Review- Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Lord of the Flies on Goodreads

 BOOK SUMMARY:

Originally published in 1954, William Golding's Lord of the Flies is one of the most disturbing and celebrated novels of modern times.

A plane crashes on a desert island. The only survivors are a group of schoolboys. At first they revel in the freedom and celebrate the absence of grown-ups.

Soon though, as the boys' fragile sense of order begins to collapse, their fears start to take on a sinister, primitive significance. Suddenly, the world of cricket, homework and adventure stories seems a long way away. The boys are faced with a more pressing reality — survival — and the appearance of a terrifying beast who haunts their dreams.

‘No living writer has represented the fragility of man's enterprises so marvelously as Golding.’ A. S. Byatt, Evening Standard

Release date: 1999 (first published September 17th 1954)

Published by: Faber and Faber Limited

Page numbers: 230

REVIEW: 

Honestly, I was so looking forward to reading William Golding's Lord of the Flies because I've seen people read and praise it ever since I was in college which was probably six or seven years ago. Some of my classmates read it for their English class and I'd hear them discuss it, as well. When I see many people read and talk about a certain book, it's not necessary that I have to read the book, but if and when I do end up giving it a go, I have expectations.

Unfortunately, whatever few expectations I had from Lord of the Flie were completely shattered and destroyed because the book was boring, the plot was very, very slow and the story was just put in a manner so complicated that I barely understood what was going on. I will still defend the story and say that it is indeed unique and inspiring, but it would have been so much better had it been put in a simple manner.

I did with this book what I used to do with books that I couldn't really get into but still had to read for my literature class, and it's what I call "zombie reading". Now in this type of reading, I really don't care what's going on because 1) I'm not understanding it no matter how hard I try to concentrate, 2) the writing is too boring or the pace of the novel, too slow and 3) nothing seems to work. All three categories applied to Lord of the Flie, but I still continued reading it because I didn't want to give up and I kept hoping that it would get better.

I totally see why this book is called a classic and I bet I would have liked it if I had someone to guide me with it and with whom I could discuss it, which is why I feel that this book is great for literature class. But clearly, it wasn't for me. I do wish I had liked it more and been able to see what thousands others have seen in it, but I didn't. And I hope that's okay.

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Review- The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea on Goodreads

 BOOK SUMMARY:

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea tells the tale of a band of savage thirteen-year-old boys who reject the adult world as illusory, hypocritical and sentimental, and train themselves in a brutal callousness they call "objectivity." When the mother of one of them begins an affair with a ship's officer, he and his friends idealize the man at first; but it is not long before they conclude that he is in fact soft and romantic. They regard their disappointment in him as an act of betrayal on his part, and react violently.

Release date: May 31st 1994

Published by: Vintage 

Page numbers: 181

REVIEW: 

I have previously read and thoroughly appreciated Yukio Mishima's absolutely meticulous and profound play, Madame de Sade. Ever since then, I'd been looking forward to reading more of the author's works. So when a student of mine and I were discussing Mishima, we decided to exchange our books and that's how I happened to borrow a damaged but oh so precious copy of The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea.

A very thought-provoking read (which is no surprise whatsoever, coming from Mishima), The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea is the story of Noboru, a thirteen year old who is different, yes, but also in an odd way, very relatable and true. When his mother Fusako decides to marry Ryuji; Noboru, number three in a group of invincible, explicative and dangerous young men, takes the information to the Chief of his group, who then decides Ryuji's destiny. Together, these young men make a plan so detailed and alarming that it's hard to believe yet easy to appreciate.

The various themes explored in this book come together to form a web of complexity. For a story that focuses on the life of a thirteen year old, it's a very mature, dark and deep read, but at the same time, there's something so true and raw about it that's it's difficult to not accept even the most unimaginable circumstances in it. As always, Mishima's incredible writing and mind-blowing story-telling make it an even better read.

I would definitely recommend The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea because it's full of simple complexities or complex simplicities, depending on perspective.

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Review- Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Goodreads Summary: 

'For a salesman, there is no rock bottom to life. He don't put a bolt to a nut, he don't tell you the law or give you medicine. He's a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine.'

Willy Loman has been a salesman for 34 years. At 60, he is cast aside, his usefulness exhausted. With no future to dream about he must face the crushing disappointments of his past. He takes one final brave action, but is he heroic at last or a self-deluding fool?

This edition contains notes and activities to enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the play.

REVIEW:

I wasn't even aware of a play named Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller until my professor recommended it to me after we had a discussion on tragedies when doing Aristotle's Poetics. At that time, while I did agree that tragedy can strike anyone, I believed that a tragedy has an effect on a larger audience when it strikes someone of higher status in society. My reason was that catharsis has a greater chance of occurring when one person's tragedy doesn't just affect that one person, but an entire section of the population entirely. I now get when I was asked to read Death of a Salesman. The play did it's job in proving to me that when tragedy strikes common people like you and me, it has an even bigger impact because it makes everything so believable and real. 

Death of a Salesman was the first play or work even of Arthur Miller that I read. And it was meticulous. I absolutely loved the way it was executed. The language was simple and the plot, extremely easy to follow and understand. While I thought I wouldn't be able to fathom the basis of the play since I find it every difficult to understand plays in general, Death of a Salesman was, like I said, really easy and simple. It was simply outstanding and I can now understand why it has been touted as one of the greatest plays of its time. I admit that the characters were slightly confusing and at times, it got difficult to keep track of them all. The ending seemed a little off and vague to me, but I got what happened and that is what matters, I suppose. Keeping that aside though, whatever took place was necessary to take place and it made the play very realistic. 

WILLY (moving to the right): Funny, y'know? After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive. 

How much more real can it get, huh? This time around, I also took notice of many, many aspects that I would have let pass without a second glance otherwise. That's simply because my brain has been trained to observe in a critical way now. The dynamics of the play made me question society in general and king or commoner, we are all subject to tragedy in whatever form it decides to come to us, economic, political, social, whatever. There was comedy in it but I didn't really feel like laughing. It was a family drama so to say. But I looked at it more as tragedy and the play gave me what it was supposed to. I can't seem to appreciate it as much as others have in the past and I am slightly at a loss for words, but I still loved Death of a Salesman and I am glad I read it. 

RATING: