HMS Victor Victorian <victorvictorian@hushunomail.com> wrote in
news:9dqh38d27pod7hu772e0hmra8escn1vjhh@4ax.com:
> 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!
Hello Victor,
I agree with you completely about the films, the second is a shallow
American thing.
About the stories I mentioned, you can find them here:
http://www.cornercafe.us/
best wishes
Dianthus
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