Close Quarters [Paperback]

William Golding (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Farrar,Straus&Giroux, 1987 (1987)
• ISBN-10: 0571151671
• ISBN-13: 978-0571151677
• ASIN: B001KTVHSY
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Born in Cornwall, England, William Golding started writing at the age of seven. Though he studied natural sciences at Oxford to please his parents, he also studied English and published his first book, a collection of poems, before finishing college. He served in the Royal Navy during World War II, participating in the Normandy invasion. Golding's other novels include Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors, The Free Fall, Pincher Martin, The Double Tongue, and Rites of Passage, which won the Booker Prize.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 2nd part of a trilogy, and does not stand alone, November 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Close Quarters (Paperback)

Wonderful prose, beautifully observed character study, as WG slips into the skin of an extremely priggish and snobbish early twenties aristocrat as he comes of age and begins to understand a little more of the virtues of the ordinary people around him. Sea journeys of that era were long, tedious, largely uneventful and extremely uncomfortable. All 3 books in the trilogy carry this perfectly: the maritime atmosphere is conveyed as perfectly as the arrogant character of the narrator. However, the tedium of the journey also comes across in the virtually non-existent plot which makes the books drag on somewhat. It is probably, though, as brilliant description of the English class system at the start of the 19th century as you will read. I believe that the books in Trilogies should be able to stand alone, if they are to be sold separately, & on that basis, this trilogy definitely fails. I'm glad I read it as a single 750 page tome.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting tale at sea, November 26, 2006

By 

kellyreaderofbooks (Iowa, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Close Quarters (Paperback)

This is the second book in Golding's "To the Ends of the Earth" trilogy. I first got hooked on these books after watching the made-for-TV adaptation on PBS (Masterpiece Theatre). I thought it looked like it would be an interesting read, and it has been! Although the sailing details are interesting, for me the best part of the book is reading about the clashes of the levels of society back then. The narrator of the series is Edmund Talbot, who is "high society" with connections. In fact, he's partly jokingly referred to as "Lord Talbot" because of his airs. He is at times pompous, self-centered and not very likeable--which makes this book even more fun to read since everything is from his point of view.

An exciting book, and I highly recommend it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Order confusion, January 9, 2007

By 

Elisabeth B. Butler "bbutler" (San Clemente, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Close Quarters (Paperback)

I returned this book as I found out later it was included in "To the Ends of the Earth".