Most people seem to have read Lord of the Flies in high school, but I didn't, for whatever reason. I was looking forward to this one- I like dark tales- and I wasn't disappointed.
A spoiler-laden novel overview: in the next world war, a plane carrying a group of boys (presumably being evacuated from a war zone) crashes on an uncharted, deserted island. No adults survive; just the children. Ralph, one of the bigger kids, becomes their leader, and the group proceeds to make fire (to be seen and rescued) and learn to hunt. At first, things are fun and free- the boys, without supervision, can do as they like. Things, however, quickly go downhill. One of the hunters, Jack, eventually seizes control from Ralph, and leads a group of increasingly savage boys away from reason and civility, embracing the darkness inherent in the human heart. Two boys are killed by Jack and his new tribe; they come after Ralph next, and set the island on fire to smoke him out. Ralph is fleeing them when he comes upon a ship that has seen the smoke; the boys that remain are saved. The novel ends with him, and all, weeping. For Ralph, he "wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy [a boy that had been killed by Jack's gang]."
On the whole, I had mixed feeling about this book. The plot is superb- no question about that. The execution was a bit different, at least to me. A lot of things went unsaid or were given minimal explanation in the book, which is good in the sense that it drew the reader in and made the reader engage to think things through; occasionally, it had me a little confused. Additionally, the dialogue between the boys was a bit choppy and seemed to meander illogically- while that annoyed me, I think it was probably an accurate representation of the wandering minds (and words) of children. Those things aside, though, it was good. Be warned- it's also dark- but we humans are more than capable of such.
Rating: A-
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