Read about the other entries on the list.Jack Merridew
Lord of the Flies
William Golding’s dystopian debut wasn’t a hit upon its initial 1954 publication but went on to become a bestseller and firm favourite in schools. It tells the story of a group of British boys marooned on an uninhabited island, who attempt to govern themselves with disastrous consequences, eventually descending to a primitive state. Jack is the head choirboy who appoints himself chief hunter, becomes consumed by blood-lust and, assisted by the sadistic Roger, gradually goes off the rails. Representing the basest aspects of human nature, Jack becomes power-crazed, forming his own tribe of face-painted “savages” and enacting murderous rituals. Poor Piggy.
Lord of the Flies is on Danny Wallace's six best books list, Gemma Malley's top ten list of dystopian novels for teenagers, AbeBooks' list of 20 books of shattered childhoods and is one of the top ten works of literature according to Stephen King. It appears on John Mullan's lists of ten of the best pigs in literature, ten of the best pairs of glasses in literature, and ten of the best horrid children in literature, Katharine Quarmby's top ten list of disability stories, and William Skidelsky's list of ten of the best accounts of being marooned in literature. It is a book that made a difference to Isla Fisher and is one of Suzi Quatro's six best books.
--Marshal Zeringue
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