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Lord of the Flies

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Lord of the Flies

By: William Golding
Narrated by: Martin Jarvis
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About this listen

Newly remastered with additional sound design to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Lord of the Flies.

A plane crashes on a desert island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast. As the boys' delicate sense of order fades, so their childish dreams are transformed into something more primitive, and their behaviour starts to take on a murderous, savage significance.

First Published in 1954, Lord of the Flies is one of the most celebrated and widely read of modern classics

'The first book with hands - strong ones that reached out of the pages and seized me by the throat. It said to me, 'This is not just entertainment; it's life or death.' ... I've been thinking about it ever since, for fifty years and more.' Stephen King

'One of my favorite books - I read it every couple of years.' Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games

'A post-apocalyptic, dystopian survivor-fantasy ... [A novel] for all time ... A cult classic.' Guardian

©1954 William Golding (P)2012 Faber Audio Classics Coming of Age Genre Fiction Scary Thought-Provoking
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Being uneducated and semi-literate, Lord of The Flies has been one of the many books floating around in the ether that was unlikely for me ever to read. It turns out that my nephew, who is also my ward along with his four siblings, must study it for his Junior Certificate state examinations in Ireland. So I got the audiobook. I'm sure, like many people, I have had a vague idea of what it was about. I didn't realise that it was so modern, what with aeroplanes and televisions etc. What impressed me was the simplicity in the style of writing. I'm sure that this book is not abridgeable, unlike Victor Hugo and even my dear sweet Charles Dickens, and in truth William Golding has not wasted a single word. As to Martin Jarvis, here is an actor who can really bring a book to life, he reads beautifully and interprets characters brilliantly. I would highly recommend this audiobook.

Not a single word wasted.

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I've always put off reading this, expecting it to be full of evil savagery.... but loved it! Most of it.... Martin Jarvis was the perfect narrator. I just didn't like the sad bits but then I guess, that was kind of the whole point of the story.... mans inhumanity to man.

a bit sad..

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Martin Jarvis did a very good job here, bringing the characters to life. A pleasure to listen to.

Excellent narration

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

No, not really...but it did make me appreciative that I avoided it at school by not taking English Literature! If the word "presently" was used one more time, I'd have imploded. The language was of another era that I'm sure only exists in books. The only character that I felt had any reality to him was Piggy and the only part of the book written with any sense of feeling was when Piggy died. Very sad. The rest of the book and the characters were all just a bit rubbish and not very believable. Martin Jarvis did his best but even that wasn't enough to lift this book.

If you’ve listened to books by William Golding before, how does this one compare?

N/A

Have you listened to any of Martin Jarvis’s other performances? How does this one compare?

N/A

Could you see Lord of the Flies being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

If it were, I really wouldn't watch it, so I don't care.

Any additional comments?

The first audible book that I wasn't desperate to get back to after each commute :0(

Presently, it was not great!

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Initially read this in school and thought I'd come back to it as an adult. I remember enjoying it in school and listening as an adult I tried to remember the themes I wrote about back then. I think I discovered a good few new ones I wish Id used too!
The narrator was supurb! I love narrators who can take on multiple characters.

A beautiful classic done justice

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