From 'slush pile' to classic

William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies' is a chilling triumph, says Martin Chilton. As Jack Thorne's new TV adaptation arrives, it's a reminder of how civilisation can break down

- Martin Chilton.

We can all be thankful that a young editor from Northern Ireland saved William Golding’s masterpiece, Lord of the Flies, from potential obscurity when he rescued the unknown author’s debut novel from a publisher’s “slush pile”. Charles Monteith took the time to read through Golding’s yellowing, stained manuscript – which bore the original title “Strangers from Within” – even though it had already been turned down by 21 publishers and dismissed by a previous Faber editor with the words, “absurd and uninteresting fantasy. Rubbish and dull. Pointless. Reject.”

Monteith asked Golding, then a 42-year-old English and philosophy teacher, to drop the first chapter, about an evacuation from nuclear war, and open with the moment where two schoolboys (Piggy and Ralph) meet on a desert island, after a plane crash has stranded a group of boys aged six to 13. Incidentally, Faber also ignored Golding’s other title suggestions, “A Cry of Children” or “Nightmare Island”, in favour of director Alan Pringle’s choice of Lord of the Flies, a key symbol in the book and the name by which Beelzebub is referenced in the Bible.

Lord of the Flies, which was published in September 1954, went on to sell more than 25 million copies worldwide. The title itself has become a cultural catchphrase, shorthand for the breakdown of civilisation and situations, from government rule to reality television squabbles, where factions descend into feral behaviour and lawlessness. Over the years, the novel has spawned numerous film adaptations and become required reading in schools and universities across the globe. And tonight, a new four-part BBC series created by Adolescence screenwriter Jack Thorne marks the first time the book has ever been brought to the small screen.