Rating: 7.5/10
This was one of the books on my yearly TBR and it was meant to count for the "mass market paperback" prompt from our May TBR jar. I had always been vaguely interested in this book, and we never read it in school. Therefore, I felt the urge to take it upon myself to read. I was especially encouraged to read it, knowing that the city of Castle Rock from many Stephen King books was inspired from Castle Rock from Lord of the Flies. That makes this the original Castle Rock book, in my opinion. To read all the Castle Rock books, I clearly had to start here.
Lord of the Flies has been in print since 1954, so its safe to assume that the purpose of the story is pretty well-known. However, I'm going to share a summary anyway. Lord of the Flies is a sort of Young Adult horror story set on an uninhabited island. When a British plane crashes onto the island, a group of boys aged about 6-12 are left alone to take care of themselves until they can be rescued. At first, there is order and civility as the kids struggle to understand how an adult would handle the circumstances at hand. Over time, any order that was once had begins to devolve as the struggles for power begin. Ralph insists that the only way that they can be rescued, is if they can maintain their fire so that the smoke can be seen by passing ships. Jack begins to insist that this is stupid, what is more important is that they hunt for meat so that they may feast and play when they like. Slowly, as they begin to choose sides, the characters begin to dissolve into savagery. What one particular side doesn't have, they will take by force. If it happens that they have to murder one of the others in the process, they will do it. On the island, they make their own rules.
This story was truly wild. It really displays the darkness that some people hold in their heart. The way that the groups began to split after the incident where the mountain fire went out was haunting. You knew better than to ever trust Jack Merridew and it was well-founded. The kid was truly psychotic and it was obvious from the instant we met him. The way that Golding described the emotions and actions of the characters felt very realistic. He really captured the fickle and often times random, way that children would act. This book is a perfect display of how easily society can fall when there is no order or any way to enforce the rules. Society will end up following the leader that they perceive to be the strongest. They will also follow those who they fear. Even the terror that they felt for the 'beast' that was perceived to be on the island wasn't enough to keep them together. One side even used the 'beast' as a bargaining chip, promising to protect against it, even though the reader is well-aware that the beast doesn't even truly exist. The way that the story devolved even further to just all-out savagery and murder was just insane. These are just kids and they're totally willing to take the life of another over petty indifferences. We know why Roger and Jack had sharpened that stake on both ends, and we all knew what they would do with it if they haven't been saved.
The way that Golding described actions and environment was great. He really set the tone throughout the book. The careful descriptions of the island, which seemed only to get darker and darker, were very well executed. It was very easy to place yourself on this unnamed island with the children. All of the things that the children did on the island felt very appropriate as well. Their interactions as well as their apathetic attitudes towards responsibility (particularly the littluns) felt very realistic. The realistic tone of the story was very well-done.
I felt bad for Piggy at first. As soon as you meet this kid, you can feel the vague indifference that the group gives him. He clearly longs to be accepted by the group, he offered what he could in terms of order. Piggy was clearly the wisest of the group, but his other features were far louder than his voice. He was fat, asthmatic, and just very clingy. He sought approval and he snatched it up whenever he received it. We go through the entire story not even knowing the kid's name. Even in this slip-shod society that was built from the ground, the kids still found camaraderie and familiarity in making fun of the inept kid. He was always the weakest link and it showed. Ralph could only protect him from Jack and the others so much, and half of the time he didn't even really care to. It was only in the end did Ralph realize what he had in Piggy's council. Although I do have to say that my own patience with him did also run thin. He was really needy, in a cringe-y way. But he stayed true to character, Golding's characters all seemed to stay true to how they were presented.
In that vein, we have to talk about character development. It was't so much that the characters grew and developed. It was more that they devolved as the story went on. They slipped the norm of the society from which they used to belong. Along the way, their true personalities had to come forth. This is especially true of Jack who was a stupid little psycho. The little menace never listened to reason. We all knew he wouldn't be content to follow and we all knew that he wasn't going to stay down when he should. He was insufferable, and his use of fear tactics to control others was to be expected. But that isn't to say that the way the characters developed was bad, it was very good. They became exactly who they should have become given the circumstances.
That said, there were things that I did not enjoy about the book. There were times that the reader knew things that the kids didn't, particularly regarding the 'beast.' I wish that we had known more. Some times we were given insight, but most of the time we only knew what the kids knew. I wish it had been one or the other. Give us all of the details, or tell us only what the kids know. I would have liked to have known how many kids were there and what happened to the birthmark kid exactly. I also don't think it was ever stated where exactly these kids were going when they crashed (although I could be mistaken). I know it had something to do with the war, but I still want to know. I also want to know why they were cobbled together randomly from different parts of Britain. It seems to me that realistically, it would have been simpler to have sent them all from the same age groups and areas. That likely would have taken out any 'stranger' element, as they would have likely known one another. But, I think it would have made more logical sense. Also, I didn't care for the way that the dialogue was written. The dialogue itself was fine, but the way that it was executed was confusing. Sometimes I had no idea who was talking and I'd have to reread the part over again for clarity. Often times the kids would interject and you would have no clue who was saying what.
I think, despite my qualms, I would definitely say to read this book. It is a modern classic, but it's not boring like some. There is enough action and interest to keep your attention. This is especially true for the last half of the book. The last ten pages had my heart pounding like crazy. It is horror without being pulp or even particularly gory. It is somewhat gory, but not in an excessive way. It all felt realistic too. The group of adolescent boys all acted in exactly the way that one would think. Well, it seemed realistic to me. Some may not think that kids can get murderous, it seems perfectly reasonable to me. Kids have a mob mentality anyway, if there is no real authority to keep them on an "acceptable" track, then who's to say they would not become savages.
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