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A review by jenniefallis
Darkness Visible by William Golding
3.0
A dense read from the very first page, "Darkness Visible" is overburdened with biblical themes, dark plots, despicable characters, and disturbing ideas. The opening scene of the London bombings during WWII once again revisits the concept of 'Hell on Earth' as seen in many of William Golding's earlier works.
In many ways Matty is to be seen as an angel of the Lord and a demon from Hell as the intricacies of plot show moments of omnipotent clarity and a mind-numbing madness. The story is so thoroughly laced with allusion that almost every scene is both overly detailed while remaining uncomfortably vague. The motives of the characters and the events of the story are upsetting, yet as the characters' plans become more grotesque, the reader develops a stronger sense of empathy in their sickness similar to that of Shakespeare's Macbeth.
"Darkness Visible" studies the human condition from a place unnaturally close to that of madness as reader is forced to watch sickness in its true form and be helpless to stop it.
Although the story is not an enjoyable read, "Darkness Visible" unblinkingly and uncensored examines good and evil, right and wrong, truth and fiction.
In many ways Matty is to be seen as an angel of the Lord and a demon from Hell as the intricacies of plot show moments of omnipotent clarity and a mind-numbing madness. The story is so thoroughly laced with allusion that almost every scene is both overly detailed while remaining uncomfortably vague. The motives of the characters and the events of the story are upsetting, yet as the characters' plans become more grotesque, the reader develops a stronger sense of empathy in their sickness similar to that of Shakespeare's Macbeth.
"Darkness Visible" studies the human condition from a place unnaturally close to that of madness as reader is forced to watch sickness in its true form and be helpless to stop it.
Although the story is not an enjoyable read, "Darkness Visible" unblinkingly and uncensored examines good and evil, right and wrong, truth and fiction.