Lord of the Flies

Reception

Critical response

Its first print run of 3,000 copies was slow to sell, but Lord of the Flies went on to become a best-seller, with more than ten million copies sold as of 2015.[7]

E. M. Forster chose Lord of the Flies as his "outstanding novel of the year", and it was described in one review as "not only a first-rate adventure but a parable of our times".[7] In February 1960, Floyd C. Gale of Galaxy Science Fiction rated Lord of the Flies five stars out of five, stating, "Golding paints a truly terrifying picture of the decay of a minuscule society ... Well on its way to becoming a modern classic".[18] Marc D. Hauser called Lord of the Flies "riveting" and said that it "should be standard reading in biology, economics, psychology, and philosophy."[19]

Lord of the Flies presents a view of humanity unimaginable before the horrors of Nazi Europe, and then plunges into speculations about mankind in the state of nature. Bleak and specific, but universal, fusing rage and grief, Lord of the Flies is both a novel of the 1950s, and for all time.

—Robert McCrum, The Guardian.[7]

Lord of the Flies was included on the American Library Association's list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990–1999, for its controversial stance on human nature and individual welfare versus the common good.[20]

The book has been criticised as cynical for portraying humanity as inherently selfish and violent. It has been linked with the essay "The Tragedy of the Commons" by Garrett Hardin and with books by Ayn Rand, and countered by "Management of the Commons" by Elinor Ostrom.

Lord of the Flies has been contrasted with an actual incident from 1965, when a group of schoolboys on a fishing boat from Tonga were marooned on an uninhabited island and considered dead by their relatives. The group not only managed to survive for over 15 months but "had set up a small commune with food garden, hollowed-out tree trunks to store rainwater, a gymnasium with curious weights, a badminton court, chicken pens and a permanent fire, all from handiwork, an old knife blade and much determination". When ship captain Peter Warner found them, they were in good health and spirits. Dutch historian Rutger Bregman, writing about the Tonga event, called Golding's portrayal unrealistic.[21]

Awards

Lord of the Flies was awarded a place on both lists of Modern Library 100 Best Novels, reaching number 41 on the editor's list and 25 on the reader's list.[22] In 2003, Lord of the Flies was listed at number 70 on the BBC's survey The Big Read,[23] and in 2005 it was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923.[24] Time also included the novel in its list of the 100 Best Young-Adult Books of All Time.[25]

Popular in schools, especially in the English-speaking world, a 2016 UK poll saw Lord of the Flies ranked third in the nation's favourite books from school, behind George Orwell's Animal Farm and Charles Dickens' Great Expectations.[26]

In 2019, BBC News included Lord of the Flies on its list of the 100 most inspiring novels.[27]


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