Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Name: William Golding

Year Won: 1983

Read: Lord of the Flies

Original Language: English

Reason: "for his novels, which with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world of today"

About: Lord of the Flies follows the breakdown of order of a band of pre-teen boys left abandoned on an island. They quickly move from civilization to chaos as charismatic choir leader Jack vies for control with the more rational (and civilized) Ralph.

What I liked: It's short. It's sweet. The writing is beautiful (typical for Nobel laureate books), and the plot zings along at a nice clip. It's also fairly easy to read (Lord of the Flies is generally classified as a young adult book, and definitely is less pretentious than a LOT of the books I've read as part of this project).

What I Disliked: At times, the central message of this book (that the noble savage myth is a myth and that humans will dissolve into chaos without civilization to guide us) feels REALLY heavy handed. It's not helped that the characters often feel more like allegories than like actual humans. (Probably in part due to the omniscent POV, which often robs characters of a bit of their identity, I think.)

Should it have won a Nobel: Yes. There is a reason this is required reading in a TON of schools. It's a really solid book. (As well as one of the few that truly is a great teaching book for late middle schoolers/early high schoolers.)

Next Up: "The Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert" by Jaroslav Seifert