Books in books

I am always super curious when authors reference other books in their own. It always makes me stop and ponder why they chose those books and what they are trying to say by the reference. In a scene in Lord of the Flies Ralph, the designated leader of the boys, is day dreaming about his life before the island and he pictures his book shelf. He tells us about the kinds of books he sees there and references specifically The Boys Book of Ships, The Boys Book of Trains, and The Mammoth Book for Boys. To me these books symbolized a more civilized and simple time and made a stark contrast between the boy who read those books and the boy that has to make all the life and death decisions on the island. I think it was at this point in the book that I really realized that this is truly a story about little boys trying to survive and growing up too fast in the process.