GadgetJax Reviews: The Lord Of The Flies by William William Golding

   I love old things. A lot. Okay, maybe not the stuff that's really old, like dinosaur bones and 8-tracks, but I still love to look back at all the media of last century. Some of my favorite video games of all time were released during the 1980's, and many of Disney's best animated features debuted during the 1950's as well. But what about books? 

    Truth be told, I rarely read old books, which is odd, isn't it? I like reading, and I like old media, so you would think that stuff would make me explode with happiness, but it doesn't. Even titles like 'The Hobbit' have failed to spark my interest. Still, there are many times where I'll have to read an old title for one reason or another, such as a book discussion.
    This leads me to the book for today: Lord Of The Flies. It's obviously not the oldest book in on Earth, but when you consider how it debuted in 1957, you really start to realize how old that is. Anyway, going off the title of the book, you would expect some kind of epic tale about a king among insects, but considering how misleading old book titles were, you can ignore that notion.

    Our tale begins with 2 young boys named 'Ralph' and 'Piggy'(No, that's not his real name) waking up on an island in the middle of nowhere. They believe they are alone at first, but discover that they were on an airplane with several other boys, but it crashed, with only the children surviving. They eventually meet other boys on that island; some who are their age, and some who are smaller. They then come to terms and try to start a makeshift society where different boys are assigned to different roles, such as hunting and the like. It's nothing too out of the ordinary for a survival story, except for the MacGuffin of the island; The Conch.
    The Conch is a crucial part of the story and should be recognized as such. Prior to meeting the other boys on the island, Ralph and Piggy discover a conch on the island. As the story progresses, the significance of the conch rises to a point of royal power among the surviving boys; whoever is holding the conch has the right to speech among the group of boys. It may seem like a little touch at first to the story, but if you look deeper into it, it represents much more than meets the eye. The rest of the story contains very few objects that would hold any significance or lasting impression, so the conch feels like almost like a holy relic in a desolate wasteland.
    Speaking of things that stand out, I guess you could apply this definition to many of the other aspects of the book; insignificant at first, but surreal and astonishing upon inspection. I was bored the entire time during my first read of this book, but after re-reading it and searching up more about it online, I discovered just how narrow my opinions on this title were. Every boy in this book is given an underlying trait that represents some kind of struggle that the group faces on the island, and it almost makes you feel bad for the characters and their struggles.

    Of course, with any book that takes the path of using underlying meanings, you will notice many flaws riddled in the tale. I found many parts where characters would almost seem to repeat the same sentences over and over again, and it makes the plot feel like it's not going anywhere at certain points. Also, while we're on the subject of 'not going anywhere', I should remind you that I didn't get much of a good impression from this book the first time through. Because of this, I can only recommend this book to someone who wants to decipher the deep meaning behind the story. If you're looking for raw entertainment, Lord Of The Flies won't fit your taste, but if you want to read about a truly serious struggle between several children and their wits, then Lord Of The Flies will spark your interest for sure.

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...wait a second! A GadgetJax review with little-to-no comedy? What is this garglemesh?!? Don't worry, valiant readers! I'll be back next time with something that's sure to knock your socks off! Can you guess what it is? I'll give you guys a hint: it'll push everybody to the limit.