Product Description
The last novel by the late Nobel Prize-winning author of Lord of the Flies depicts an ancient prophetess, Arieka the Pythia, as she looks back over her strange life as the medium of the god Apollo at Delphi. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Double Bind of The Double Tongue
This is Golding at his gentlest. As with The Inheritors, Golding goes into the ancient past for his material, choosing as his protagonist the reluctant Oracle at Delphi in a time when Greek culture and political power were waning, and Roman influence under Julius Caesar was fast becoming a juggernaut. Her agon is the nature of her faith in Greek religious tradition, caught as she is between the economics, ethics, and metaphysics of religious and priestly praxis.
Golding has freed himself from the contraints of his earnest and often spellbinding Christianity here: the Oracle is a Greek Matty Windrover/Pincher Martin in some ways, though not as intensely immersed in the spiritual. But Golding also christianizes his subject in subtle and, for Christian readers at any rate, engaging ways. Paul's statue "to the unknown god" figures here, as does the Apollo/Christ connection so often discussed in myth criticism and anthropology. That Christ may not be easily recognizeable, however. He has more akin with Donne's "three-personed God"--at least as Donne would want Him--than he does with the persona of the NT.
My chief complaint is that the novel is too short. It lacks a substantial middle, in Aristotelian terms, so that the rising action feels a bit malformed and hurried. I imagine that, had he lived, Golding would have shaped and expanded it considerably. But overall, the premise is interesting, and the text works aesthetically. Golding had lost none of his ability to "see through to the heart of things" eschatological and ontological, and to represent those experiences in language in intense and ultimately rewarding ways. I recommend it unreservedly to readers familiar with Golding's oeuvre beyond Lord of the Flies.

The Double Tongue
This book gives a feel of ancient Greek times, the era of the setting.
A very detailedperspective on serving the Gods, and how a young girl, Arieka finds her place in the world.
It takes serious concentration to keep up with the story, sometimes rambling on a bit. Perhaps because it was printed from the author's second draft. Due to his sudden death, he never actually finished the book.
However, I think anyone interested in Greek mythology would love this story.

Interesting, yet somewhat unsatisfying.
I must agree with other reviewers on this work: while certainly an interesting read, it is not quite as satisfying as one might hope -- especially if familiar with the author's other works.

It must be kept inmind that this book is but a draft, unfinished upon Golding's untimelydeath.Yet for that very reason it is of interest to those who areintrigued by the workings of the writing process: here is a text that isbut in 'draft form', and offers a none-too-often seen glimplse into awriter's mind, before revisions and editing have cleared away all theexcess stone from the statue.

Golding's grasp of the Classical worldlends a nice touch of familiarity to this short novella, which I wouldrecommend for fans of his works, and those curious of the writing process.

A novel approach to nothingness
Set in the times of Greeks and Romans, this is a story of a prodigy with in one way, divine powers and perspective, but in another, a broken view of pagan faith. In no way Goldings best work, but certainly a finely written and unique perspective to the less critical approach of introspectivereasoning about the existence of god(s).

It should be mentioned that,like it's hardcover counterpart, this is a draft.Golding's unexpecteddeath in 1993 left this piece of fiction somewhere in between a second andthird draft.

Regardless, I would recommend this to anyone interested ina) Golding's later work, and/or b) what exactly a draft of a novel soundslike.A quick, light-hearted discussion, certainly worth your time.

intelligent reading
this is a beautiful creation that shows the emptiness of paganism andmakes an attempt to show us that mankind does have a spiritual side. Arieka the pythia is one of the finest characters that golding has created.she ranks right up their with piggy and ralph.it is a beautiful story butit is no lord of the flies. ... Read more

Product Description
Three short novels show Golding at his subtle, ironic, mysterious best. The Scorpion God depicts a challenge to primal authority as the god-ruler of an ancient civilization lingers near death. Clonk Clonk is a graphic account of a crippled youth's triumph over his tormentors in a primitive matriarchal society. Envoy Extraordinary is a tale of Imperial Rome where the emperor loves his illegitimate son more than his own arrogant, loutish heir.
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Customer Reviews (2)

A Lesson in Anthropology
Three short stories set in ancient Egypt,Rome and stoneage times all exploring mans ambivilent relatoinship with nature;the rational and reasoning of man always being repressed by our over weening need for rituals and superstitious explanations.
Each tale needs to be read in one sitting for the whole effect to hit;Golding is not the sort of writer where you can read a couple of pages then go back to later. His writing has a cumulative effect, and his anthropological observations are acute.
My particular favourite was 'Clonk Clonk' as it was very much in the vein of (to me) his greatest work,'The Inheritors'.

