The Inheritors

The Inheritors

1955 • 240 pages

Ratings5

Average rating3.4

15

This might sound silly, but this small book of simple language confounded me. The story is told, not just by a Neanderthal, but by the dumbest Neanderthal in the book. His struggle to comprehend the changing world around him and to pin down the advanced technology of modern humans with concepts he could understand made parts of this story completely baffling. He sees boats as logs and paddles as leaves and representations of things as the real things they represent. It's a testament to Golding's brilliance that he could stage a whole book this way. This is definitely something I'm going to have to read a second time and maybe then I can give it a better rating.

January 1, 2007Report this review