When William Golding (1911-1993) was awarded the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1983, the Nobel Foundation cited:
"...his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic
narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth,
illuminate the human condition in the world of today".
Those novels are relatively few in number - twelve. Golding also
wrote plays, many essays and reviews, several short stories, some
poems, and a travel book about Egypt. He left at his death a
journal of more than two million words. Many of his attempts at
other works survive in manuscript or typescript. He seems to have
known from childhood that he wanted to be a writer. His first
published work appeared when he was twenty-three.
Quite apart from his obvious achievements as a writer, it is
worth pointing out the vast range and diversity of the subject
matter of his novels, and the challenge he set himself. Perhaps his
greatest achievement is to have lived through the most terrible and
inhumane of centuries, and to have left behind a body of work that
can be said to reflect much of the horror of that time as well as
an understanding of it.
At his death Golding left behind numerous volumes of daily
journals (1971-1993), recording his innermost thoughts and trying
out all kinds of ideas. A brief extract from this material has been
published as 'The Dream Journals' in Arete (Issue Sixteen, Winter 2004, pp.
25-42).
We have prepared a brief chronology (PDF, 76 Kb) of major
dates relating to Golding's life and works for this website.
Judy Golding's Memoir
In this frank and engaging family memoir, Judy Golding
recalls growing up with a brilliant, loving, sometimes
difficult parent. The years of her childhood and adolescence saw
her father change from an impecunious schoolteacher to a famous
novelist. Once adult, she came to understand some of the internal
conflicts which led to his writing.
Buy Judy Golding's memoir Children of Lovers
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 Through hundreds of letters, unpublished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