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bookscatsandjazz's review against another edition
5.0
In The Inheritors we follow the disastrous first contact between a tribe of neanderthals and a tribe of homo sapiens. The story is told from the point of view of the neanderthals (focusing especially on a male called Lok), and Golding is quite successful in limiting his descriptions to their rather incomplete understanding of what's taking place.
The overall effect of this viewpoint is both heartbreaking and disorienting and, at several points in the story, I found myself just as confused as Lok. As we powerlessly watch the dawn of this tribe, an undeniable pessimism about the human nature can be seen in Golding's writing - but he manages to inject some hope and nuance in the story through his powerful and touching ending.
As a side note, I was pleasantly surprised (this being a book by a classic white male writer) by how Fa, the main female character, is portrayed. At the beginning of the story we see that the tribe adheres to somewhat strict gender roles. But once Lok and Fa need to survive on their own, it quickly becomes clear that this model isn't particularly well suited to their specific skills, and they are forced to adapt. And BOY would things have ended up better if Lok had fully followed Fa's lead.
The overall effect of this viewpoint is both heartbreaking and disorienting and, at several points in the story, I found myself just as confused as Lok. As we powerlessly watch the dawn of this tribe, an undeniable pessimism about the human nature can be seen in Golding's writing - but he manages to inject some hope and nuance in the story through his powerful and touching ending.
As a side note, I was pleasantly surprised (this being a book by a classic white male writer) by how Fa, the main female character, is portrayed. At the beginning of the story we see that the tribe adheres to somewhat strict gender roles. But once Lok and Fa need to survive on their own, it quickly becomes clear that this model isn't particularly well suited to their specific skills, and they are forced to adapt. And BOY would things have ended up better if Lok had fully followed Fa's lead.
ashleyozery's review against another edition
4.0
The last chapter alone makes it all worth it. This is William Golding's personal favorite of his novels and I can see why. A quick read, but ironically due to the simple language it can be tough to follow at times.
reading_on_the_road's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting and certainly original book, this documents the first encounter of a group of Neanderthals with their successors. It is at times a bit of a confusing read, as it is told from the viewpoint of Lok, who is not the brightest member of the group, which is why I've marked it down slightly.
valhecka's review against another edition
3.0
First assignment of freshman English. One giant WTF rang forth from all of us when we realized that we were actually reading Neanderthal porn.
...No, the book is cool, really.
...No, the book is cool, really.
angrywombat's review against another edition
5.0
This was a real experience.
This is a story of a small tribe of pre-humans (neanderthals?) encountering a band of humans (home-sapiens?).
The basic events are simple - pre-humans coming home to "summer camp-site", get attacked by humans, panic, see humans leaving - but the way it is presented is just spectacular. Nearly the entire book is told from the point of view of the pre-humans, and they do not think at all like we do. They experience the world mainly through their senses, and do not really think, just directly react to the experience. Every now and again they "have pictures in their head" which are more like memories which give hints on how to act.
It was well written and very different from most things i've read. It was strange to not have things described, but to have to work out what was going on through the series of sensory descriptions. It was also a shock to have humans described from the outside - from a creature that totally couldn't understand what the humans were and couldn't understand the human's motivations.
There were two sections in the last chapter that broke this - a scene showing the pre-human reacting to the loss of his tribe from the point of view of a rodent - a pure third person view, and a final scene of the humans paddling upstream and describing their frightened opinion of the encounter.
I vaguely remember [b:Lord of the Flies|7624|Lord of the Flies|William Golding|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327869409s/7624.jpg|2766512] from high school, but that was decades ago, but I do remember enjoying the story and analysing it in class - I could easily spend months digging into the language choices and analysing the characters in this book.
Read this if you get the chance.
This is a story of a small tribe of pre-humans (neanderthals?) encountering a band of humans (home-sapiens?).
The basic events are simple - pre-humans coming home to "summer camp-site", get attacked by humans, panic, see humans leaving - but the way it is presented is just spectacular. Nearly the entire book is told from the point of view of the pre-humans, and they do not think at all like we do. They experience the world mainly through their senses, and do not really think, just directly react to the experience. Every now and again they "have pictures in their head" which are more like memories which give hints on how to act.
It was well written and very different from most things i've read. It was strange to not have things described, but to have to work out what was going on through the series of sensory descriptions. It was also a shock to have humans described from the outside - from a creature that totally couldn't understand what the humans were and couldn't understand the human's motivations.
There were two sections in the last chapter that broke this - a scene showing the pre-human reacting to the loss of his tribe from the point of view of a rodent - a pure third person view, and a final scene of the humans paddling upstream and describing their frightened opinion of the encounter.
I vaguely remember [b:Lord of the Flies|7624|Lord of the Flies|William Golding|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327869409s/7624.jpg|2766512] from high school, but that was decades ago, but I do remember enjoying the story and analysing it in class - I could easily spend months digging into the language choices and analysing the characters in this book.
Read this if you get the chance.
viiemzee's review against another edition
2.0
I was excited to read another William Golding, and had been told about this novel by some university professor or other. I was, sad to say, rather disappointed by it.
(Might as well be honest from the start.)
The book is the story of when primitive man and modern man encountered each other for the first time in prehistory, marking the end of one civilization and the beginning of a new one. It’s quite an interesting concept, especially when you see how well Golding tries to emulate the culture of primitive man, who is essentially the collective main character of the story. The primitive men live a culture of togetherness and unity, which is really emulated well in the story telling, and you can really feel the loss as the characters start to disappear and succumb to modern man one by one. There are some really interesting and good points in the story, but for the most part, it is quite forgettable.
The general story is just rather…lackluster. I don’t remember much of the plot or much of the characters’ names, which is saying something. It’s good, but it’s one of those books that just doesn’t leave a mark at all.
Final rating: 2/5.
(Might as well be honest from the start.)
The book is the story of when primitive man and modern man encountered each other for the first time in prehistory, marking the end of one civilization and the beginning of a new one. It’s quite an interesting concept, especially when you see how well Golding tries to emulate the culture of primitive man, who is essentially the collective main character of the story. The primitive men live a culture of togetherness and unity, which is really emulated well in the story telling, and you can really feel the loss as the characters start to disappear and succumb to modern man one by one. There are some really interesting and good points in the story, but for the most part, it is quite forgettable.
The general story is just rather…lackluster. I don’t remember much of the plot or much of the characters’ names, which is saying something. It’s good, but it’s one of those books that just doesn’t leave a mark at all.
Final rating: 2/5.
chickadeinc's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Gutting & difficult
ccwmca's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
isabella_r_frey's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.5