Golding, Lord of the Flies (1954; 2016)

William Golding.
Lord of the Flies: Casebook Edition: Text, Notes & Criticism.
Edited by James R. Baker and Arthur P. Ziegler, Jr.
New York: Penguin Books (Penguin Random House), 2016.
Lord of the Flies was originally published: London: Faber and Faber, 1954.
This Casebook Edition compilation was first published in 1964.

Book Information : Publisher, Casebook Edition; Publisher, Penguin Deluxe Classics Edition; Publisher, Mass Market Paperback; Google Books; Wikipedia; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com, Mass Market Paperback; Amazon.com, Penguin Deluxe Classics Edition; Amazon.com, Casebook Edition.

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Author Information :

• William Golding (1911–1993), Wikipedia.
• 1983 Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded to William Golding, Wikipedia.
• William Golding, Nobel Prize in Literature 1983, The Nobel Prize.
• William Golding, Nobel Prize lecture, The Nobel Prize, 7 December 1983.
• William Golding, Penguin Random House.
• William Golding, GoodReads.com.

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Wikipedia Articles :

• Lord of the Flies (1954).
• Euripides (c.480 – c.406 BC), The Bacchae (405 BC).
• R. M. Ballantyne (1825 – 1894), The Coral Island (1857).
• Robinsonade, "a literary genre of fiction wherein the protagonist is suddenly separated from civilization".
• British literature: Late modernism: 1946–2000.
• Fable.
• Parable.
• Allegory.

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Notes :

• The Introduction by James R. Baker has a very clear explanation of the archetypal characters, symbolism, and mythological sources of the story. I recommend this Casebook Edition also for the additional 100 pages of interviews and essays that provide further details on the topics raised in Baker's Introduction.

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Smith, White Teeth (2000; 2025)

Zadie Smith.
White Teeth.
New York: Vintage International (Penguin Random House), 2025.
Originally published: London: Hamish Hamilton, 2000.

Book Information : Publisher; Google Books; Wikipedia; GoodReads.com; Amazon.co.uk; Amazon.com.

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Author Information :

• Zadie Smith (b. 1975), Wikipedia.
• Zadie Smith, Penguin Random House.
• Zadie Smith, GoodReads.com.
• Zadie Smith, The New York Review of Books.

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Wikipedia Articles :

• White Teeth (2000).
• British literature: 21st-century literature.

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Orwell, Animal Farm (1945)

George Orwell.
Animal Farm.
New York: Signet Classic, no date.
New York: Everyman's Library (Penguin Random House), 1993.
Originally published: London: Secker & Warburg, 1945.

Book Information : Publisher, Everyman's; Publisher, Everyman's UK; Publisher, USA paperback, 3 variants; Google Books; Wikipedia; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com, Everyman's; Amazon.com, Signet paperback.

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Wikipedia Articles and Other Items :

• George Orwell (1903–1950).
• Animal Farm (1945).
• Melvyn Bragg, Steven Connor, Mary Vincent, Robert Colls, "Animal Farm," In Our Time, BBC Radio 4, 29 September 2016.

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Notes :

• I previously read Animal Farm in November 2012. My blog post from that time is here (some links no longer work).
• My re-read of Animal Farm was prompted by the discussion of the book on the America This Week podcast by Walter Kirn and Matt Taibbi during late October / early November 2025.
  Some episodes:
  • Oct 27
  • Oct 31
  • Nov 3
  • Nov 6
  (This is probably not a complete list of episodes in which the book was discussed. This list also does not include subscriber-only material.)

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Shakespeare Update

A list of my posts on the plays of William Shakespeare, with post dates.

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English History Plays :

• King John, 23 July 2019.
• King Edward III, 22 February 2020.
• Richard II, 22 July 2021.
• Henry IV, Part 1, 27 February 2023.
• Henry IV, Part 2, 26 March 2023.
• Henry V, 15 April 2023.
• Henry VI, Part One, 22 September 2022.
• Henry VI, Part Two, 12 October 2022.
• Henry VI, Part Three, 27 November 2022.
• Richard III, 25 December 2022.
• Henry VIII, ### not read.
• Sir Thomas More, 11 April 2024.

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Comedy and Romance Plays :

• The Two Gentlemen of Verona, 28 August 2021.
• The Comedy of Errors, 08 September 2021.
• The Taming of the Shrew, 14 December 2021.
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, 26 December 2021.
• Love's Labour's Lost, 28 August 2022.
• The Merchant of Venice, 06 September 2022.
• The Merry Wives of Windsor, 14 May 2023.
• Much Ado About Nothing, 11 July 2023.
• As You Like It, 20 September 2023.
• Twelfth Night, 19 February 2024.
• Measure for Measure, 06 June 2024.
• All's Well That Ends Well, ### not read.
• Pericles, Prince of Tyre, ### not read.
• The Winter's Tale, ### not read.
• Cymbeline, ### not read.
• The Tempest, ### not read.
• Double Falsehood, ### not read.
• The Two Noble Kinsmen, ### not read.

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Tragedy Plays :

• Titus Andronicus, 17 January 2022.
• Romeo and Juliet, 15 July 2022.
• Julius Caesar, 15 July 2022.
• Hamlet, 31 December 2023.
• Troilus and Cressida, 15 March 2025.
• Othello, currently reading.
• King Lear, ### not read.
• Timon of Athens, ### not read.
• Macbeth, ### not read.
• Antony and Cleopatra, ### not read.
• Coriolanus, ### not read.

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