Last week, I decided I would read a book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, that I had heard about on a YouTube video. It was published in 1954, and honestly, I had my doubts. In fact, my first thought was, “Well, just another old book written by a dead guy.” I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Once I started reading, there was no going back. On the bus, in my room, on the couch, etc. My parents had to tell me three times to put the book down during dinner, and told me to sleep when it was 1 a.m. (which I generously ignored).

Essentially, the story takes place on an island after a plane crash. A group of boys, including Ralph, the protagonist, Jack, the antagonist, Piggy, the smart one, and plenty of others as well, attempt to rebuild society on this island.  This goes horribly wrong, and they revert to savages. And while this should be surprising and sickening, the way Golding writes his book makes it seem justified, which makes his characters still seem sane when they really are insane.

Lord of the Flies is a book unlike any other. It takes the survival genre and gently mixes psychological horror into it. This book is so phenomenal that it should be held up with Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. When compared to Hatchet by Gary Paulson, it seems far more realistic. It’s such a shame that no one seems to want to read this book.

The Lord of the Flies can be found at the Altoona Public Library (after I return it), the AAJHS school library and can be found on Amazon starting at $8.19.