Lord of the Flies

By: William Golding

Narrated by: William Golding

Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Get ready for an adventure tale in its purest form, a thrilling and elegantly told account of a group of British schoolboys marooned on a tropical island. Alone in a world of uncharted possibilities, devoid of adult supervision or rules, the boys begin to forge their own society, their own rules, their own rituals. With this seemingly romantic premise, and through the seemingly innocent acts of children, Golding exposes the duality of human nature itself: the dark, eternal divide between order and chaos, intellect and instinct, structure and savagery.

©1954 William Golding (P)2002 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Lord of the Flies gives the reader a lucid and chillingly objective mirror to our modern society. William Golding's narration is as impartial as his work, yet his grumbly, grandfatherly voice, complete with mid-sentence sniffs and swallows, is intimate." (AudioFile)

"Lord of the Flies is one of my favorite books. I still read it every couple of years." (Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games trilogy)

"I finished the last half of Lord of the Flies in a single afternoon, my eyes wide, my heart pounding, not thinking, just inhaling.... My rule of thumb as a writer and reader - largely formed by Lord of the Flies - is feel it first, think about it later." (Stephen King)

"This brilliant work is a frightening parody on man's return [in a few weeks] to that state of darkness from which it took him thousands of years to emerge. Fully to succeed, a fantasy must approach very close to reality. Lord of the Flies does. It must also be superbly written. It is." (The New York Times Book Review)

I loved the darkness of the story

I liked the book and how the story was put on and stuff and how it was so clear

amazing and crazy

it is an amazing story and that's why it's a classic but wow crazy powerful as well

Much more on the point, experienced as an adult.

SO many parallels between the masked, violent, short-sighted savages on the island and those destroying Western civilization, circa 2024.

Great book! Interesting to have been read by the author too.

I kept wondering how crazy it was gonna get, and it got pretty crazy! 15 word minimum 🤣🤣

One of the best

The book describes little boys stranded on an island. To me, the book is about leadership, ego, the degeneration of a society, and human nature.
Wonderful, and (unfortunately) a plausible story of human society.

Other than Narration, I Beg to Differ

First of all, let me say that I agree with the criticism of the narration. After listening to somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 audiobooks, I can say without reservation that this is the worst narration I've heard. There are times when it is great to have the author read the book, but this was not one of them. Little to no expressiveness in the voice, even when dealing with dialog in situations dealing with life & death.

Sadly, I cannot tell whether the poor narration affected my view of the book. This was one "classic" that I was left scratching my head, wondering why it is a classic. At 5 disks, one track, the story doesn't really get moving much until midway into the 4th disk. I will say that the last disk is interesting, but in my opinion, didn't make up for the rest of the book. After hearing so much about how great this book was, I was greatly disappointed. Ranks far below classics such as "Oliver Twist", "Wuthering Heights", "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and others that really live up to their billing. In my opinion, this one did not.

One other positive was the author's commentary on his writing of the book and the meaning of the book in both a prologue and appendix. This was interesting in spots.

great

I love how the narrator was the author.(William Golding) the story was also very memorable👍

A Must-Read(Listen)

I had never read this book as a teen but am glad I gave it a listen. It has so much to say about what savages human beings are. It's not just a story for kids. Some grown-ups in positions of power should have to read or listen to it. I really like hearing authors read their literature.

Fantastic

I read this book as a child, but I didn't feel the same about it as I do now. I is really compelling and the picture it paints of society is still true today. I have found myself over and over again thinking of this book and how society behaves, it is so poignant. That is why this book is a classic and should be read by everyone.

Narrator

I thoroughly enjoyed the narration of this story. The mental image of the author and his wife sitting 'round the fireside is very charming. The story presentation reminds me of sitting at the library and having someone read the book aloud. Very nice!