Nobel prize to William Golding

[Prentiss Riddle]

I assume that all those to whom it matters even as a bit of trivia have
heard by now that William Golding, author of "The Lord of the Flies", is
the 1983 winner of the Nobel prize for literature. I recall reading TLotF
in one sitting when I was in high school and being very impressed by it.
Nevertheless, my initial reaction when I heard of Golding's selection
was "William Golding? Why him?" This was compounded by some talk on the
news about dissent on the Nobel committee as to whether or not Golding
really is a writer of Nobel prize stature. It was also mentioned that
his selection surprised many people because it was assumed that if any
Englishman deserved the prize, it was the older and much more prolific
Graham Greene.

Anyway, to get to the point for which I am posting this to the net: has
anyone out there read anything else by Golding? Is it just idle gossip-
mongering on the part of some of us to wonder whether or not he really
deserved the prize? Do disputes like this happen every year? I haven't
been paying attention to the prizes for long enough to know. I recall
that last year, when Garcia Marquez won the prize, there were a few
people who regretted that Jorge Luis Borges had been passed up again,
but no one suggested that Garcia Marquez didn't deserve the award; they
only felt that Borges might not live long enough to get another chance,
while Garcia Marquez is still relatively young. But what about Golding?

(Of course, I suppose that instead of posting this question to the net I
should really be hoofing it over to the library to check out Golding's
other books and see for myself.)

-- Prentiss Riddle
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rid...@ut-sally.UUCP