William Golding
Personal Information
Description
The winner of the 1983 Nobel Prize in Literature, William Golding is among the most popular and influential British authors to have emerged in the second half of the twentieth century. Golding's reputation rests primarily upon his first novel, Lord of the Flies (1954), which is consistently regarded as an effective and disturbing portrayal of the fragility of civilization. Childhood and college years Golding was born in Saint Columb Minor in Cornwall, England, in 1911. His father, Alex, was a schoolmaster, while his mother, Mildred, was active in the Women's Suffrage Movement (the movement for women's right to vote). As a boy, his favorite authors included H. G. Wells (1866–1946), Jules Verne (1828–1905), and Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950). Since the age of seven, Golding had been writing stories, and at the age of twelve he attempted to write a novel. Golding remained an enthusiastic writer and, upon entering Brasenose College of Oxford University, abandoned his plans to study science, preferring to read English literature. At twenty-two, a year before taking his degree in English, Golding saw his first literary work published—a poetry collection simply titled Poems. After graduating from Oxford in 1935, Golding continued the family tradition by becoming a schoolmaster in Salisbury, Wiltshire. His teaching career was interrupted in 1940, however, with the outbreak of World War II (1939–45). Lieutenant Golding served five years in the British Royal Navy and saw active duty in the North Atlantic, commanding a rocket launching craft. Lord of the Flies Golding had enhanced his knowledge of Greek history and mythology by reading while at sea, and when he returned to his post at Bishop Wordsworth's School in 1945, he began furthering his writing career. He wrote three novels, all of which went unpublished. But his frustration would not last long, when, in 1954, Golding created The Lord of the Flies. The novel was rejected by twenty-one publishers before Faber & Faber accepted the forty-three-year-old schoolmaster's book. Initially, the tale of a group of schoolboys stranded on an island during their escape from war received mixed reviews and sold only modestly in its hardcover edition. But when the paperback edition was published in 1959, thus making the book more accessible to students, the novel began to sell briskly. Teachers, aware of the student interest and impressed by the strong theme and symbolism of the work, began assigning Lord of the Flies to their literature classes. As the novel's reputation grew, critics reacted by drawing scholarly reviews out of what was previously dismissed as just another adventure story. The author's extremely productive output—five novels in ten years—and the high quality of his work established him as one of the late twentieth-century's most distinguished writers. This view of Golding was cemented in 1965, when the author was named a Commander of the British Empire. Later works After the success of Lord of the Flies, Golding enjoyed success with other novels, including Pincher Martin (1957), Free Fall (1959), and The Pyramid (1967). The author's creative output then dropped drastically. He produced no novels and only a handful of novellas (short novels), short stories, and other occasional pieces. In 1979 Golding returned with the publi cation of Darkness Visible which received mixed reviews. The author faced his harshest criticism to date with the publication of his 1984 novel The Paper Men, a drama about an aging, suc cessful novelist's conflicts with his pushy, over-bearing biographer. Departing briefly from fic tion, Golding wrote a book containing essays, reviews, and lectures. A Moving Target appeared in 1982, one year prior to the author's receipt of the Nobel Prize in Literature. William Golding died in England in 1993. A year after his death, The Double Tongue was released, published from a manu script Golding completed before he died. [Source]
Books
Free Fall
Sooner Or Later, The Sisterhood Always Gets Their Man…The loyal friends who make up the Sisterhood have gathered at Myra Rutledge’s beautiful Virginia home for the first time in a year, eager to talk, laugh, and share their joys and heartaches. For one of their number, it’s an evening filled with anticipation. Because tonight, over delicious food and in the company of those she trusts most, it will finally be time to tell her story—and for the Sisterhood to help plan her revenge. Yoko Akia’s mother was only fifteen when a wealthy man swept her off her feet with promises of love. Instead, he filled her brief life with horror and misery. The Sisterhood has helped each other exact vengeance on rotten men before, but this time it’s different. Their target is none other than America’s favorite movie star—a brute who has conned the world into believing he’s Mister Perfect. But he’s about to learn that nobody—not even a powerful superstar—is above the Sisterhood’s special brand of payback...
