First published 1720
When a plane crash leaves a group of English schoolboys stranded on a remote island, they must confront the darker impulses within themselves. Forced to govern their own society, the children's initial attempts at order and democracy quickly crumble. As power struggles emerge and violence escalates, the boys' veneer of civilization gives way to a descent into utter depravity. In this chilling parable of human nature, the children's doomed attempt to create their own social order mirrors the worst excesses of the adult world they left behind.
Genres: dystopia, classic-literature, 20th-century, adventure
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: descent-into-darkness, moral-ambiguity, societal-collapse
Setting: Pacific Ocean, Inhabited Island, Island, England, The Country, Ying Guo
Period: 1940-1960, Xiandai
224 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Penguin Books
Content warnings: violence