Free Fall

By William Golding

Book Overview

I could take whichever I would of these paths.

A Penguin Classic

Sammy Mountjoy rises from poverty to become an acclaimed visual artist. He is then swept into World War II and somehow, somewhere, he loses his freedom--as a prisoner of war, through torture, undergoing captivity in total darkness. As he retraces his life, the narrative moves between England and a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany. He begins to realize what man can be and what he has gradually made of himself through his own choices. But have those accumulated choices also deprived him of his free will?

After Lord of the Flies, William Golding wrote novels that further explored the complexities of human nature, not only social tendencies but the psychological underpinnings of human consciousness. This edition provides a Suggestions for Further Exploration section that identifies key themes throughout Golding's novels--including Free Fall, first published in 1959--and connections to classic and contemporary fiction, nonfiction, film, and television.

Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143138804
• ISBN13: 9780143138808
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

The Visionary, Inspiration, Art, Pain, Defiining Existence

The aesthetic of Free Fall is akin to painting and that is a stroke of brilliance. The lack of judgment is what prevents the madness and uncleanliness of the book from being ugly. The imperfections are treated with such care and self-love that they become beautiful. I believe that Golding was extremely good at accessing his past as a vital source of inspiration, and he here re-enters various cognitive states. As with any human, the illusion wears and a weightier sensibility takes over. Yet it is obvious that this character, like Golding, has what would now be termed a mental illness. The seriousness of such conditions shouldn't be taken lightly, and even Golding's shouldn't be seen in a glamorous light, by which I mean paying mind only to this novel as, e.g., his, most autobiographical. Darkness Visible reveals the very depths of horror, and yes Golding new such delusions and madness. He was very brave to deal with those experiences in writing. A demon is not scary for what it will do to you, but for what it means about you; thus the horror. It's implicit in Golding's writing as it is in Dostoyevsy's. However, I believe this book is extraordinary in its redemptive power. Here Golding shows something that I know very well. Suffering and madness are not a source of creativity (As the wives' tale goes), yet, when spiritual, they are often caused by true visionary experience. It is also true that some people seek the visionary and get it-get it and a heavy dose. Let's just say if it gets too intense, you can't handle or interpret it--not until the dust settles anyhow. You might get 'blinded' in the middle. Yet, on the other side, when the suffering, confusion and the overwhelming pain of light passes, the reward is the knowledge of the initiate, esoterica, and finally, the song of the muses. If the visionary experience were to die, the pain would with it, but then, the doorway to the invisible would close, too.

One of the MUST READ books

Unquestionably one of the most beautiful books even written. There is nothing else to add.

Free Fall

This book doesn't need to be introduced, as well as its writer, Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, Booker Prize literature winner, one of my favorite writters. I bought this book for my son along with "Inheritors" and hope he will love them as much as I do.

. . . turning freedom outside-in . . .

Here is a mind-boggler of literary art. Golding takes you in--in through the portals of the main character's mind. And then the true adventure begins. This is an exploration on the theme of freedom lost, which goes into an existential search, taking you through a labyrinth of broodings and memories deep, deep within the psyche, and in the end you (together with the protagonist) will experience something stirring and substantial. It is the turning of freedom outside-in, and in and in and in, and then out again. Just read one chapter. That's all it will take to enter uncharted territory.

beautiful

This is one of the most beautifully-written books I've read. There are only maybe two or three moments where every word is not perfect. It's like reading poetry, only it lasts for the entire length of a novel. Furthermore, everything that Mountjoy describes, tangents though they may seem, fits perfectly into our understanding of his character. And, to top it all off, the last sentence is one of the least predictable I've ever seen.