Let me first say, before I begin this review that this book was chosen
as my English classic novel this term. The reason being that I did not choose
this novel strongly reflects my overall thoughts and opinions of this book. To
put it bluntly, I disliked it very much. I found it very boring and hard to
follow, more of that down below. This review does contain spoilers, so if you
wish not to have to ending ruined then I suggest you not read this particular
post.
REVIEW: In beginning this review, my first thoughts when reading this
book were moderate. I had heard such good things about this classic novel, how
symbolic it was, how it was a “must read” to all readers like so many other
classic novels. As I kept on reading I couldn't help but think that this book
would result in leaving me with a horrible impression. This is my first classic
novel, yet certainly not my last – and if this is the way most of those other
books are written, I do not want to spend time reading them. This book had so
much potential, Golding had a great idea for a plot, something that can result
in a captivating and entertaining book. There were a few pats where I was
waiting for something to happen, was squealing and anticipating some major occurrence
– only to be disappointed with the same repetitive situations. At one point I
was rooting for all of the boys to eat each other and be done with it!
The plot could have been
structured better. There is a plot of course, as things do in fact happen, yet
at times it is hard to tell if you have progressed when the author spends
several pages describing a irrelevant events that are never used, characters
that sort of exist and using words that don’t mean what he thinks they do. I
read the Education Edition of this novel, so I had access to some notes and key
highlights in the book that are explained. Since the book is in third person, I
would have much preferred the explanations to be included in the story itself.
It is not that I disagree
with Golding’s theory about people, in particular children will resolve to
savagery. In fact, I strongly agree. But using young boys to show a metaphor of
society was not the best thing to do. I am sure that there would be some form
of leadership if this was to happen in real life – not in this instance where
the main character thinks that he is older than he actually is, and as wise as
a six year old.
As for the characters, I
honestly couldn't have cared less what happened to them. I am a girl, and I
understand that it may be hard to connect with male characters because of the
different gender – but I have had no trouble in situations like this in the
past. Most of the characters were so bland, their structure was so poorly
formulated that I can only describe the group of boys as a group of mindless
Zombies – and I bet Zombies would have more personality than these characters!
The only boy I did pay attention to was Simon. Through revision of the book I
discovered that he has epilepsy, having my teacher explain that maybe this
medical issue causes him to think differently and more morally than the other
characters. Ralph was the try-hard hero, wanting to hold onto power yet not
having the smarts to orchestrate a large group of boys, Piggy was intelligent –
but he did not have the appearance of a person to lead. Jack was a bully, a
show-off and a tormentor who turned savage merely out of fun.
The writing style was very confusing. Like I
said before, the author would always try to use intelligent words to describe
something, yet not with the intention he was going for. At times it felt like
he was choosing random words out of the dictionary and filling in the empty
gaps. The constant repetition was very frustrating, the constant implement of
foreshadowing – leading to the highlight of the novel which never happened. I
could not stand having to constantly guess who was saying what. It was annoying
to see a conversation with so many people, never knowing who was talking. Was
it so hard to say something like “That’s it, smoke” said Jack.
The Lord of the Flies was implied as being the
boys themselves, and I admire that connection – one of the only smart decisions
Golding made. What bugged me most was the fact that they would all lie and over
excaudate beast time and time again. It was simply too hard for these boys to
notice that the so called “beast” was a dead man and his parachute, what more
is that they murdered a boy simply because he was covered in dirt and mud and
“looked” very scary.
In conclusion, I strongly disliked this novel.
If I was to describe my opinion after finishing this book, I would say that I
could have spent my time doing more productive things, reading more meaningful
books. Perhaps if I was to read this book willingly I would have liked it a
little more, but that was not the case. I appreciate the symbolism within this
book, but that was the only thing I enjoyed. I do not recommend this book.
OVERALL RATING:
★
One star (maybe
two)
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