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readwithmesashamarie 's review for:
Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
You can check out some of my other reviews at my blog The Dancing Nerd Writes Again or see my full review by clicking here.
*I was required to read this book for my Literary Theories class.
Initial Thoughts:
Aside from knowing that most students will, at some point during their academic careers, be required to read this novel, I had no idea what it was about. For some reason I was under the assumption that it was about a war and it had an Animal Farm thing going, and I took Lord of the flies a little too literally. I thought he was actually creating an army of flies… In some ways, I wish that was what the story had been about. Maybe it would’ve been more interesting.
Spoilers!
This story deals with young school aged boys. They get trapped on an island and figure out how to survive. I wish I could say that was where the story picked up but it never did. I found the book to be depressing at times but other than that uninteresting.
What surprises me, is on the back cover is a quote from Stephen King. He says, “Lord of the Flies (is my selection for the book that changed my life) because it is both a story with a message and because it is a great tale of adventure. My advice about reading is to do a lot of it.” With the exception of the last part of his quote I just don’t get it. Great tale of adventure? Little kids running around an island trying to kill anything that moves definitely is not my idea of an adventure.
I do think that this book serves its purpose in my class though. It is the perfect story to dissect and look at from many different perspectives and through the eyes of many different literary theorists, but as a novel to read just for fun, it was lacking the fun.
Conclusion:
I’m sorry to say it but I disliked this novel. I don’t understand why there is hype about it and why it is taught so often in English classes, unless for the sole purpose of looking at it critically. The story didn’t entertain me, it was actually something that if I saw it happen in real life I would prefer to look away from it. It was the opposite of a train wreck you can’t stop staring it. It was like being the babysitter to the infamous toddler Chucky.
I don’t mean to offend anyone by this review and if you had a different experience while reading this book please leave a comment below. I’d love to pick the brain of someone who actual enjoyed this book. Maybe I was reading it wrong…if there is such a thing.
Rating:2/5 stars
*I was required to read this book for my Literary Theories class.
Initial Thoughts:
Aside from knowing that most students will, at some point during their academic careers, be required to read this novel, I had no idea what it was about. For some reason I was under the assumption that it was about a war and it had an Animal Farm thing going, and I took Lord of the flies a little too literally. I thought he was actually creating an army of flies… In some ways, I wish that was what the story had been about. Maybe it would’ve been more interesting.
Spoilers!
This story deals with young school aged boys. They get trapped on an island and figure out how to survive. I wish I could say that was where the story picked up but it never did. I found the book to be depressing at times but other than that uninteresting.
What surprises me, is on the back cover is a quote from Stephen King. He says, “Lord of the Flies (is my selection for the book that changed my life) because it is both a story with a message and because it is a great tale of adventure. My advice about reading is to do a lot of it.” With the exception of the last part of his quote I just don’t get it. Great tale of adventure? Little kids running around an island trying to kill anything that moves definitely is not my idea of an adventure.
I do think that this book serves its purpose in my class though. It is the perfect story to dissect and look at from many different perspectives and through the eyes of many different literary theorists, but as a novel to read just for fun, it was lacking the fun.
Conclusion:
I’m sorry to say it but I disliked this novel. I don’t understand why there is hype about it and why it is taught so often in English classes, unless for the sole purpose of looking at it critically. The story didn’t entertain me, it was actually something that if I saw it happen in real life I would prefer to look away from it. It was the opposite of a train wreck you can’t stop staring it. It was like being the babysitter to the infamous toddler Chucky.
I don’t mean to offend anyone by this review and if you had a different experience while reading this book please leave a comment below. I’d love to pick the brain of someone who actual enjoyed this book. Maybe I was reading it wrong…if there is such a thing.
Rating:2/5 stars