The Science Fiction Novel - John Wyndham

The house is surprisingly quiet once again and everybody is relaxing on the sofa. Clyde has been to the vet. It seems that he might have torn out a toe nail in his back foot. At any rate he has a little booty type bandage on his foot is sprawled beside Jo. Bonnie keeps inching closer and closer to me, shoving me up against the arm of the couch.

It was nice having visitors; it sure added a touch of excitement to the old homestead. Today was finally sunny and bright... and cool. We went out for a final lunch and then said our good-byes. At this moment they should be in Vancouver awaiting their flight back home to England. Meanwhile, Jo and I are watching the big Jeopardy tournament. Go Ken Jennings!!

We're supposed to get some snow tonight or tomorrow and it's supposed to get very cold next week. Not used to that at all.

But for now, let's get on with my latest look at the Sci-Fi novel.

Day of the Triffids (1963)

Back when my Dad was stationed in Chatham, New Brunswick, 1961 - 67 time frame, he also worked at the Base Cinema. I would go to almost every Saturday matinee, but not to the evening movies very often (too young and all that) unless my sister took me or it was in the summer. But there were many a morning at breakfast that she would regale me with stories of the movies she had seen the previous evening. I remember her watching me eat my porridge as she told me about Marco Polo and the Chinese emperor chopping up some person into little pieces. There were so many neat movie posters that intrigued me; The Satan Bug comes to mind, an Alistair MacLean thriller, the title set me up to read all of his books. It wasn't until I was an adult that I finally saw the movie itself. But one that I remember seeing the poster for and then Christine telling me about was The Day of the Triffids; alien plants that come to Earth as spores and when the comets that fly by entrance everybody and make most of Earth's people blind, hence becoming food for the plants (Triffids). Her description of the movie and the movie poster got me looking up the author at the library. That author became one of my favorite Sci-Fi author of all time, John Wyndham.

John Wyndham

John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was born in Warwickshire England in 1903 and he died in Hampshire England in 1969. He was a Sci-Fi author who wrote his most noted works under the name John Wyndham. He also wrote some earlier works, something I only recently discovered under the names John Beynon and Lucas Parkes. Two of his books, Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos (also The Village of the Damned) were also turned into movie(s).

I quickly became a fan of Wyndham's books. Between 1950 and 1968, he wrote my 7 favorite novels. I've read many of them more than once. I've enjoyed the movies of the two books above and especially a BBC adaptation of Day of the Triffids. Wyndham astounded me. His stories were dry and low key but still portrayed terrifying events; alien invasions, dystopic futures, etc. Below is a list of those books, either the synopsis or a review depending on when I last read it.

a. The Day of the Triffids (1951)











"When Bill Masen wakes up blindfolded in hospital, there is a bitter irony in his situation. Carefully removing his bandages, he realises that he is the only person who can see: everyone else, doctors and patients alike, have been blinded by a meteor shower. Now, with civilization in chaos, the triffids – huge, venomous, large-rooted plants able to 'walk', feeding on human flesh – can have their day.

The Day of the Triffids, published in 1951, expresses many of the political concerns of its time: the Cold War, the fear of biological experimentation and the man-made apocalypse. However, with its terrifyingly believable insights into the genetic modification of plants, the book is more relevant today than ever before." (5 stars)

b. The Kraken Wakes (1953).



"Ships are sinking for no apparent reason, carrying hundreds to a dark underwater grave. Strange fireballs race through the sky above the deepest trenches of the oceans. Something is about to show itself, something terrible and alien, a force capable of causing global catastrophe." (4 stars)

c. The Chrysalids (1955). Probably my favorite Wyndham novel and one I've always wanted to see as a movie. I think it would be fantastic.

