Mid-20th Century British writer generally pigeonholed into the SF genre, although certainly not your space opera type. Best-known novels would include The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos, The Chrysalids. I'm curious to know how many here have read/heard of him. Just last night I picked up one of his novels, and it's a splendid read. I'd read a couple others some years ago. Very fine narrative writer, clean, precise and full of original ideas. If you haven't encountered him and like good SF, I'd recommend him most highly.
John Wyndham
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I was so amazed when I read The Day of the Triffids. I'd seen the campy movie when I was young. The book is DEEP. Brilliant writing.
I did Day of the Triffids at school. Can't admit to reading though, because the BBC were running an adaptation of it on the tv. Still, I learned enough to pass the exams, hehhehhehe.
Incidentally, I found out much later, the Triffids are actually based on a plant called the Giant Hogweed. Should you wish to hear the history of this fearsome vegetable in musical form, find Return of the Giant Hogweed by the mighty Genesis on YouTube.
Regards
Incidentally, I found out much later, the Triffids are actually based on a plant called the Giant Hogweed. Should you wish to hear the history of this fearsome vegetable in musical form, find Return of the Giant Hogweed by the mighty Genesis on YouTube.
Regards
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Late to the thread, sorry, haven't been home much the past couple of weeks.
If you haven't yet tried it, read "The Kraken Wakes." To me, it's by far the best of his books. I've worn out two copies and just bought it as an audio book as well. Second favourite would be "The Chrysalids."
If you haven't yet tried it, read "The Kraken Wakes." To me, it's by far the best of his books. I've worn out two copies and just bought it as an audio book as well. Second favourite would be "The Chrysalids."
It's The Chrysalids I'm reading. About the most searing indictment of religious intolerance I've ever seen, and a prescient vision of what the U.S. is currently facing the rising head of in power-hungry politicians like Sarah Palin and Sharron Angle and Christine O'Donnell and Michele Bachmann and Jim Demint. Really scary.
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Yeah, great stuff! I've read The Midwich Cuckoos and The Chrysalids. I know the plot of Triffids but haven't read it. Might be time for a trip to the library.
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I remember Wyndham most for his short story, Meteor, found in an old Sci-Fi antho in the early '70s, which influenced my tastes somewhat. And also for the classic Sci-Fi/Horror movie Village of the Damned with its creepy blond telepathic kids vs. still-upper-lip George Sanders. And I'm sure I read a few other oddball Sci-Fi shorts or novelettes that aren't usually mentioned, one about time travellers from the future taking a contemporary British couple on adventures where they encounter stuff like giant robots operated by feuding insect colonies, the kind of quirky too-good-to-be-called-pulp story that appeals to me. Clever author.
-Derek
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Chrysalids is one of my all-time fav books. I still remember the first time I read it. I connected so much with those characters! I felt so different. I think I was 7 when I first read it. It was liberating. Re-read quite often...most recently, early this year.
It's about time to buy another copy of Chrysalids for me. My present one is held together with a rubber band. Think I'll get it in audiobook format as well.
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For a bit of trivia, Jefferson Airplane's song Volunteers of America quotes a line from The Chysalids: "In loyalty to their kind, they cannot tolerate our minds; in loyalty to our kind, we cannot tolerate their obstruction."
So now you know.
So now you know.
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I've read Triffids, Chrysalids, The Kraken Wakes and The Midwich Cuckoos.
The Chrysalids made a big impression on me - and I've always thought it would make a good film. Since the protagonists are in their teens, it might well be a YA if it were published now. Wyndham's books are very teen-friendly, even if most of then aren't technically YA.
The Chrysalids made a big impression on me - and I've always thought it would make a good film. Since the protagonists are in their teens, it might well be a YA if it were published now. Wyndham's books are very teen-friendly, even if most of then aren't technically YA.
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Love them all, big, big Wyndham fan!! I've read:
The Kraken Wakes
The Midwich Cuckoos
Day of the Triffids
Chocky
The Chrysalids
Now I want to dig them out of the back of the bookshelf again. It's three books deep so far, on every shelf! Oh dear, bit of digging to do.
The Kraken Wakes
The Midwich Cuckoos
Day of the Triffids
Chocky
The Chrysalids
Now I want to dig them out of the back of the bookshelf again. It's three books deep so far, on every shelf! Oh dear, bit of digging to do.