[EC2]⇒ Read Rites of Passage Faber Fiction Classics William Golding 9780571209439 Books

Rites of Passage Faber Fiction Classics William Golding 9780571209439 Books

Download As PDF : Rites of Passage Faber Fiction Classics William Golding 9780571209439 Books

Rites of Passage Faber Fiction Classics William Golding 9780571209439 Books

The author, what can one say that hasn't already been said? I will read the trilogy, after having watched the on screen adaptation starring Cumberpatch.


Tags : Rites of Passage (Faber Fiction Classics) [William Golding] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.,William Golding,Rites of Passage (Faber Fiction Classics),Gardners Books,0571209432,Fiction

Rites of Passage Faber Fiction Classics William Golding 9780571209439 Books Reviews

I'm up to 1980 in my quest to read all the Booker Prize winners in order. I would not have read this book otherwise, and finished it only because of my commitment to myself. I confess to so skimming.

Set in the early days of the 19th century, this journal of a minor official on his way to Australia is mostly tedious posturing by a young man very pleased with himself. He writes of his superiority to the other passengers. One in particular is a Mr Colley, a clergyman. Only toward the end of the book do we find out that Mr Colley also kept a journal, and his account is very different from Mr Talbot's.

Actually nothing much happens in the book, and I didn't care very much about any of the characters.
Rites of Passage captures the early part of a voyage to Australia during the close of the great Age of Sail. Locked aboard the aging hulk Britannia, a cross section of society seeks new lives and opportunities in a virgin territory. The book is written in epistolary format, featuring the daily journals of William Talbot, with the inclusion of a fevered letter from the parson James Colley. Both of these men make their own passages within the confines of shipboard society with very different levels of success.
Golding lays the allusions on thick, with the decrepit Britannia serving as the island upon which the naive influences of church and state (represented by our young narrators) play out amongst a generally debauched and corrupt citizenry. While both young men begin in generally the same fashion, the prerogatives of class and position combine with the venality of the officers on ship to result in diametrically opposed outcomes. Golding uses the interplay of forces and fragmented narrative to make a comment on the impact of class on society and the death of spirituality amidst the rise of decadence.
Throughout, Golding employs a droll wit, playing off the naïveté of his protagonists to realize subtle moments of humor. Furthermore, the confessional and time driven nature of the journal format allows for real growth to be charted in Talbot’s morality and understanding. In general the passage of these young men is a fascinating review of British society in miniature. Four stars.
Fine, OK thank you. Nothing more so say about this book which is known to so many readers around the world
Spurred by reading LORD OF THE FLIES (1954) as a teenager, I bought Golding's next two novels on impulse, found them much heavier going, so abandoned the author until I read the first book again a few years ago. What a pleasant surprise, then, to find his RITES OF PASSAGE (1980) once more easy to read, indeed almost comic in tone. Although later extended into a trilogy, TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, this first volume was originally intended as a stand-alone novel, and works perfectly well on its own.

The novel, which takes place in the first quarter of the nineteenth century on board a vessel of the Royal Navy bound for Sydney, is in the form of a journal. The writer, Edmund Talbot, writes for his noble patron, who has secured him a post as aide to the Governor of New South Wales. Very conscious of his station, he is surprised that the Captain did not greet him personally, and is aggrieved at the size of his cabin, which he calls a hutch) but he soon resolves to make the best of it

I have resigned myself therefore, used Wheeler for some of this unpacking,
set out my books myself, and seen my chests taken away. I should be angry
if the situation were not so farcical. However, I had a certain delight in some
of the talk between the fellows who took them off, the words were so perfectly
nautical. I have laid Falconer's Marine Dictionary by my pillow; for I am
determined to speak the tarry language as perfectly as any of these rolling
fellows!

There is much to smile at in Talbot's genial superiority, his attempts to "speak Tarpaulin" as he calls it, and his inevitable petty comeuppances, as when he blithely asserts that he is a good sailor only to get sicker than all the rest. But we are more than willing to see the ship and other passengers through his eyes. There is a painter named Brocklebank and his supposed wife and daughter (the one too young and the other too old). There is a noted Rationalist named Pettiman, who patrols the decks with a blunderbuss determine to shoot the first albatross he sees, in order to prove the Tale of the Ancient Mariner mere superstition. And there is a newly-fledged parson named Colley, an obsequious creature who "not only favours me with his révérence but tops it off with a smile of such understanding and sanctity [that] he is a kind of walking invitation to mal de mer.

Yet it is with Colley that Golding first begins to show the darker side for which he is famous. For ever since Jonah, seamen have been superstitious about having priests aboard, and the terrifying Captain Anderson seems to make this superstition personal. Rev. Colley falls foul of the captain, is banished from the quarterdeck, and soon begins to feel like a pariah on board. Despite his dislike, Edmund makes some attempt to help him, but he gets distracted by the over-telegraphed charms of Zenobia Brocklebank (the so-called daughter). So Colley's fall, when it comes, is both terrible and alone.

I go back in my mind to reading LORD OF THE FLIES. There is the same repurposing of a traditional genre (there TREASURE ISLAND or a school story, here a nautical yarn), there is the same deceptive lightness of touch, and most importantly the same attention to those special conditions in which normal social conventions break down and human beings reveal the savagery never far beneath the skin; it is easy to see Colley as another Piggy. But this is a more personal book; the darkness is less atavistic, less a matter of what others do, more a question of what lurks in one's own soul.

Edmund Talbot is not the only journal writer on board. It appears that Colley has also been keeping a log, in the form of a long letter to his sister, and this takes up most of the last third of the book. What is interesting is how these two separate accounts complement each other, giving us insight into the tormented mind of the young parson, telling us more about the less-than-gentlemanly officers, and—despite the fact that Colley virtually worships him—making us reevaluate our protagonist, Edmund Talbot. You could imagine Melville writing this short novel, in terms of its moral issues and naval setting. But Golding seems that much smaller, less absolute. This one is a sordid affair, from which nobody emerges entirely clean. Not quite another LORD OF THE FLIES, still less a BILLY BUDD or HEART OF DARKNESS. But those set a high standard indeed, and this is still a very fine achievement.

4.5 stars.
Found it a heavy going novel with only a couple of bits of humour here and there. Thought having it set out as a journal quite an interesting tway of portraying the journey - paralleling a ships log but won' t be reading it a second time, and if it hadn't been my reading groups book this month, am pretty sure would not have bothered finishing it!
A classic novel, but I mistakenly thought it was a nonfiction treatment! Maybe I'll read it someday just for enrichment.
The low rating is for the quality of this kindle edition and not the book (which I have been unable to read due to the terrible formatting.

Beware if you buy this kindle edition. It's unreadable due to large amounts of formatting issues, typos, and other problems. I guess there's a reason it was only $1.42. I found another kindle version for $7, maybe that version is better. I've attached a photo of one of the better pages (the one I was currently trying to read). Each page is terrible.
The author, what can one say that hasn't already been said? I will read the trilogy, after having watched the on screen adaptation starring Cumberpatch.