When presenting him with the Nobel Prize, the King of Sweden
remarked that he, too, had of course read Lord of the
Flies.
The 1962 special edition of Lord of the Flies, with an
introduction by E.M. Forster and biographical and critical notes by
E.L. Epstein, placed the work and its author firmly in the great
tradition of world literature. Epstein records the author's comment
that his literary influences had been Euripides and the anonymous
Anglo-Saxon author of 'The Battle of Maldon'. Given Golding's
interest in the literature of classical Greece, and in archaeology
and the ancient world generally, the allusion to the former
writer's powerful dramas of violence, told in and through the
symbolic, makes sense. While as an Oxford graduate in English he
certainly had some knowledge of Anglo-Saxon, there is a possibility
that the latter reference was somewhat tongue in cheek - or not?
Certainly his reaction to the deadly serious search for scholarly
fact was often a lively and impish impulse to send it up.
These pages will record some of the influences on Golding as an
imaginative writer, including friends - such as Peter Green and Adam Bittleston, landscapes and the
elements, as well as literary resources of all kinds, books and
poems he read, commentary and criticism on other writers, and
perhaps least of all, the critical and scholarly pursuit of
'Golding' the 'author'. For a time he replied to postal
correspondence with printed cards reading:
'William Golding regrets that he cannot answer questions about
his books. If he did so he would have no time for anything
else.'
Besides his works, Golding was personally influential in
surprising ways. James Lovelock's 'Gaia' hypothesis got its name when
Golding suggested it to his friend. The two lived in Bowerchalke
near Salisbury in Wiltshire for a time and often went on walks
together.
John Carey's new biography of William Golding
Drawing almost entirely on materials that have never before been
made public, John Carey, the distinguished writer and critic, sheds
new light on Golding. Through hundreds of letters, unpublished
works and Golding's intimate journals, Carey draws a revelatory and
definitive portrait of an extraordinary man. In an absorbing and
compelling narrative, he reveals a many-sided figure: a war-hero, a
reclusive depressive who considered himself a 'monster', a family
man, a victim of fears and phobias who battled against alcoholism,
and a writer who trusted the imagination above all things.
Follow the link below to hear 'audio snippets' where Carey reads
from his highly praised new biography.
William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies