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Lord of the Flies

By: William Golding
Narrated by: William Golding
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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)

Featured Article: The top 100 classics of all time


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What listeners say about Lord of the Flies

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,861
  • 4 Stars
    2,597
  • 3 Stars
    1,196
  • 2 Stars
    396
  • 1 Stars
    317
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4,344
  • 4 Stars
    1,867
  • 3 Stars
    1,329
  • 2 Stars
    606
  • 1 Stars
    519
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,508
  • 4 Stars
    1,870
  • 3 Stars
    846
  • 2 Stars
    206
  • 1 Stars
    213

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

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.

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46 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great

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

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Chilling Classic Still Timely

I did this book with 6 16-17 year old boys and it was a huge book for them. So worth it to revisit as an adult. Very timely. Creepy, harsh and gritty. Only down side was lots of sexual references which I had forgotten.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Classic

Golding has given us a parable that regrettably remains real to this day. Brilliantly written.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I'd give it a full 5

honestly it was quite boring at first but at the end I was very interested

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

THIS BOOK WAS JUST NOT MY KIND OF BOOK.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I GUESS SO. IT ENTERTAINED ME. BUT I THINK IT IS A BOOK FOR BOYS.

Would you recommend Lord of the Flies to your friends? Why or why not?

TO BOYS.

Did William Golding do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

OK I GUESS HE DOES NOT HAVE THE GREATEST NARRATING VOICE.

Did Lord of the Flies inspire you to do anything?

NOPE.

Any additional comments?

I DID LIKE THE AUTHOR'S COMMENTS AT THE END OF THE BOOK AS IT IS INTERESTING TO HEAR WHAT THE AUTHOR HAS TO SAY ABOUT HIS/HER CREATION.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Would have done it differently!

Like other works of great literature, this is very well written. So why the avg rating? It was very disturbing to me. That fact impacts my ability to say I actually like it. This story about what could develop if a bunch of boys were stranded on an island is sadly possible, but so are many other possibilities that I could enjoy a whole lot more.

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1 person found this helpful