There's a reason it's a classic

A very well told story of descent into savagery. This is one of those "I really should read" books, which I am very glad I did.
Every part of this story is etched into my mind by the author's descriptive artistry brought to life by Martin Jarvis' exceptional story telling. I can still see Piggy quite clearly when I recollect the book, along with the pig trails in the jungle and the boys camp next to the shallow rock pool.
If you have any desire to read this book then I doubt it will be a disappointment.

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26 people found this helpful

Beautifully read

I have discovered that listening to this book, as well as reading it, has helped my teenage son enormously with his absorption of this story for his GCSE. We listened to it as a family and were able to debate the topics raised in the book which made the whole book more interesting for him and created some brilliant dinner table debates.

Great story and it is beautifully read by William Golding.

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1 person found this helpful

Forgot how good this is

I read this at school and thought it was ok. I had forgotten most of it in the 40 odd years since then. Such a well written book with characters that seem so real. It reads almost like a parable. There is a subtext of social commentary there and it reminded me a bit of Animal Farm in parts. There was one word bleeped out which surprised me and of course I was left wondering what that word might be…. The narrator was great. I found the posh accent and but much in parts but the boys did seem to be middle class boys from a boarding school so maybe fair enough. Really excellent novel and I got so much out of it with my more mature brain than I did as a young teenager reading it at school

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1 person found this helpful

Just do it!

Really solid novel, really solid narration.

Dropping a single star on performance because the narrator really does make Piggy's voice so irritating. but, in line with the character, I understand this choice :)

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1 person found this helpful

Annoying voices for some characters

I found this really difficult to listen with the awful voices for some of the characters especially pigy.

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1 person found this helpful

Some iffy language but a good story still

Well read. Took me back to reading it several decades ago! Thrilling ending. Listened to it in the car with my ten year old. Couple of dodgy words in it eg N word but more a sign of when it was written.

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1 person found this helpful

Brilliant!

First time reading/listening to this classic. Absolutely fantastic, narration makes the story come to life.

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Ok but annoying recording issue.

The performance and story is fine but there seems to be some words at the beginning of sentences lost in the recording. it's very annoying.

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Great novel and very well narrated

I Loved it, the way the narrator read it made it far more exciting than simply reading it at home. It was great to be able to listen to it on the go.

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Gripping story, magnificently read

Despite being over 70 years old it is as fresh a read or listen to as if written now. The dynamics and interplay between the boys on the island is described brilliantly and life on it including vivid descriptions of the island itself written superbly. Martin Jarvis was a very good choice of narrator.

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