Rites of passages
During the early 18th century, passengers on a ship to Australia include a parson whom the crew choses as a scapegoat.
Double Tongue, the
"As a young virgin with disturbing psychic powers, Arieka was handed over to the service of the shrine by her parents. She has now spent sixty years as the very medium, the torn mouthpiece, of equivocal mantic utterances from the bronze tripod in the sanctuary beneath the temple. Over a lifetime at the mercy of god and priest and people she has watched the decay of Delphi's fortunes and its influence in the world. Her reflections on the mysteries of the oracle, which her own weird gifts have embodied, are matched by her feminine insight into the human frailties of the High Priest himself, a true Athenian, whose intriguing against the Romans brings about humiliation and disaster"--Publisher's description.
Scorpion God, the
De Schorpioengod van Wiklliam Golding bevat drie verhalen - door de schrijver als 'short novels' aangeduid - die blijk geven van Goldings veelzijdig en ironisch vernuft. In het titelverhaal 'De Schorpioengod', dat zich afspeelt in het oude Egypte, poogt een in hofkringen verkerende buitenstaander de sinds eeuwen vaststaande riten te weerstreven; door zijn gedrag krijgen enkelen in deze gesloten gemeenschap de kans hun blik op de wereld te verruimen. Een andere wereldbeschouwing bezit ook een der hoofdpersonen in het tweede verhaal 'Klink, klink'. In de hier weergegeven prehistorische samenleving staat de individuele, relativerende kijk die de vrouw Palm eigen is, in scherpe tegenstelling tot de redeloze vlucht in de collectiviteit welke de mannenwereld kenschetst. Een aanvaardbare wijze van samenleven blijkt tenslotte toch mogelijk. In 'Buitengewoon Gezand' wordt de Romeinse keizertijd geschetst. Een buiten de maatschappij staande uitvinder biedt zijn wereldschokkende vindingen aan het keizerlijke hof aan en wenst ze daar te testen. De uitwerkingen van deze revolutionaire machinens worden hem niet in dank afgenomen. Zijn benoeming tot buitengewoon gezant in China brengt de keizer uitkomst. (flaptekst)
Close quarters
DJ prays for guidance as she tries to balance her time at the riding academy with school work, art projects, and her new stepfamily.
The paper man
A novel about the conflict between a curmudgeonly writer with many secrets and the professor who wants to gain access to his personal papers and become his official biographer.
The pyramid
Set in the superficially placid English village of Stillbourne, The Pyramid represents three episodes in the life of Oliver-as a schoolboy, an undergraduate, and a mature young man. A compelling tale about Oliver's increasing awareness of the deeper meanings of the relationships and events of his youth.
Pincher Martin
One of Golding’s bleakest novels, this existentialist story is about the sole survivor of a shipwreck in the North Atlantic. Having been washed up on a rocky outcrop with no other land in sight and having no form of sustenance the man soon becomes deranged and the ending quickly becomes more and more inevitable.
Heer van de vliegen
Wat gebeurt er als een groep jongens uit een hooggeciviliseerde samenleving door een catastrofe op een onbewoond eiland belandt? Het antwoord geeft William Golding in zijn bloedstollende klassieker Heer der vliegen: ook keurige kostschooljongens zijn in staat tot beestachtige daden. In de nieuw gevormde gemeenschap doen zich opnieuw alle spanningen en agressies, alle vormen van bijgeloof en totemisme voor die de mens overwonnen dacht te hebben. De schooljongens vervallen tot niets minder dan barbarij, culminerend in een overwacht gruwelijk einde. Het boek werd in 1963 verfilmd, waarna het nog populairder werd.
Lord of the Flies
The Bloom's Modern Critical Views series provides the best criticism on the most widely read poets, novelists, and playwrights—from the ancients to contemporary writers.