In a wilderness of heat, stillness and sea mists, a ball is held
on a ship becalmed halfway to Australia. In this surreal, fête-like
atmosphere the passengers dance and flirt, while beneath them
thickets of weed like green hair spread over the hull.
The sequel to Rites of Passage, Close
Quarters, the second volume in Golding's acclaimed sea
trilogy, is imbued with his extraordinary sense of menace. Half-mad
with fear, with drink, with love and opium, everyone on this leaky,
unsound hulk is 'going to pieces'. And in a nightmarish climax the
very planks seem to twist themselves alive as the ship begins to
come apart at the seams.
To the Ends of the Earth
To the Ends of the Earth is the 'Sea Trilogy' title for
three of Golding's most gripping - and funniest - novels: Rites
of Passage, Close Quarters, and Fire Down
Below. BBC 2 broadcast a three-part television dramatisation
of the trilogy in May-June 2005. The adaptation starred Benedict
Cumberbatch, Sam Neill, Victoria Hamilton and Jared Harris, and was
filmed partly in South Africa, near Capetown.
BBC TV adaptation of Golding's 'To the Ends of the Earth'
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 Through hundreds of letters, unpublished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