'I must not let madness steal up on me and take me by surprise'.
Pincher Martin
Drowning in the freezing North Atlantic, Christopher Hadley Martin, temporary lieutenant, happens upon a grotesque rock, an island that appears only on weather charts. To drink there is a pool of rain water; to eat there are weeds and sea anemones. Through the long hours with only himself to talk to, Martin must try to assemble the truth of his fate, piece by terrible piece.
‘This is a novel by an author at the peak of his ability, uncompromising in the pursuit of the story he wishes to tell’. – Philippa Gregory
Judy explains the 'twists' in Golding's enigmatic novel.
Timeline
Disaster at sea
Pincher Martin features a shipwreck and in a strange twist of fate, Golding suffered a disaster at sea just after writing the novel. Golding, his wife Ann, […]
Resources
Hunger
As many of Golding’s novels feature aspects of survival, hunger is a recurrent theme.
News & Articles
Piranesi and William Golding
This is a guest article by Arabella Currie. Arabella is an Honorary Associate Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, having recently completed a postdoctoral […]
'I think this is a novel by an author at the peak of his ability'.
Philippa Gregory