Lord of the Flies.
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Hey there Earthlings, Alternatives and Trollers. Put down that mouse and lend an ear. Welcome to The Bandersnatch blog where we talk weird, wacky and wondrous. I'm Mama Ogre and I have no idea what I'm doing.
As you should know Tuesdays is book blog day were we talk about one particular book and pretty much run with it. Today's blog is on the book The Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
Today's Post lands on my 30th birthday. Happy Birthday to me, however the blogs must go on and as such here its today's offering.......
At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate: this far from civilisation the boys can do whatever they want. Anything. They attempt to forge their own society, failing, however, in the face of terror, sin and evil. And as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far from reality as the hope of being rescued.
Lord of the Flies Goodreads page
Lord of the Flies was published on September 17th 1954 by Faber and Faber after being rejected by other publishers under the original title Strangers from Within, The book went onto be a bestseller despite its slow success. Its turning point came thanks to E. M. Forster (English Novelist) choosing the book as his “Outstanding novel of the year”. Golding wrote the book as a counterpoint to R. M. Ballantyne's 1857 youth novel The Coral Island and not only included specific references to it but had his three central characters; Ralph, Piggy and Jack, be interpretations of The Coral Islands Protagonists. The book has gone onto be awarded a place on both the editors Modern Library 100 best novels and the Readers Modern Library 100 best novels reaching positions 41 and 25 respectively. In 2003 the novel was listed as number 70 on the BBC's survey The Big Read, in 2005 the book was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the 100 best English language novels form 1923-2005 and included it on its 100 best young adult books of all time. Lord of the flies went onto be adapted into film three times; twice in English; 1963 by Peter Brook and 1990 by Harry Hook, and once in Filipino in 1975 by Lupina A. Concio.
The theme of Lord of the flies at its heart is at an allegorical level is the conflict of human impulses towards civilisation and social organisation (I.E. living by rules, peacefully and in harmony) and the Will to Power. Also included is the differences between group think and individuality, rational and emotional reactions and between morality and immorality. The book tires to show how this plays out, allowing the reader to feel the influences for themselves. To add to the subtext of the book, the title Lord of the Flies is a literal translation from Beelzebub, from 2 kings 1:2-3, 6, 16.
I first read Lord of the Flies in school as part of my English GCSE course. After finishing school I went and bought my own copy and sat down to read it in my own time. During school we were taught to see what the teachers were trying to show us what was the themes of the book were. It took two or three readings outside of the school setting to even remotely see what both the teachers were trying to teach and what I could personally see was part of the books theme. I highly recommend that children ages 9-12 and teenagers give this book a read, regardless of being on school curriculums or not. I give the book a 7/10.
Lord of the Flies came to the screens the first time on the 12th May 1963 at the Cannes Film Festival having been directed by English theatre and film director Peter Brook. The movie went onto have a secondary release date of July 23rd 1964 in the UK and was distributed by both British Lion (UK) and Continental Distributing (US). The movie garnered good reviews and went onto receive a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. Peter Brook ended being nominated at the Canes Film Festival for the Golden Palm (the highest prize at Cannes Film Festival) and the National Board of Review named the movie as part of the Top Ten films of the year for 1963. The movie is currently on DVD and Blue-ray. Despite the good reviews, the book was described to the cast and the script improvised mostly onset rather than fully written. I actually struggled to properly watch this version in full and took me several tries to finish it. I only recommend watching the movie if you really want to and give it a 4/10.
Lord of the Flies was again released as a movie on March 15th 1990 in the US where it reached No3 on the charts. The movie received mixed reviews from critics and the public alike, this lent towards the 60% review on Rotten tomatoes. Like the 1963 version being mostly improvised, the 1990 version leaned towards amplifying and diminishing the characteristics of many characters and the implications of various scenes. Unlike the 1963 movie however, this movie runs more similar to the book despite the imperfections of the script, I definitely recommend the movie to be watched, especially by those who love the book and give the movie a 6/10.
I haven't seen the 1975 Filipino movie and as such cannot give a genuine opinion of it. The 1963 and 1990 versions of Lord of the Flies are on YouTube and the links are included in the website bibliography down below.
Sir William Gerald Golding CBE FRSL,was born September 19th 1911 in Newquay Cornwall though he grew up in Marlborough Wiltshire. Golding went to Marlborough Grammar school before heading to Brasenose College, Oxford in 1930 where he read natural sciences for two years before transferring to English literature. In 1934 Golding took his BA degree with second class honours and published a book of his own poems via Macmillan and Co. Golding married on September 30th 1939 to Analytical chemist Ann Brookfield and the pair had two children David and Judith born 1940 and 1945 respectively. During WW2 Golding joined the Royal Navy, participating in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day commanding a ship which fired salvoes of rockets onto the beaches.
Golding went back to teaching and writing after the war, Writing and publishing Lord of the Flies-arguably his most famous book in 1954 whilst being a school master at Bishop Wordsworth CE school in Salisbury. Golding went onto win the 1979 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his book Darkness Visible and the 1980 Booker Prize for Rites of Passage. Golding was even awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983, five years later in 1988 Golding was appointed a Knight Bachelor. On June 19th 1993 Golding passed away due to Heart Failure. Golding is buried in Bowerchalke Wiltshire.
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WEBSITE BIBLIOGRAPHY:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Flies
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7624.Lord_of_the_Flies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Flies_(1990_film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Flies_(1963_film)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtzU3gfLV3M&t=42s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjApB6IiQKE
https://www.patreon.com/BandernsatchBlog?fan_landing=true
And there you have it a decent book for those who love to read So we'll be leaving this here for today please leave a comment, share with others if you want or not, Don't forget We HAVE PATREON! please consider becoming a Patreon today, the link is in the bibliography above. Friday is random blog day and remember keep it sensible in the comments all abuse will be tracked and reported to the appropriate people.
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