Ancient lights
Not quite three short novels, but three long stories - "The Scorpion God", set in ancient Egypt; "Clonk Clonk", set in Africa somewhere around the Dawn of Man; and "Envoy Extraordinary", set during the late Roman Empire. All are distinguished by Golding's glorious if occasionally difficult style - it's sometimes hard to discern precisely what is going on, but that's because the author is trying to project you into the consciousness of people who are fundamentally different from you - pre-Christian, pre-industrial, pre-rational and in one case prehistoric. All three stories deal with the emergence of new forms of consciousness and hence, new forms of society - in the first, we see the vague beginnings of the Pharaohs; in the second, perhaps, the beginning of the sex war; in the third (in many ways the least difficult of the three) the brilliantly ironic fate of a few ideas which were centuries, not years, before their time. In "Envoy Extraordinary" only - the story set closest to modern times - the attempted change of consciousness does not succeed, is deliberately repressed - or rather, removed until later. There's a real sting in this tale, just as logical, just as inevitable and far less predictable than the ending of Golding's excellent Pincher Martin; the barbs in "Clonk Clonk" and "The Scorpion God" are a bit more subtle and may take longer to sink in, but you'll feel them all right. ... Read more

Product Description
From the author of Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors is a startling recreation of the lost world of the Neanderthals, and a frightening vision of the beginnings of a new age. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Classic
Lord of the Flies by William Golding 5/5
I first read Lord of the Flies in high school, as do many Americans, and recall being the only person in class who actually enjoyed the book (and also the only one who disliked Frankenstein). I picked it up off of my shelf a few days ago (cracked binding, faded glue, and all the pages falling out) and finally reread it: I still like it. It's the story of a group of English boys trapped on a deserted island. In an attempt to be rescued, the boys being to cultivate their own civilization with structure and orders. This all to quickly falls apart. Lord of the Flies is a short masterpiece of children's lives mirroring the adult sphere and, like so many other books lodged in the annuals of high school literature, too often is read at an age when a person is most likely to lack the understanding of the full implications of the book. A splendid read.

Great Adventure Novel

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a terrific book about a group of British children who are left isolated on an island, and eventually begin to kill each other as they lose their sanity.Stranded on the island after their plane crashes the boys must battle the harsh realities of human nature while they strive to be rescued from a ship.The book not only tells an exciting adventure story, though, it also describes on a deeper level, the thin line between civility and sanity, and violent insanity.
The book opens with a group of children choosing a leader among themselves and deciding on a group of laws to live by.At first the boys get along fairly well with their appointed chief Ralph.When one of the older children named Jack, is not chosen leader and is very jealous, he begins his own rebellion and attracts many fellow rebels.As the story develops, Jack and his band begin to disobey the rules, and eventually form a completely separate community.As the two communities develop, Jack's group becomes more uncivilized, and eventually his group murders a member of the other group out of blind hate and insanity.AS the story progresses the conflicts between Jack and Ralph grow until the boys are rescued by a British ship.
Through this story of innocent young children who become dangerous, Golding teaches the lesson that even young people, however innocent, can become insane as a result of a lack of authority, government, and civilized neighbors to guide them.

By: Tyler Stewart ... Read more

Product Description
William Golding's interest in ancient Egypt has previously been expressed in two essays, and in the novella "The Scorpion God". This account covers his journey down the Nile in today's Egypt. He recalls his trip honestly and humorously, and shares his feelings about Egypt past and present. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

...30 days and an inadequate loo
I read this in recovery from peritonitis before it was realized cancer was infiltrating a main artery in my small intestine, and at the timemajor gastro bleeds were causing me to collapse, followed by unrelenting pain and hospitilization as various surgeries were considered and infectionthreatened again to kill me. When I 1st read I'd been in a Demerol stupor 17 days and hadn't eaten in 23 days.I had to re-learn how and reaquaint myself with smell plus endure drug related withdrawal that turned out to be a horrific "gift " of the medical "treatment." I was reading to find my way back.But I came home, knowing I was still ill, not knowingwhy (a very hard thing to hold for ten horrifying years), feeling anxiety in attacks from the med withdrawal and trying to just heal myself.I gave up on care. It was six months before I could force myself to regular care again I was so jaded, insulted, violated and defeated. Worried about leaving my kids, deciding to just be with them. I drew because that's my talent, and for some reason I could handle non fiction travel books. I really liked I found this one.
This one I enjoyed.

I'd like to travel. I'd like to see the Nile, China, different spots, but I go in books. So I've read a lot of travel books especially those Like Travels With Charlie, Sea of Cortez, island related ones, or many others especially those written by authors that decided to diary a trip. One reason, I think they manage to bring the experience through their sheer insight and written ability to you captured within a time, within a perspective, within an ordinariness that somehow relates the times of their writing/life and visualizes the place they take their set of perceptions to see. Good writers traveling are expansive and free. It is amazing how much I love I Wonder Where I Wander. Books of authors moving are one of the real favorites of my reading.

