The Paper Men [Paperback]

William Golding (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: Faber and Faber (February 4, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571134475
• ISBN-13: 978-0571134472
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 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

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ON THE DOLE, August 31, 2002

By 

DAVID BRYSON (Glossop Derbyshire England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Paper Men (Paperback)

This book whiled away a couple of days of a very rainy holiday in France. Normally I admire Golding more than I like him, but I greatly enjoyed this book although it's one of his lesser efforts. The hard-drinking, egotistical, talented and successful narrator (a novelist -- I have no idea whether there is any element of Golding himself in the character) is someone I found oddly sympathetic from a safe distance. Other characters in the book had every justification for taking another view of him -- other characters except one, that is, the one being his unspeakable would-be Sancho Panza Rick L. Tucker. Really Golding, like H. G. Wells, had just about every gift a novelist can have, even when he was only exercising it at half-power.

The other thing this book did for me was to introduce me to what has become one of my very favourite wines. If that aspect interests you, but not to the extent of actually reading the book, exercise your arrowy mind on the title I have given this little review.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "The storyteller's power of observation...", December 27, 2008

By 

Akethan (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Paper Men (Paperback)

Picked this one up at a used-book store after finishing LORD OF THE FLIES. Certainly a different voice and a very different direction - but still - a deep look at the nature of men - and how quickly roles and relationships devolve without rules. Watching Barclay's moves as he first attempts to flee and then turns and engages his tormenter & would-be biographer was great fun: "We were about as warm-hearted as scorpions." Watching his tormenter realize his complete loss of control over the situation and the final stroke of fun as the story just snaps to a stop - priceless.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An awful book. And I loved it., May 7, 2000

By 

"cardinalcell" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Paper Man (Audio Cassette)

I picked up this book (audio version) on a whim. I don't know much about W. Golding except that I had read Lord of the Flies 20 years ago in school. Each of the main characters in this book is so very detestable that you simply wish for terrible things to happen to all of them. Fortunately, Golding does not disappoint in this respect. If you a writer who hates writers you'll probably love this book.

One other comment...it may have one of the best last lines of a book ever.