Week 25: Lord of the Flies, by Wiliam Golding

OK, as mentioned in my previous post, I need to hustle through this review because it's the Friday before the Fourth of July, and I'm running late. But in an attempt to not fall behind on the blog too badly, I thought I would squeeze this post in. There's a lot of things to say about this book. And I think the first thing is: "WTF? Thanks, Golding, I'm totally creeped out now and terrified." I mean, look at this book cover! Could it get more disturbing? Plus, I took this book to a camping trip ON AN ISLAND. Ooh, how fitting and perfect for my island camping trip! Well, I sure was singing a different tune lying in my tent at night thinking about a gang of little boys chanting "kill the pig spill her blood", etc. For some reason, I had not read this book growing up like most adults nowadays. It was interesting to observe elements of the book that have been borrowed in pop culture today. For instance, everything about the show Lost?! For those unfamiliar with the plot, it revolves around a group of little boys who were in a plane crash and end up on a deserted island. Their attempts to fend for themselves and create order are successful until suddenly, they aren't. The deterioration of their society is pretty harrowing. The various personalities of the boys play out in ways that might initially be predicted, but hoped against. It's incredibly sharp commentary on what it means to be part of a community, and how that distills down into simple survival mode, as the boys revert back to a more primal nature. It's never maudlin or overly done; it's understated in a way that makes it more compelling. An important, thought-provoking book.