Here's (probably) the last post of the summer before I get back to school on Monday. I felt anxious earlier this week, but now I'm feeling indifferent about everything. At least I can spend this last weekend doing whatever I want after finishing Lord of the Flies two days before the first day of school. . . So, how about that review?
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Look yonder! It's another classic that gets high school teachers feeling hot and bothered because it emphasizes a message that literally every sane human understands by the age of six AND ALSO has a title that doesn't make sense nor is too relevant during the first half of the story but is striking enough to bring into the classes of aforementioned high school teachers!
In case you couldn't tell, I was not excited to read this at all. I knew it was about these group of kids stranded alone on an island. And that there was a chubby kid among the group. Ever since my horrible experience with Hatchet in fifth grade, I wasn't a fan of thrilling survival stories. But alas, pre-AP English burdened me with the task of reading this book for the summer. Oh well. Expect this review to have spoilers.
A plane crash leaves a large group of boys no older than twelve stranded on an island. No grownups, no way off the island, barely anything to survive off of. Plenty of characters are introduced from the get-go. My list of most important characters include Ralph, the easy leader of the group. There's Piggy, the fat one of the bunch that tends to get overlooked despite his knowledge. Then Jack, a strong-headed choir leader. Ralph tries to keep everyone level-headed at the start. Jack eventually makes it a big deal for them to hunt for meat, but Piggy convinces Ralph that being rescued was their main priority. The boys establish some rules and create a fire on the mountain in hopes for a passing ship to see the smoke. Soon order is lost and more kids become irrational, violent hunters.
I totally get it, alright? I recognize how well the story is written. I can see the metaphors. I can come up with a few messages; we all have fears, rules are a good thing, teamwork is important, humankind can be not-so-kind, yadda yadda yadda. But didn't I already know that? Maybe for its time this novel was revolutionary, but I don't really understand why it's such a hit in classes today. I guess it's just used as a tool to pound into those dastardly teenage brains that you shouldn't step out of line or else someone will die. Please inform me if there's something else for me to learn from this. Or don't, because I'm not all that interested in this book anyway, whoops.
Overall rating? ★ ★ ★ ½ 3.5 stars out of 5. Maybe I was biased against this novel from the start, but I dunno. The average rating of 3.61 stars out of 5 on Goodreads doesn't seem too far off from my rating. Well, small round green vegetables. Happy last few days of summer vacation!
In case you couldn't tell, I was not excited to read this at all. I knew it was about these group of kids stranded alone on an island. And that there was a chubby kid among the group. Ever since my horrible experience with Hatchet in fifth grade, I wasn't a fan of thrilling survival stories. But alas, pre-AP English burdened me with the task of reading this book for the summer. Oh well. Expect this review to have spoilers.
A plane crash leaves a large group of boys no older than twelve stranded on an island. No grownups, no way off the island, barely anything to survive off of. Plenty of characters are introduced from the get-go. My list of most important characters include Ralph, the easy leader of the group. There's Piggy, the fat one of the bunch that tends to get overlooked despite his knowledge. Then Jack, a strong-headed choir leader. Ralph tries to keep everyone level-headed at the start. Jack eventually makes it a big deal for them to hunt for meat, but Piggy convinces Ralph that being rescued was their main priority. The boys establish some rules and create a fire on the mountain in hopes for a passing ship to see the smoke. Soon order is lost and more kids become irrational, violent hunters.
I totally get it, alright? I recognize how well the story is written. I can see the metaphors. I can come up with a few messages; we all have fears, rules are a good thing, teamwork is important, humankind can be not-so-kind, yadda yadda yadda. But didn't I already know that? Maybe for its time this novel was revolutionary, but I don't really understand why it's such a hit in classes today. I guess it's just used as a tool to pound into those dastardly teenage brains that you shouldn't step out of line or else someone will die. Please inform me if there's something else for me to learn from this. Or don't, because I'm not all that interested in this book anyway, whoops.
Overall rating? ★ ★ ★ ½ 3.5 stars out of 5. Maybe I was biased against this novel from the start, but I dunno. The average rating of 3.61 stars out of 5 on Goodreads doesn't seem too far off from my rating. Well, small round green vegetables. Happy last few days of summer vacation!
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