That said I had this book. I think I may have ordered it from this book seller- but I don't know why, maybe it was recommended. Maybe it was a gift, but I doubt it. No one seems to know I like this kind of thing. So how I came to have it, can't recall. There is a lot from those days I can't recall. I'm still paying the bills from a lot of botched care though, that brings it to mind, you recall that $80,000 debt daily.

Anyway as I faced my Waterloo,(and I'm realizing had to from that day on plan life around restroom availability-here his descriptions tho brief but of that travel issue-restrooms-is amusing and Golding deals with a mess of it on a boat for a monthin his "loo" dealings kept mostly to imagination)he faced/presented in book form a trip up the Nile. At his 75 years with his wife, I thought that was interesting, after a Nobel, he was recording observations and irritation, daily venturing, the inconvenience mixed in with the brilliant observations or historical material being seen, felt, learned first hand. It was Golding generally slowly moving you through the experience. You can even see his photo's and learn of their guides and interactions.
I myself imagined it like long lengthy letters from an older friend detailing rather well a trip, a personal and revealing friend that you have long understanding with, things are not needing to be couched in emotional terms or parts hidden or rewritten around your relationship baggage-just an honest telling intended privately for you. That is how it reads. And that makes it powerful because quite actually I have no one that would write to me like that, nor understand me in that way, nor even be interested in it. It was a really important part of my recovery at a time in my own life I came to terms with the fact that I really didn't have that life in letters- that this so beautifully conveys exists as its domain. And there was somehow an acceptance here-this is the trip I am sharing as I experienced it because I'd like to have had your companionship. He writes to that stance,
so that miles away I might feel the heat or see the cooked vegetables, run my hand over a roughened three thousand year old stone wall, smell the must, or see some whizened guide jumping onto a bank and gather a sense of life on this old, historic river the birthplace of civilization where time slows and you step out of your self, me to heal and recover,him to face life, by pushing through the written word into a visualization-albeit an extended one-that rivets and lulls you, holds you, by the sheer ability of the writer entertains and edifies you, teaches you, and sustains a connection to human activity and presence through time and in a place safely removed from personal stresses and the chaotic desidera of daily churning life.( maybe these travel memoirs are extensively edited, but I always feel the ones I love as free of that extensive process and the intrusion of the editor- as if written fresh to page and daily experiences and observation)I took a mental trip through the book, this book among several, to aid my ability to survive and deal with pain. It was something I could pick up and read as entries, it changed as travel changes, did not require of me sustaining plot or having expectation, it allowed me to move when I couldn't move. And since I can't afford travel, was too ill to travel, can't work out the complexities, just to be aware I could go and see and retain a feeling of having been better for it meant a lot.

That happens to be one of the things I find most amazing about our human capacities. That we can mentally do things like that.And a good writer can certainly bring such an experience to you.

I'm looking at the book planning a return trip. I'm sure I'll enjoy it because right now there are difficult things that seem to need the healing such an escape does offer.

An Eqyptian Journal
I haven't read Lord of the Flies since high school, but it was hard to believe this book was written by the same author.At age 72, Golding agrees to sail the Nile with his wife and "crew" and write a book about it.This creates an anxiety that surfaces throughout the book, like Seinfeld's show about nothing.With charm, wit and a sense of fatalism, he sets off on what becomes a largely uneventful trip.It is this dilemma - his attempts to find sights and local color - and his descriptions of these travails that are the heart of the book.An enjoyable read, with some history and insights on Egyptian culture, it is filled with the delight and crankiness that accompany any trip worth taking. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

"All we have is the rules"
Ever fantasize that you are on an island free from the restraints of society? William Golding has taken that scenario to the nth in this story of a bunch of English boys, plane wrecked on an island during WWII.

We see the fabric of society slowly and most assuredly ripping as the rules are discarded one by one. Golding is very graphic in his description of the demise of pigs and plants.

One will never look at fun and games in the same way.

Lord of the Flies: Essential Art House

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Product Description
Includes a chronological bibliography of works by and about Golding. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

if you can read FRENCH then keep reading
Ce livre est le meilleur roman ecrit du monde entier. Il vous faut l'acheter. Bonne chance! ... Read more

Product Description
In the PENGUIN STUDY NOTES series and originally published in 1986 as GOLDING'S LORD OF THE FLIES, a study guide to the novel, aimed at those preparing for the GCSE examination. It includes character studies, summaries of the plot with examinations of the background and major themes, as well as suggesting topics for discussion. ... Read more