I think this constitutes as one of those books everyone must read at some point in their life; its continual referencing in popular culture seems to affirm such a sentiment.
This satirical and quite short novel follows a group of schoolboys who become stranded on an uncharted island following a plane crash. At first, without adults around, they are drunk and liberated by their newfound freedom.
In a sequence or turn comparable to Animal Farm, order begins to slip away. The boys’ miniscule self-made society collapses in on itself at the hands of sin. In the failure of their efforts, it dawns upon them that rescue is unlikely, and that their newfound situation is now far from liberating or something to be celebrated.
It does seem a bit on the nose, being a parable. But I think it could make for a nice way to spend an afternoon, reading through a roughly ~180-page story that juggles themes of power, freedom, politics, and morality.
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