Banned Book Week: Lord of the Flies and Giveaway

Sheila of Book Journey is running a week-long event over on her blog for Banned Book Week. For more posts and giveaways, stop by her blog and check it out.

In honor of Banned Book Week, I am reviewing Lord of the Flies by William Golding. The premise of this book is widely known. A group of young boys end up stranded on an island. No adults around. I'm sure you can imagine what happens next.

Before beginning it, I supposed that this book would be an interesting piece of literature discussing human nature, but what I was surprised to find was how much I enjoyed the writing. As well as the writing, I found the different characters fascinating. No real back stories are introduced, but you can get a good feel for their different personalities. It took about a quarter of the book for me to get into it (luckily that isn't very many pages), but I couldn't turn the pages fast enough at the end.

After finishing it for the first time this past Sunday, I am still confused as to why this book was banned. There is death, but nothing particularly graphic about it. I love the introduction in my copy. It's by Stephen King and he has an anecdote about the first time he read Lord of the Flies. He was a young boy and mostly read adventure type books, but asked the librarian (of the little Bookmobile) if she had any books about how kids really are. She thought for a second and brought him a copy of Lord of the Flies. She told him that if anyone asked, he found the book himself (not surprising considering this post is for Banned Book Week).

Stephen King said he devoured the book and felt satisfied that it was a book about how kids really are. King later learned that writing a book about how boys would really behave is what Golding set out to do when writing Lord of the Flies. I wish it wasn't how human would really behave, but I think it is. It's my opinion that there is potential for good and evil in each of us. Deep down, what are we really like when all the rules and supervision disappear? Maybe that is what makes some people uncomfortable with this novel. There isn't always a happy ending for everyone and sometimes humans can do really despicable things. If you haven't read it, I hope you will. 

Now for the real reason you're here--the Giveaway! For one lucky reader, I'll be giving away a new copy of the edition shown above of Lord of the Flies with the introduction by Stephen King.

Rules for Entering

1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite banned or challenged book.
2. Include your email address (for use in contacting the winner).
3. You must be 13 years or older to enter.
4. Book Depository must ship to your address.

The giveaway will close midnight Sunday, October 7. After selecting the winner at random, I will contact them by email. The winner will have 72 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

Random.org selected #2 Sheila (Book Journey) as the winner.

Congratulations!