Customer Reviews
Beautiful, if at times bewildering - By: S.B., 17 Aug 2008 
When Spring comes back, the people return to their cave. Incredibly, things have changed. A log that bridged a marsh has disappeared. Food, that was once plentiful, has become scarce. And then one by one, the people themselves begin to disappear.
The people are Neanderthal, about to have their first contact with Homo Sapiens who will destroy them. The story is told through Lok, who by his own admission, "has few pictures in his head"; Golding imagines the Neanderthals as both verballly very limited & extremely conservative in their mental abilities. Though it is testament to his skill as a writer that this does not render them unsympathetic to a modern reader, it does mean that it can be hard work to figure out exactly what is going on, particularly when we observe the 'new people' through the eyes of the Neanderthals, & see just how incomprehensible drinking from a wineskin, hunting ceremonies or just arguing can become.
This is probably a book that one will either love or hate. As I read it just after the insipid novels of Jean Auel, I loved it. The thrill of discovering a totallly new world (mine of the Neanderthals, as well as theirs of the new people) at the same time as knowing that these beautiful people were doomed, was quite incredibly moving.
Not for those requiring a fast plot & lots of sex, but for anyone who has ever paused to think whilst reading a book, deeply recommended.
lucy port - By: lucy port, 16 Aug 2008 
Not much to say about this,very very dull. I gave up alll hope with reading it to the end.Maybe its just me! I have read some of his other books & i thought they were dull to! There was one i did quite like Lord of the flies.
GREAT BOOK - By: Mr. Benjamin M. Wright, 07 Apr 2007 I was looking for this book yesterday in a major bookstore that will remain nameless (ryhmes with daughterstones lol)but couldn't find it, disgusting!! Anyway I read this book in school & wanted to read it again (although fiction books are not my thing reallly)The narrative is somewhat confusing at first as it is from the POV of a species of hominid that sees the world very differently from modern humans. however it is a very very entertaining read that will leave a lasting impression with you.
Just to correct a previous reviewers comments...Lok is not "less-evolved" nothing is "less evolved" only differently evolved. Evoltion has no direction & no culmination point. Primative man was not "on the way to becoming human" they were merely a differnt species of hominid of which a very smalll number (one at first) slighty changed into what we now calll Homo Sapiens. Do not get confused, evolution is not a linear thing & it does not "work towards" humans, every other species in the world is just as evolved as us & we are alll just a twig on an ever growing evolutionary tree. Just wanted to set anyone straight. But anyway great book...loved it.
Another excellent Golding novel - By: Philip Murray, 16 Aug 2006 
This is my third Golding novel as I make my way through his complete works. The Inheritors was Golding's first novel & apparently his personal favourite. In a narrative form similar to The Spire (which is not only my favourite Golding book but my favourite book ever), The Inheritors tells the story of the arrival of human beings as we know them today over the shoulder of the semi-evolved Lok, an excellently constructed & loveable character.
Golding's overly-metaphoric, ambiguous writing lends itself perfectly to telling the story from the, dare I say 'intellectuallly inferior' Lok's point of view resulting in charmingly blunt description. If you're a fan of Golding's style of writing (which is as strong here as any novel I've read by the man) I do recommend it. A startlingly appropriate story which is so relevant today & a thoroughly interesting read.
Not as good as The Spire, but in my opinion much better than the overrated Lord of the Flies. Fantastic!
