Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies by William Goldingby William Golding
Shares rank 31 of 122 novels by recommenders
People recommend it as a vivid, philosophically rich literary work that works for readers of any age. Critics say it is a fictional story that misrepresents how real children and humans behave.
People recommend it as a vivid, philosophically rich literary work that works for readers of any age. Critics say it is a fictional story that misrepresents how real children and humans behave.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 43%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Insightful, philosophical literary masterpiece
“I think it is a masterpiece of literature, providing insightful and frightful expressive splashes of sound, fury and color”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “William Golding's Island of Savagery” “It's a deeply philosophical book.”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “William Golding's Island of Savagery” Simple, engaging story for any age
“a short book telling a simple story in which lots of very identifiable stuff actually happens”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “NY school phone ban has made lunch loud again” “They're good stories regardless of age.”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “NY school phone ban has made lunch loud again”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Misrepresents real human nature
“Everyone seems to think that Lord of the Flies depicts human nature, when in reality teen boys on a deserted island are more likely to form a band than kill each other”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “Disaster planning for regular folks (2015)” “A fictional novel purporting to shed light on real human nature. In that respect it has been shown to be, at a minimum, significantly mistaken.”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “William Golding's Island of Savagery” “Lord of the Flies was a fictional novel, it never happened, it's not real and shouldn't be used to inform your thinking.”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Does Employment Slow Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Labor Market Shocks” - Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “William Golding's Island of Savagery”
- Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “William Golding's Island of Savagery”
Children act differently than depicted
“gets shown to be completely factually wrong on children, the appropriate amount of self-reflection for the literary world”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “William Golding's Island of Savagery” “the kids just collaborated and survived fine”
Comment from 22 Aug 2026 in “Books That Will Change the Way You Look at the World” Pessimistic, misanthropic view of people
“misanthropic trash that has done more harm than most people seem to realize”
Comment from 22 Aug 2026 in “Books That Will Change the Way You Look at the World” “That point has been shown to be overly pessimistic.”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “William Golding's Island of Savagery”
Other novels people recommend
The four most recommended other novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime and Punishmentby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 39 | 9 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The Brothers Karamazovby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 28 | 8 | 78% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Infinite Jestby David Foster Wallace | 26 | 5 | 84% | 9 | 10 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald | 24 | 9 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Lord of the Fliesby William GoldingThis page | 6 | 8 | 43% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the kids just collaborated and survived fine”
“misanthropic trash that has done more harm than most people seem to realize”
“I was lucky to have read Golding's "Lord of the Flies" before our class did, because it gave me a better appreciation of it”
“Lord of the Flies was a fictional novel, it never happened, it's not real and shouldn't be used to inform your thinking.”
“Everyone seems to think that Lord of the Flies depicts human nature, when in reality teen boys on a deserted island are more likely to form a band than kill each other”
“lord of the flies is a bad depiction of how humans come to act that way”
“I think it is a masterpiece of literature, providing insightful and frightful expressive splashes of sound, fury and color”
“how is your argument on any better level than Golding's?”
“With such significant caveats, can one really say that the novel is about human nature in general?”
“A fictional novel purporting to shed light on real human nature. In that respect it has been shown to be, at a minimum, significantly mistaken.”
“It's a deeply philosophical book.”
“That point has been shown to be overly pessimistic.”
“gets shown to be completely factually wrong on children, the appropriate amount of self-reflection for the literary world”
“there weren't enough boys in Lord of the Flies for the social dynamics”
“proving the book utterly false has not dimmed its literary reputation”
“They're good stories regardless of age.”
“a short book telling a simple story in which lots of very identifiable stuff actually happens”
“Same with Lord of the Flies.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.