While some of the pieces may not have travelled that well through time, William Golding’s collection of short non-fiction – “The Hot Gates” – remains a delight.
The breadth on Golding’s menu is extraordinary: Ancient Greece, the English Channel, Stratford-upon-Avon, a kind of critique of “War and Peace” – as well as his own “Lord of the Flies”… And there’s humour too: in a sea voyage, or on a lecture tour in California. The short on flying across America coast-to-coast is super.
I suspect “The Hot Gates” may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re looking for something you can dip in and out of – and from a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature too – then it’s a great option.
Ian Gouge - Writer 