Rites of Passage cover art

Rites of Passage

To the Ends of the Earth: A Sea Trilogy, Book 1

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Rites of Passage

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

Lose yourself in an epic naval journey in this Booker Prize-winning novel: the first in the acclaimed Sea Trilogy by the author of Lord of the Flies.
I grow a little crazy, I think, like all men at sea who live too close to each other and too close thereby to all that is monstrous under the sun and moon . . .
Edmund Talbot is sailing to Australia in the early nineteenth century. In his journal, he records mounting tensions aboard the ancient, stinking warship, as officers, sailors, soldiers and emigrants jostle in the cramped darkness below decks. But when something happens to Reverend Colley that brings him into a 'hell of self-degradation', it seems that shame is a force deadlier than the sea itself . . .
'It is the emotional veracity of life at sea that powers Golding's exceptional writing ... The fury, mystery and challenge .' Kate Mosse
'Golding writes the past as present [with] uncanny skill and tremendous intuition.' Ben Okri
'A master at the full stretch of his age and wisdom - necessary, provoking, urgent, rich, complex and rare.' The Times

'Golding's best and most accessible story since Lord of the Flies
.' Melvyn Bragg
'An extraordinary novel.' Observer
To The Ends of the Earth: A Sea Trilogy - Book One

©1980 William Golding (P)2022 Faber & Faber
Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Sea Adventures Adventure Sailing
All stars
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Constructed and completed with absolute ability. I have read this and listened to it several times. The cleverness of the whole thing is a joy.

Competent authorship

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I read this when it first came out and admired it then. I listened to it in Audible y this time being read by the great man himself and, let me tell you, it was better than ever. So complex yet with Gilding’s customary layers of storytelling that is eventually brought to a moving conclusion. Remarkable first book in the trilogy.
The recording was made at Golding’s home which means it isn’t studio quality but nonetheless fantastic to hear it told in his voice.

Brilliant to hear the book in the voice of the authoer

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an Excellent novel but as others have said the sound quality is a bit ropey in places

excellent novel but audio a bit ropey

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The audio, although remastered, is not that clear and the volume low compared to other audio books. William Golding speaks in a clear voice and does quite well but it takes a while to get used to him, at least we hear how he wants it to be heard. The story is interesting but can be tedious at times.

Interesting

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