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To the Ends of the Earth
 
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To the Ends of the Earth (Paperback)

by William Golding (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Customers buy this book with The Spire by William Golding

To the Ends of the Earth + The Spire
Price For Both: £11.75

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  • This item: To the Ends of the Earth by William Golding

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
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Product details

  • Paperback: 756 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber; New edition edition (5 Aug 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571223214
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571223213
  • Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 5.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 83,853 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #11 in  Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Golding, William
    #44 in  Books > Fiction > Anthologies > Historical
    #94 in  Books > Fiction > Short Stories > Historical

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Product Description

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"


Product Description

In Rites of Passage Edmund Talbot begins a journal to amuse his god-father, full of wit and disdain he chronicles the mounting tensions on the ancient warship, and their deadly resolution. In Close Quarters the ship is stuck in the doldrums, the passengers half-mad with fear and drink; as a ball is held, the ship begins to come apart at the seams. In Fire Down Below, the last stretch of the voyage takes place in even greater dangers. Patched up, battered by wind, storm and ice the ship is blown off course - and then a fire begins to smoulder below decks.
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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

To the Ends of the Earth
77% buy the item featured on this page:
To the Ends of the Earth 4.3 out of 5 stars (3)
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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The "Good Read", 17 Dec 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: To the Ends of the Earth: A Sea Trilogy. Comprising 'Rites of Passage'; 'Fire Down Below'; 'Close Quarters' (Hardcover)
William Golding himself wrote an introduction for this new combined edition of his trilogy. In it he basically justified the revisions he made etc. He realised in editing the book again that he had failed to name the ship upon which the majority of the trilogy takes place. He left this uncorrected, but his hope was that the ship's name would be surmised as being nothing more than "The Good Read."

He is not disappointed in his hope, as I found his trilogy absolutely absorbing and engaging. Honestly I place it as some of the most enjoyable prose I've ever read. I'm actually considering doing a research project on him for my degree, is the extent to which this book has impressed me.

It's just refreshing hearing Golding write through such a thoroughly happy and upbeat narrator. It infuses the book with a cheerfulness despite Golding's perrenial themes of social class and human nature.

Certainly this trilogy must be seen as central in Golding's work, not just for its sheer size, but also since it most clearly manifests Golding's frequent allusions to existence as a sea journey. In this case we see these existences being played out literally on a journey to the ends of the earth, from England to the Antipodes.

The journey presented is undeniably fraught, and for a work of serious fiction, remarkably exciting at a vary basic level. Alongside it's obvious literary credentials, it stands on its own as simply and enjoyable book.

What's the essence of this journey that's presented? In my opinion, nothing more or less than the journey through a "Good Read."

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read Indeed!, 15 Aug 2009
By Kevin James (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: To the Ends of the Earth: A Sea Trilogy. Comprising 'Rites of Passage'; 'Fire Down Below'; 'Close Quarters' (Hardcover)
"Rites of Passage", the first of this trilogy, is a stunning stand-alone book. That this compelling story unfolds via an unreliable narrator's enthusiastic and erratic journal is the author's masterstroke, an extended literary feat brilliantly executed.

Edmund Talbot is priviledged by class and education, and yet utterly hidebound socially. His arrogant sense of superiority leads him to flout ship's rules immediately and to get in the way at every stage of the voyage. It is a deft balancing act to let us laugh at his clumsiness, hypocrisy and snobbishness, yet still retain some sympathetic feeling for him. Golding manages this. Edmund is young, after all. He will learn!

There is wonderful humour in Rites of Passage, (the seduction of Zenobia being a standout scene), and there is great pathos too, most obviously in the plight of poor Reverend Colley. This book is an English classic, no question.

Golding's admits in his excelllent introduction that the sequels ("Close Quarters" and "Fire Down Below") were not planned from the outset, but that he felt there was more to discover about Edmund and his co-travellers, so allowed his imagination to extend the full length of the voyage. How marvellous for us that he did so!

Read on their own, books 2 and 3 would possess less of the beautiful structural arch of the first (a fact cunningly acknowledged by our unreliable narrator midway through Close Quarters!) However, read right through, they gather momentum, transforming into a terrific, page-turning sea adventure. Gradually the pretense of an interrupted journal narrative gives way to a more suitable novelistic treatment. By the end, Edmund has emerged as quite the hero (though still somewhat accident-prone!) More importantly, he has gained some much-needed self-awareness along the way.

Through all three books, fascinating explanations of nautical terminology and ship structure are smoothly interwoven with the human trials and tribulations. In fact, by the final installment, the ship itself has almost become the central character.

Very well-researched, and very well written indeed. I couldn't recommend this trilogy more highly.



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8 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars lengthy nautical tome, 22 Jan 2001
By brixtonite "brixtonite" (Brixton, London,England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: To the Ends of the Earth: A Sea Trilogy. Comprising 'Rites of Passage'; 'Fire Down Below'; 'Close Quarters' (Hardcover)
Having ploughed through this large trilogy I would comment 1) lots and lots of detail about sailing ships, napoleonic sea warfare, the british navy in the early C19 and so on. Different names for front & back of ship, what different sails are called etc. Fine if you are interested, very dull if like me you have no interest in sailing matters. 2) Golding continues his exploration of confined societies, which mutate to form their own rules, how hardship affects people, how an early society, which has no words for difficult concepts like male rape, copes with the limitations of language and class. 3) As usual with Golding there is something missing - he seems completely out of touch with the feminine side of his own character, his characters often seem more like insects under a microscope rather than living beings.
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