Round-up of William Golding in the news in July 2021!
In The Guardian, novelist Monique Roffey cited Golding’s The Inheritors as the ‘book that had the greatest influence’ on her writing. Roffey said that Golding’s invention of the language and speech processes of his Neanderthal characters helped her to develop the voice of the mermaid in her new novel, The Mermaid of Black Conch.
Writer Hilary Davidson mentioned Lord of the Flies in response to a question from Nerd Daily about a ‘book you can’t stop thinking about’. She said that she first read it when she was eleven or twelve, and that it has been ‘stuck in [her] head ever since.’
BBC Radio 3 repeated two programmes about Golding. First, the Literary Pursuits feature about Lord of the Flies, which examined its publication history and reception. Second, the ‘Open Endings‘ programme with Ian Rankin discussing his imagined sequel to Lord of the Flies. Both are still available for listeners.
David Farrier has written a fascinating article in Prospect magazine on Neanderthals. He tracks the history of our knowledge of our ancestors, demonstrating how it has changed over the years – from the stereotypical caveman, to Rebecca Wragg Sykes’s brilliant new study, Kindred. Farrier suggests that Golding’s depiction of the Neanderthals in The Inheritors was ‘important in resetting the popular image’ and influential for subsequent imaginings.
The Losers’ Club: A Stephen King podcast, hosted by Bloody Disgusting.com presented a new episode on Golding’s influence on Stephen King. The podcast traces all the books mentioned by King in Danse Macabre, which includes Lord of the Flies. King wrote the introduction to the 2011 edition of Golding’s debut novel. Highly recommended.
Faber & Faber announced that all Golding’s novels will be reissued with new covers and new introductions from a range of brilliant writers. The announcement generated coverage in The Bookseller, and Book Brunch, and our report can be found here.
