Am I the only person who thinks that Lord of the Flies is very badly written?

[Scythe]

I think that Lord of the Flies is an epic story that deserves to be told and retold, but I think that William Golding can't write to save his life. The book is confusing about what is going on, and leaves me wondering what just happened. His descriptions frequently leave me wondering what he is talking about.

You can make whatever argument you want about the art of writing, and how it's supposed to be that way, but if at the end of the day I'm having to get someone to explain whats going on to me, than the author didn't do his job very well.

Am I the only one who thinks this, because I believe that most people out there just go along when everyone else says how great it is when they're really thinking the same thing I am.

[Veva]

No you are definitely not the only one who thinks so... I believe there are many of us... honestly I believe that he tries to make it mysterious but fails myserably. It is not refined, it is jaded... not mysterious, but impenetrable in the worst meaning of the word...

[PeterL]

Most people think that Lord of the Flies was poorly written. I doubt that the author was clear , in his own mind, as to what he wanted to write.

[WICKES]

I have never read it, but I'm sure I once heard that Golding was severely dyslexic! So maybe that explains it...

[JBI]

I'm surprised people even talk about it - I'm ready for the book to die out, I don't know about anyone else.

[Niamh]

As long as schools continue to teach it, it will remain in the spotlight. Its a good story though.

[Bitterfly]

It's an enjoyable book - for children! Who needs it to be well written?

[JBI]

They teach it in high schools here.

[Niamh]

They teach it to Ordinary level and foundation level junior cert students in Ireland.

[PoeticPassions]

It's definitely a good story... has some common and important symbolism (his allegorical allusions to the degradation of humanity/civilization, a denunciation of war, the idea of democracy versus dictatorship, alienation, conformity, etc. but I really do not get it why he received the Nobel Prize... it still baffles me. There are Lit Netters that write better than Golding... perhaps we should all get a Nobel Prize as well!?

[Chava]

Maybe we will?

[1n50mn14]

Good story, poor writing, agreed with you.
There were times that I had to re-read a passage five or six times before it was made clear to me the intent of the author. Writing in a complex style is all well and good, but Golding is just... confusing and backward.

[ntropyincarnate]

It's been so long, I don't really remember. I didn't notice it being poorly written at the time, but maybe that's because it had me so busy turning pages. But as far as being confusing and impenetrable, it didn't seem that way to me at all.

As a side note, when reading for school, never read a book that you're supposed to read over three weeks in one day. It makes for great confusion when the teacher hands out questions later and you have to re-read the whole thing.

[semi-fly]

Well if you take into consideration the age you're introduced to Lord of the Flies most wouldn't think of it as a badly written book. Only after you've been exposed to different forms of literature or explore different writers as you age would one think of it as bad.

As a child when you were first introduced to the book did you think it was bad or did you enjoy it for its simple escapism effect?

That being said with the current discussion going on about Faulkner and his style of writing would you say that his writing (pick any book) is considered poorly written or would you something else?

[Tallgren]

Seems to me that if the novel is only to be read by teenagers or even children, much of the message/themes/symbolism would probably be missed.

I read it this autumn when a classmate had done a C level thesis on it and I honestly had some problems, like others say I simply couldn't follow what was going on. There are many interesting things in there, but much of it is buried beneath the inaccessible writing.