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Synopsis
In the cabin of an ancient, stinking warship bound for Australia, a man writes a journal to entertain his godfather back in England. With wit and disdain he records mounting tensions on board, as an obsequious clergyman attracts the animosity of the tyrannical captain and surly crew.

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews

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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

Funny, sad and entertaining- dark side of humans, 21 Nov 2002

By	"lexi_wades" - See all my reviews

Golding continues the theme of the inherent barbarity that lurks under mans' facade which he illustrated incredibly well in The Lord of The Flies. ROP is not LOTF equal- there is some confusion with the narrative and the two main characters are not easy to sympathise with. However Golding uses this to ask questons of the reader and creates brutality and humanism in unlikely places.
This is a fab book though not always pleasent. I would recommend it to someone who wants something a bit more deep than the normal paperback but still needs an engaging story that has the capacity to really move.

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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

Stunning exploration of enlightenment, 3 May 2001

By A Customer

This marvellous novel explores the beginnings of the development of the central character from a prissy, snobbish, upper-class boy to a rather more enlightened, broad-minded young man. This at a time when British society was also being forced to go through a process of discovery. The characters involved seem to represent the various strands in British culture at the time. The tragedy of the Rev Colley that emerges only helps to develop our young (anti-)hero and to expose the hypocrisy of the society he inhabits. This book, along with two subsequent volumes, are perhaps one of the greatest contributions ot English literature in the 20th Century and deserve to be seen thus.

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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Interesting and atmospheric, 21 Oct 2004

By A Customer

This is a slow-moving but highly atmospheric book. Like 'the Inheritors' Golding uses a change of perspective towards the end of the story to radically change the atmosphere. The book starts out in the form of a diary by a well-connected young man who is confident to the point of arrogance. He, a passenger on an old warship, narrates events on the journey to entertain his aristocratic uncle. Another poassenger on the ship is an unpopular priest who gets himself into his own personal nightmare. The contempt that the young man holds for the priest is changed when he obtains the man's diary and reads events and observations from the other's perspective.
I enjoyed the book for several reasons: Although it is slow moving it builds up the atmosphere of the ship; the young narrator's arrogance and sharpness come through the writing of his journal; events can only be pieced together through the journals and dual perspectives can be gained in some instances; the decisive event on the voyage is unseen by the narrator, but deduced through various conversations.
This is a slow-moving book, but it is very atmospheric and beautifully written. The use of the second journal acts in the same way as shifting focus from the thinking of the Neanderthals to the Cro-Magnons in 'the Inheritors', but in 'Rites of Passage' the reader is never outside the journals of the narrator and the priest and these serve as the limits of perspective.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

wonderfully evocative and moving
I read this book when it was first published and have since revisited it a couple of times. It is a wonderfully imagined account of a sea voyage to Australia at the time of... Read more

Published 16 months ago by Mr. Ian A. Macfarlane

Technically superb but a little dull
Golding is a master of the English language and it shows here, with a vivid account of life at sea in the 19th Century. Read more

Published on 5 Nov 2003 by del49

A frustrating read
Two diary entries charting the social downward spiral of a reverend on board a ship bound for Australia. Read more

Published on 24 Feb 2003 by Jus

A profound, sad tale
This book starts off as a comedy of manners aboard a ship bound for Australia, but ends as a profound, moving and enlightening tale of tragedy. Highly recommended.

Published on 26 Feb 1999