To the Ends of the Earth: A Sea Trilogy [Paperback]

William Golding (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2006

To the Ends of the Earth, William Golding's great sea trilogy, presents the extraordinary story of a warship's troubled journey to Australia in the early 1800s. Told through the pages of Edmund Talbolt's journall--with equal measure of wit and disdain--it records the mounting tensions and growing misfortunes aboard the ancient ship. An instant maritime classic, and one of Golding's finest achievements, the trilogy was adapted into a major three-part Mastpiece Theatre drama in 2006.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'[Rites of Passage] is the work of a master at the full stretch of his age and wisdom.' The Times; 'Laden to the waterline with a rich cargo of practicalities and poetry, pain and hilarity, drama and exaltation.' Sunday Times" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

William Golding was born in 1911. The author of, amongst others, Lord of the Flies, The Spire and Pincher Martin, he died in 1993. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 784 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition edition (October 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374530912
• ISBN-13: 978-0374530914
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,679 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great seafaring saga, September 27, 2007

By 

Lesley West (St James, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: To the Ends of the Earth: A Sea Trilogy (Paperback)

This is a fabulous, detailed and completely engrossing tale of the sea - the ships, her men and the challenges they faced as they battled weather, currents, illness and all that time and chance threw at them.

This is written in a fairly old fashioned style, which requires some attention to the writing (this is not a quick and easy summer read), but for those who loved Hormblower and the other great sagas of the sea, this is a fabulous addition to your library.

When you read this you can taste the sea spray and feel the rocking of the boat. You will become quite engrossed with the characters and their adventures, and by the end will feel that it was indeed a satisfactory use of your time, and well worth the purchase price.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic, January 11, 2007

By 

Kay Wells (Çloverdale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: To the Ends of the Earth: A Sea Trilogy (Paperback)

I was completely caught up in this saga of a sorry ship and its haughty, pretty much unlikable main character.
It's unusual to somehow care about a person who for most of the story is an unsympathetic snob, yet one who makes the reader root for his redemption. Would it ever happen? The book is long, but fascinating.
I guess it helped to have seen the TV version (a totally accurate rendition of the book) as I had visual images of all the characters.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lord of the Flies - On the Open Sea, April 13, 2008

By 

L. Rillera "Book Diva" (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: To the Ends of the Earth: A Sea Trilogy (Paperback)

The psychological and social class undercurrents of life aboard a "Ship of the Line" at the end of the golden age of British domination of the seas is the core of this facinating trilogy. William Golding is the Nobel winning author who is best known for his first book, Lord of the Flies. His literary plunge into the depths of the age of sail during the Napoleonic wars has the same claustophobic tension of this earlier work. Told primarily in the first person, it is a voyage of self discovery of a member of the 'lower' aristocracy as he makes the long trip from England to Australia. During his voyage he is forced to question long held social, political, and personal values. Golding's ability to chart the change of his main character's pompous and self righteous view of the world to a more open and sensitive one is the internal beauty of this trilogy. I highly recommend it.