Lord of the Flies by William Golding
During a war, a plane carrying many British boys is shot down over the pacific ocean… After crashing into an isolated island, with nobody around, the survivors come to turns with their situation. With the pilot dead, the children are left to fend for themselves. Ralph, a fair-haired, athletic boy is initially elected chief of the survivors, in the boys’ bid to stay civilised and rather ‘British’ about the whole scenario. Ralph tries to organise the boys so that they can survive till help arrives – however – it’s near impossible to control dozens of children with no adults around and a tropical paradise. Jack Merridew, used to being in control is allowed to stay in charge of his group of choir boys by Ralph. Jack doesn’t want to plan to survive on the island, he wants to hunt and become tribal.
When adults are gone, and kids are responsible for themselves, will society and laws survive, or will civilisation implode on the sweltering island and leave the group of boys to drown in each other’s hostility? Can Jack and Ralph’s conflicting ideas and personalities live in harmony or will they clash like two bulls’ horns?
TEEN RATING: Although an incredibly thought out and amazingly descriptive novel – for me, Lord of the Flies was too dark and focused a bit too much on long descriptions rather than the actual plot. A great read for many people – but not for me. 2.9/5 12+