William Golding on the surprising optimism of Lord of the Flies.

Here's an interview with William Golding in which he talks about the surprising optimism of Lord of the Flies. We’re sharing this to celebrate the 65th anniversary of his evergreen classic. The video also features Faber & Faber book jackets for Lord of the Flies from down the years.

William Golding was born in Cornwall in 1911 and was educated at Marlborough Grammar School and at Brasenose College, Oxford. His first novel, Lord of the Flies, was published in 1954 and was filmed by Peter Brook in 1963. He won the Booker Prize for his novel Rites of Passage in 1980, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983. He was knighted in 1988. He died at his home in the summer of 1993.

BUY THE BOOK:

[teresataylor]

Literally, one of the great novels of the English language. It's a great story, of course, but Goldings understanding of humanity is profound.

[stardust]

Golding trial is coming in my school! Yay! (But I've heard it's actually really fun)

[martm]

Could have done without the stupid background row.

[johnmoyer]

They do get rescued in the end. Think about it, they could have all killed each other and died of starvation in the end, but didn’t.

[mikebelbin]

All right until you believe in the Beast - whether that's Satan, Russians or Hamas.

[roni_macaroni]

I didn't understand a single word he said 💀