William Golding


Born
in Newquay, Cornwall, England
September 19, 1911

Died
June 19, 1993

Website

Genre

Influences


Sir William Gerald Golding was an Engish novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel Lord of the Flies (1954), he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 1980, he was awarded the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage, the first novel in what became his sea trilogy, To the Ends of the Earth. He was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Literature.

As a result of his contributions to literature, Golding was knighted in 1988. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 2008, The Times ranked Golding third on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
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Average rating: 3.7 · 3,261,995 ratings · 71,826 reviews · 202 distinct worksSimilar authors
Lord of the Flies

3.70 avg rating — 3,229,980 ratings — published 1954 — 846 editions
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Lord of the Flies: The Grap...

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4.29 avg rating — 4,661 ratings — published 2024 — 23 editions
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The Inheritors

3.51 avg rating — 5,667 ratings — published 1955 — 145 editions
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Rites of Passage (To the En...

3.58 avg rating — 4,516 ratings — published 1980 — 88 editions
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The Spire

3.50 avg rating — 4,271 ratings — published 1964 — 9 editions
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Pincher Martin

3.55 avg rating — 2,631 ratings — published 1956 — 98 editions
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Darkness Visible

3.49 avg rating — 1,791 ratings — published 1979 — 55 editions
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Free Fall

3.67 avg rating — 1,499 ratings — published 1959 — 32 editions
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The Double Tongue

3.46 avg rating — 1,163 ratings — published 1995 — 4 editions
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The Pyramid

3.31 avg rating — 1,096 ratings — published 1967 — 3 editions
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More books by William Golding…
Rites of Passage Close Quarters Fire Down Below
(3 books)
by
3.67 avg rating — 6,330 ratings

Quotes by William Golding  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us.”
William Golding, Lord of the Flies

“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.”
William Golding, Lord of the Flies

“My yesterdays walk with me. They keep step, they are gray faces that peer over my shoulder.”
William Golding

Polls

January 2016 New School Group Read

1937, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, 366 pages
 
  22 votes, 15.4%

 
  21 votes, 14.7%

1915, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, 201 pages
 
  13 votes, 9.1%

 
  12 votes, 8.4%

1953, Casino Royale by Ian Fleming, 181 pages
 
  12 votes, 8.4%

1954, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, 182 pages
 
  12 votes, 8.4%

 
  11 votes, 7.7%

1999, Battle Royale by Koushun Takami, 617 pages
 
  7 votes, 4.9%

 
  7 votes, 4.9%

 
  7 votes, 4.9%

 
  7 votes, 4.9%

1984, The Bone People by Keri Hulme, 450 pages
 
  5 votes, 3.5%

 
  3 votes, 2.1%

1926, The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery, 218 pages
 
  2 votes, 1.4%

1937, Christ in Concrete by Pietro Di Donato, 256 pages
 
  1 vote, 0.7%

1957, The Assistant by Bernard Malamud, 246 pages
 
  1 vote, 0.7%

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