On Fri, 24 Aug 2012 23:11:56 +0200, Dianthus <fan@libera.net> wrote:
>HMS Victor Victorian <victorvictorian@hushunomail.com> wrote in
>news:6vff38hmfh4rv9lkbdpbsracq7bjt74ief@4ax.com:
>
>> Dear Friends,
>>
>> I confess with some embarrassment that for the first time I have read
>> William Golding's novel, "Lord of the Flies." I made the mistake, as
>> it were, of reading it before retiring each night ... only a chapter
>> at a time ... and discovered that with each successive night, my sleep
>> became more and more disturbed. What a horrible and sad tale, so at
>> odds with my affectionate beliefs, or delusions apparently, of the
>> basic goodness of boys! Powerful. Powerful.
>>
>> I've seen the film several times, and was pleased to see how closely
>> it followed Golding's work, although the movie excluded the disturbing
>> conversation had between Simon alone in the thicket and the pig's
>> fly-encrusted head on a pole. Nevertheless, reading the novel, and
>> diving into his prose, affected me far more profoundly than the movie
>> ever had. I readily suggest that, my friends, if you have not yet
>> read it, do so. It represents the quality of art that earned Golding
>> the Nobel Prize later in life.
>>
>> Many lauded experts have attempted to explain the deep significance of
>> "Lord of the Flies." Was it a condemnation of human nature, a treatis
>> on the ultimate disintegration and decay of all charity that we
>> cherish and value, an apocalyptic vision of a sick society that must
>> result when we abandon love and sympathy for one another?
>>
>> Well, who am I, relatively untutored and unread in the classics, to
>> comment intelligently on Golding's purposes? E. L. Epstein's
>> analysis, presented in the volume that I read, at least depended on
>> Golding's own brief and somewhat superficial motivation, and I think
>> him spot on.
>>
>> With one exception ... and it is one that upset me. In the passages
>> where Roger and Jack mercilessly attack and slaughter the sow suckling
>> her piglets. There is considerable horror and revulsion, simply done
>> in a masterful way, as Golding describes the boys plunging deep into
>> her with their spears. Now, in his interpretation, Epstein noted that
>> this represented the uncomfortable sexual awaking of young adolescent
>> boys ...
>>
>> And that analysis, which had never and would never occur to me, was
>> ever more so revolting than the murder itself!
>>
>> Do you think Golding intended such a thing, or had Epstein gone
>> bonkers like so many other social scientists, over such a Freudian
>> idea?
>>
>> I hope soon to post here several nice clips I've collected from this
>> wonderful movie, including a few outtakes.
>>
>> Sincerely yours,
>> HMS Victor Victorian, NP-g18
>>
>>
>>
>> God Save the Queen.
>> God Bless the Prince of Wales.
>> God Preserve the Windsors.
>> Rule Britannia!
>>
>
>Hello Victor Victorian,
>It is indeed an intreguing book, I read it many years ago after I saw the
>film. It is not clear if you saw the first or the second filming of the
>story. The first is from the early sixties and in black/white. I happened
>to see it in London, where it run many months.
>Now if you want to regain a little bit of faith in youth again then I
>recommend you read the stories of Clan Short on the net. Especially the
>first ones: Memories 1 and 2.
>Dianthus
Dear Dianthus,
Pardon me if you must, but I found the later version film a very poor
remake (as nearly all remade films are!), and of no service whatsoever
to Golding's tale. I do not own it. It was exceedinly shallow and,
unfortunately, bound by the culture and time in which it was made.
After all, who nowadays knows about Alf? Both Golding's novel and the
1963 film transcend culture and time.
Who is Alf, anyway?
I was unable to locate the stories which you recommended to me. But
thank you for the suggestion, and also for writing me here.
Sincerely,
HMSVV
God Save the Queen.
God Bless the Prince of Wales.
God Preserve the Windsors.
Rule Britannia!
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