The dystopian classic, introduced by Stephen King. When a group of schoolboys are stranded on a desert island, what could go wrong?
ONE OF THE BBC'S '100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD'
'The first book with hands - strong ones that reached out of the pages and seized me by the throat. It said to me, 'This is not just entertainment; it's life or death.' ... I've been thinking about it ever since, for fifty years and more.' Stephen King
'One of my favorite books - I read it every couple of years.' Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games
INTRODUCED BY STEPHEN KING
'There aren't any grown-ups anywhere.'
A plane crashes on a desert island. The only survivors are a group of schoolboys. By day, they explore the dazzling beaches, gorging fruit, seeking shelter, and ripping off their uniforms to swim in the lagoon. At night, in the darkness of the jungle, they are haunted by nightmares of a primitive beast. Orphaned by society, they must forge their own; but it isn't long before their innocent games devolve into something far more dangerous . . .
'Thrills me with all the power a fiction can have ... Exemplary.' Ian McEwan
'An existential fable backlit with death's incandescent glare.' Ben Okri
'Violently real ... An apocalyptic novelist [who writes with] humanist rage and defiance.' Marlon James
'Beautifully written, tragic and provocative.' E. M. Forster
'A fragment of nightmare.'New Statesman
'A post-apocalyptic, dystopian survivor-fantasy ... [A novel] for all time ... A cult classic.' Guardian
'Stands out mightily in my memory ... Such a strong statement about the human heart.' Patricia Cornwell
'Terrifying and haunting.' Kingsley Amis
What readers are saying:
'Every real human being should read this ... This is what we are.'
'It's brilliant, it's captivating, it's thought provoking and brutal and for some, its truly terrifying.'
'It can be read and re-read many times, and every time something new will appear.'
'There is a reason why this is studied at school ... Excellent read.'
'This is one of the few books I've read that I keep on my Kindle to read again.'
'I revisit this every few years and it's always fresh and impressive ... One of the best books I've ever read.'
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 9780571371723
Number of pages: 256
Weight: 215 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 15 mm
Edition: Main
'An existential fable backlit with death's incandescent glare.' - Ben Okri'Violently real ... An apocalyptic novelist [who writes with] humanist rage and defiance.' - Marlon James'Beautiful and desperate, something quite out of the ordinary.' - Stevie Smith'A fragment of nightmare.' - New Statesman'A post-apocalyptic, dystopian survivor-fantasy ... [A novel] for all time ... A cult classic.' - Guardian
This left a lasting impression on me. What an exciting idea for a story. A group of boys crash land onto a uninhabited island and the fact that they are ungoverned means they have to survive in a makeshift society... More
This had been yet another classic which I hadn’t read, and yet it is a brilliant book. It is very simple on one level, and extremely symbolic and allegorical on another. On the face of it, a plane load of boys crashes... More
A group of British schoolboys have to fend for themselves on an island after their plane crashes. Survival is hard enough for adults and their life experience, but what about young boys? This book shows their struggle... More
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