigfried007 (Mar 24, 2008)

LOL Mike 

I picked it up in high school--about junior year--and I haven't read it since. Truly an imaginative, horrifying, thought-provoking work. I've known too many boys like those in the book--ones that didn't have an island or a lack of parents/society even to blame for their descent--so that made it all the more real for me.

I'm never sure how much analyzing to do in a given work because one can 'kill' the work and even peeve an author by doing so too much. 

I think it was more horrific for having involved children rather than adults--people expect adults to be violent and depraved more than they expect children to kill each other. 

The microcosm statement earlier rang quite true to my thinking--just as true as all this freedom talk about islands. Peronally, tropical islands sound great but regardless of who you get trapped with, I'm prone to thinking the stress gets to everyone eventually and you wind up hating even people you loved before the wreck... that or clinging to people in the ever-popular security sex line of thought (kinda like getting stuck on an elevator).


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## KarenJoslin (Aug 24, 2009)

seigfried007 said:


> LOL Mike
> 
> I think it was more horrific for having involved children rather than adults--people expect adults to be violent and depraved more than they expect children to kill each other.



Yes, but children also tend to be more self-involved than adults, and often haven't developed as much compassion for others.  They haven't had as much experience working with others as a team.  Children's lives are also very controlled, so when they suddenly have no adults to place constraints on their behavior, it's easy to imagine that they would devolve more quickly into a chaotic situation than adults would.  But I think adults in the same situation could certainly follow a similar path.  It would just probably take a little longer.


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## Leyline (Aug 25, 2009)

A classic that truly deserves its reputation, beautifully written, exciting, scary. It manages to be both viscerally believable and fairy tale-esque. From what I've read it was Golding's reaction to 'boy's adventure', which he found sentimental and far too optimistic, mixed in with his thoughts on the devolving state of the world during the Cold War.

I've read it several times and I think it's high time to read it again.

Has anyone read any of Goldings other work? I've read _The Inheritors_, _The Spire_ and _Pincher Martin_. The first and last were excellent, IMO. _The Spire_ was good, but dragged a bit in places.


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## blackthorn (Aug 28, 2009)

The book was a reading assignment for me in my Junior year of high school. I kinda liked it, although watching people slowly go insane is quite painful for me in stories.


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