Lord of the Flies - William Golding.
I got this book long back from a very dear friend, in the course of our book club meet and he told me that this is one of those amazing classics that I have to read at any cost. Going by the title, Author's acclaimed background and the time that it was written in, I expected a book which will swipe me off my feet and will give so much food for thoughts. But unfortunately this became a (rare) case of a Classic totally going above my head. With hardly 230 odd pages, it was a quick and easy read with such an interesting premise but by the ending it left so much to be answered that I actually found the ending to be half hearted or too hap-hazard which totally didn't work for me.
Imagine the world has come to an end (again) because of Atomic bombs, a handful of kids (no exact count, may 20 odd) somehow crash land in an unknown Island which is uninhabited yet. They have no idea how they came there, the way story progresses it becomes a little bit clear that either they were dropped off an Airplane or must have crash landed but again there is no wreckage of any aircraft on the Island. They are aged as young as 6 year old (thumb sucking) to the oldest would be like a 13 year old kid. How they survive on the Island waiting to be rescued is what makes up for the rest of the story. The unknown creatures and demons that they had to face on the course of their unfortunate survival was gripping and kept me glued to it. Plus I really wanted to know if they will actually survive till they may get rescued if there still was any humanity left on the planet.
What didn't work for me was the way it ends and the way Author totally refuses to answer the questions which a reader is sure to have. For example all the surviving kids are males and not one girl among them, not even a mere mention by any kid of having a (girl) friend or a sister or anything. No mention of anyone's family either shocked and surprised me to no end. Also the title, I mean I was like, it actually sounds so much forced on the book and the way he justifies it had actually turned me off completely but as it comes at almost the ending, I somehow dragged myself to the ending.
I would really to know if anyone has read it in the recent times and liked it? or shall I say understood it, as it went way above my understanding level for sure. Although my kind friend has put in so many notes in the book and his own metaphors, some did help but some made me feel as if he actually was reading a little too much than the Author was offering (read forced). Now, having said that and read this one, I will have to pick up a couple of books from William Golding for sure to see if they make any sense to me. Have you read this one? Do let me know your thoughts on the book. Or which do you recommend that I read next from William Golding?
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