Revisiting Lord of the Flies
As I mentioned last week, recently I went back to re-read one of my all-time, hands-down, favorite books of all time, LORD OF THE FLIES. Reconnecting with this novel has been amazing…not only is it as good as I remembered, it’s better. Though I knew the horrors coming my way, I still couldn’t peel my eyes from the kindle. Again, I cringed as Simon crawled out of the jungle into the circle of dancers. I pleaded with Piggy to move from under Roger’s boulders. Finally, I held my breath with Ralph as he hid from the savages as a wildfire burned the island to the ground.
A book this classic gets dissected to the point that you’d think it was a dissertation piece about the root of evil. And, in a way, it is. But what we forget is that it’s a rockin’ story too.
The first time I read LOTF, I was 13 and devoured the sucker in a day (remember when we had a whole day to do nothing but read? Me neither, but people assure me that did happen). Back then, I had no idea – or interest – in William Golding’s perception of war or civilization or rationalism. I wanted nail-biting suspense, complex characters, and impossible situations. LOTF gave all of that and more – this time, last time, and I suspect, any time.
3 comments
I have never read Lord of the Flies. Didn't see the movie either. It never interested me. But to read about it from your perspective, I'm thinking maybe it would interest me.
I suspect that many of the books I was forced to read as a teen would look different to me today, given what I know now about life, war, emotions, the world in general. I might give LOTF a try. I'll let you know how it goes.
Heather
The only thing wrong with my connection to Lord of the Flies was having an English Instructor hell-bent on interpretation of every line being exactly as she said it was supposed to be. Otherwise, I was blown away and heartbroken by LOTF. It really was a fictional elaboration of the roots of man as the feral being we can be and, even in our civilized world, show on occasion.
This was never required reading for me, so I read it on my own, probably when I was 15 or so.
I had to write about a party scene from a book for my AP English essay, and I chose that fatal fire-lit dance scene. It still sticks with me.
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