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Lord of the Flies

Introduced by Stephen King
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( 3,161,381 ratings, 65,860 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a gripping tale about a group of boys stranded on a deserted island. Faced with the challenges of survival, they attempt to govern themselves but quickly descend into chaos. The novel explores themes of human nature, civilisation, and the loss of innocence amidst the group's power struggles and primal instincts.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy gripping narratives that explore the complexities of human nature and societal breakdown through the eyes of boys stranded on a deserted island. It combines adventure and psychological depth, providing an insightful look at the blurred lines between civilisation and savagery.

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This dystopian classic is 'exciting, relevant and thought-provoking' (Stephen King). When a group of schoolboys are stranded on a desert island, what could go wrong?

This dystopian classic is 'exciting, relevant and thought-provoking' (Stephen King). When a group of schoolboys are stranded on a desert island, what could go wrong?

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

ONE OF THE BBC'S '100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD'

'The first book with hands - strong ones that reached out of the pages and seized me by the throat. It said to me, 'This is not just entertainment; it's life or death.' ... I've been thinking about it ever since, for fifty years and more.' - Stephen King

'One of my favourite books - I read it every couple of years.' - Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games

What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What's grown-ups going to think? Going off-hunting pigs-letting fires out-and now!

A plane crashes on a desert island. The only survivors are a group of schoolboys. By day, they explore the dazzling beaches, gorging fruit, seeking shelter, and ripping off their uniforms to swim in the lagoon. At night, in the darkness of the jungle, they are haunted by nightmares of a primitive beast. Orphaned by society, they must forge their own; but it isn't long before their innocent games devolve into a murderous hunt ...

'Thrills me with all the power a fiction can have ... Exemplary.' - Ian McEwan

'Beautifully written, tragic and provocative.' - E. M. Forster

'Stands out mightily in my memory ... Such a strong statement about the human heart.' - Patricia Cornwell

'Terrifying and haunting.' - Kingsley Amis

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Reviews acclaim Lord of the Flies as a powerful and haunting existential fable, marked by its intense and apocalyptic themes. Critics highlight its vivid realism and the profound humanist rage embedded within. The novel is described as both beautifully desperate and a unique fragment of nightmare, earning its status as a timeless cult classic.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780571371723

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 06 January 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Faber & Faber

Edition: Main

Contributors:

  • Introduction by Stephen King

Audience: Children

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 15.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 215g

Pages: 256

About the Author

William Golding (1911 - 1993) was born in Cornwall and educated at Marlborough Grammar School and Brasenose College, Oxford. Before becoming a writer, he was an actor, small-boat sailor, musician and schoolteacher. In 1940 he joined the Royal Navy and took part in the D-Day operation and liberation of Holland. Lord of the Flies, his first novel, was rejected by several publishers but rescued from the 'reject pile' at Faber and published in 1954. It became a modern classic selling millions of copies, translated into 44 languages and made into a film by Peter Brook in 1963. Golding wrote eleven other novels, a play and two essay collections. He won the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage in 1980 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983. He was knighted in 1988 and died in 1993. www.william-golding.co.uk

Stephen King (1947 - ) was born in Portland, Maine. He began writing in the 1960s and 1970s while working as an English teacher, King is now the award-winning author of more than fifty books, all worldwide bestsellers, including Carrie and The Shining. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to the American Letters, the 2007 Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and the
2014 National Medal of Arts.

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