The first impression of [Rites of Passage] is its 'immediate accessibility'. Not since Lord of the Flies has a Golding novel enjoyed such happy recognition, indeed it is difficult to resist the thought that part, at least, of the success of Rites of Passage came in the form of re-assurance, that the author of the earlier novel was alive and well, and that the quarter century which separated the two books had not diminished his narrative power. There was a similar recreation of detail and atmosphere, the south sea island replaced by a ship of the line. The smell, the cramped quarters, the clanking pumps, the sand and gravel in the bilge, the constantly tilting decks, the wind in the ropes—the cumulative effect is to make us think not so much of vivid description as an 'on the spot' report. This, Golding makes us feel, is just...