Darkness Visible

DARKNESS VISIBLE

by William Golding

 

Awards: James Tait Black Winner 1979, Nobel Winner 1979

 

Nominations: LA Times Finalist 1980

 

Date Read: October 1, 2023

 

Based on the premise that some people just want to be “…weird, to be on the other side,” Golding creates a bizarre intersection between morally bankrupt twins, a disfigured nut, two men seeking something missing from their lives and a middle aged pedophile. Sticking to the darkness so prevalent in most of his work, Golding’s take on the motivations of humans to a very dark place indeed.

 

While I agree that most humans have dark thoughts, it’s only a very small minority who actually act on those thoughts. Few people are willing to actually go through with attempting to kidnap a child for ransom. Few people would actually molest small children again and again and again. Yet we find Golding going down that road as if it’s quite natural.

 

I didn’t quite understand the role of Matty, the disfigured religious nut. He was horrifically burned in a fire as a small child and after multiple skin grafts, lives his life as a sort of pariah. His one obsession is the Bible and he memorizes passages for fun and repeats those passages during his working hours. I didn’t follow why the two older men were willing to follow him – what really lured them to believe he had something that they wanted?

 

I love Golding’s work. Lord Of The Flies and the Rites Of Passage were great novels. This one, in my opinion, is not the best of his work.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Gentleman In Moscow

Image
A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor Towles   Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2018, Goodreads Finalist 2016, Kirkus Finalist 2016   Date Read: February 24, 2017   From Kirkus Reviews:   “Sentenced to house arrest in Moscow's Metropol Hotel by a Bolshevik tribunal for writing a poem deemed to encourage revolt, Count Alexander Rostov nonetheless lives the fullest of lives, discovering the depths of his humanity.   Inside the elegant Metropol, located near the Kremlin and the Bolshoi, the Count slowly adjusts to circumstances as a "Former Person." He makes do with the attic room, to which he is banished after residing for years in a posh third-floor suite. A man of refined taste in wine, food, and literature, he strives to maintain a daily routine, exploring the nooks and crannies of the hotel, bonding with staff, accepting the advances of attractive women, and forming what proves to be a deeply meaningful relationship with a spirited young girl, Nina. "We are bound to find comfo
Read more

An Island

Image
AN ISLAND by Karen Jennings   Nomination: Booker Longlist 2021   Date Read: December 10, 2022   A short but mighty novel, An Island explores the concept of home, family, identity, the impact of political upheaval and the immigrant experience, when one’s suffering is so intense they move from one shitty country to the next. Samuel has finally found a peaceful home on an island somewhere off the coast of Africa. He was hired as a lighthouse keeper and after a tumultuous life, most of which was spent in prison as a political prisoner, he has carved out a life for himself on this island, enjoying a tranquil existence that basks in the quiet tasks of daily living.   Only after exploring Samuel’s life does the reader understand why such an isolated, spare and lonely existence satisfy him, with no desire to escape but only to grow deeper roots. His life witnessed the end of the British occupation, the installation of a brutal dictator and yet another dictator after the first was poisoned. Sam
Read more

The Changeling

Image
THE CHANGELING by Victor LaValle   Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2019, LA Times Finalist 2017, PEN/Jean Stein Finalist 2018   Date Read: July 21, 2024   From Kirkus Reviews: “A  tragedy thrusts a mourning father into peculiar, otherworldly corners of New York City. When Apollo and Emma have their baby, Brian, it feels like both reward and challenge for the new dad. Apollo, the son of a single mother, had been scraping by as a bookseller who hunts estate and garage sales for rare first editions, so even the unusual circumstance of Brian's birth (in a stalled subway train) seems like a blessing, as does the way Apollo stumbles across a first edition of  To Kill a Mockingbird  (inscribed by Harper Lee to Truman Capote, no less) shortly after. But after some young-parent squabbles and inexplicable images on their smartphones foreshadow trouble, the story turns nightmarish: Apollo finds himself tied up and beaten by Emma, then forced to listen to the sounds of Brian’s murder. LaValle has
Read more