Lord of the Flies

By: William Golding

Narrated by: William Golding

Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Get ready for an adventure tale in its purest form, a thrilling and elegantly told account of a group of British schoolboys marooned on a tropical island. Alone in a world of uncharted possibilities, devoid of adult supervision or rules, the boys begin to forge their own society, their own rules, their own rituals. With this seemingly romantic premise, and through the seemingly innocent acts of children, Golding exposes the duality of human nature itself: the dark, eternal divide between order and chaos, intellect and instinct, structure and savagery.

©1954 William Golding (P)2002 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Lord of the Flies gives the reader a lucid and chillingly objective mirror to our modern society. William Golding's narration is as impartial as his work, yet his grumbly, grandfatherly voice, complete with mid-sentence sniffs and swallows, is intimate." (AudioFile)

"Lord of the Flies is one of my favorite books. I still read it every couple of years." (Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games trilogy)

"I finished the last half of Lord of the Flies in a single afternoon, my eyes wide, my heart pounding, not thinking, just inhaling.... My rule of thumb as a writer and reader - largely formed by Lord of the Flies - is feel it first, think about it later." (Stephen King)

"This brilliant work is a frightening parody on man's return [in a few weeks] to that state of darkness from which it took him thousands of years to emerge. Fully to succeed, a fantasy must approach very close to reality. Lord of the Flies does. It must also be superbly written. It is." (The New York Times Book Review)

I loved the darkness of the story

I liked the book and how the story was put on and stuff and how it was so clear

Much more on the point, experienced as an adult.

SO many parallels between the masked, violent, short-sighted savages on the island and those destroying Western civilization, circa 2024.

amazing and crazy

it is an amazing story and that's why it's a classic but wow crazy powerful as well

Great book! Interesting to have been read by the author too.

I kept wondering how crazy it was gonna get, and it got pretty crazy! 15 word minimum 🤣🤣

One of the best

The book describes little boys stranded on an island. To me, the book is about leadership, ego, the degeneration of a society, and human nature.
Wonderful, and (unfortunately) a plausible story of human society.

writing - A+, narration - C

My first "read" of this book is in listening to this audio version. Although the writing is good, frankly, the narrator's voice lulls me to sleep. He sounds like he has marbles in his mouth much of the time. I respect the author highly, but not as a narrator. I am struggling to pay attention, wading through this classic.

Intense at times

If you could sum up Lord of the Flies in three words, what would they be?

Intense, Savage, Sad

What did you like best about this story?

The beginning of the story and the evolution of Piggy's and Ralph's relationship.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Speak a little faster.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Simon was killed by the group of hunters.

Any additional comments?

I had heard lots of comments previously about this classic and was surprised to learn what a dark story it actually is. This is not my typical type of book.

Painful narration

I couldn’t even finish it. I really wish I had listened to a sample before purchasing. Thank you audible return program! I was excited to get this one but was truly disappointed in the sound quality and the monotone nature of the narration. I’m hopeful that some day someone else will do a better version of the story.

Hard to get through

I would recommend choosing the version that is not read by the author. I found it really difficult to follow. I never realized until listening to this book how skilled someone has to be to read a book aloud.

What life is like without law.

Without law, you don't have morals, and without morals, you, as a person, cannot function. You will act crazed and ravenous and only act off of what you want at that current time.