Saturday, January 30, 2010

Ten of the best pairs of glasses in literature

For the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best pairs of glasses in literature.

One novel on the list:
Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Perhaps the most famous pair of glasses in literature belongs to Piggy in Golding's novel. They are used as "burning glasses" to start a fire (physically impossible as Piggy is short-sighted). Then nasty Jack breaks one of the lenses. Later the specs are stolen, leaving Piggy almost sightless as a prelude to his murder.
Read about the other pairs of glasses on Mullan's list.

Lord of the Flies is on AbeBooks' list of 20 books of shattered childhoods and is one of the top ten works of literature according to Stephen King.

--Marshal Zeringue