"This was probably the third time I've read this book and it once again proved how much I enjoy John Wyndham's Sci-Fi stories. The Chrysalids is set in a dystopic future, presumably years after some disaster; I think a nuclear war but it isn't clearly stated. The story is set in Labrador, a country desperately.
. trying to recover some sort of normalcy. This is a very religious society, with a focus on destroying any type of mutation, animal or vegetable. The story focuses on David, his cousin/ girlfriend, Rosalind and David's young sister, Petra. They are part of a group of young people who are mutants in their own right, but not with visible mutations. They communicate mentally and must try to keep it hidden from their parents and friends. A number of incidents occur that put them in more and more jeopardy. That's the gist of the story, although it is so much more. Much tension and emotion. It is written very simply but at times very poignantly. Reading it once again brought back the same emotions I felt the other times I read it. Excellent, timeless story, with lovely characters; Rosalind being my favourite. I do wish that Wyndham had been able to write a sequel to this. I desperately want to discover what ultimately happens to David and Rosalind's compatriots, Michael and Rachel. (5 stars)

d. The Midwich Cuckoos (1957). This was filmed twice as Village of the Damned, in my opinion, the first being the best. It was filmed in 1960 and starred George Sanders. Remember those freaky kids with the glowing eyes? *shudder*

"Cuckoos lay eggs in other birds' nests. The clutch that was fathered on the quiet little village of Midwich, one night in September, proved to possess a monstrous will of its own. It promised to make the human race look as dated as the dinosaur." (4 stars)




I didn't necessarily enjoy these 3 next books as much, but I think I need to try them again to refresh my memory.

e. The Outward Urge (1959).

"The 'outward urge' was a factor in the Troon inheritance. Successive generations of Troons, looking up at the stars, heard the siren voices that called them out into Space. And, as the frontiers of Space receded, there was usually one Troon, if not more, out there, helping to push them back.
The four exciting episodes related here deal with the parts they played in the building of the Space Station, the occupation of the Moon, the first landing on Mars, and the trouble about Venus.
John Wyndham, author of The Day of the Triffids and The Kraken Wakes, stays strictly on the tram-lines of future possibility in this book, which he has written in collaboration with Lucas Parkes as technical adviser. In an age in which what goes up need not necessarily come down, the likely adventures of the Conquistadors of Space are every bit as exciting as any world menaced by triffids."

f. Trouble with Lichen (1960).


"A satirical and fantastical foray into world of biochemistry and the discovery of the cure for aging. An outstanding, classic science fiction text."

g. Chocky (1968).












"At first they though that Matthew was just going through a phase of talking to himself. And, like many parents, they waited for him to get over it. But it started to get worse, not better.

Matthew's conversations with himself grew more and more intense. It was like listening to one end of a telephone conversation while someone argued, cajoled and reasoned with another person you couldn't hear. Then Matthew started doing things he couldn't do before, like counting in binary-code mathematics. So he told them about Chocky - the person who lived in his head. Whoever or whatever Chocky was, it wasn't childish imagination. It was far too intelligent and frightening for that."

In 2012 I discovered that there were two books of Wyndham's published posthumously. I found one, Plan for Chaos which was published in 2009.

"In a city that could well be New York, a series of identical women are found dead in suspicious circumstances. Magazine photographer Johnny Farthing, who is reporting on the suspected murders, is chilled to discover that his fiancée looks identical to the victims too - and then she disappears. As his investigations spiral beyond his control, he finds himself at the heart of a sinister plot that uses cloning to revive the Nazi vision of a world-powerful master race...

Part detective noir, part dystopic thriller, Plan for Chaos reveals the legendary science fiction novelist grappling with some of his most urgent and personal themes." 

My review - "An enjoyable story. This was written at the same times as Wyndham's Day of the Triffids, but discovered at a later date. I did enjoy it, but not as much as some of his other stories; Triffids, The Chrysalids, The Midwich Cuckoos. It starts off as a mystery, but then moves along into a Sci-Fi adventure. It reminds me at times of the serials they used to have at the cinema and some of the early Sci-Fi movies. Not my favourite, but if you like John Wyndham a lot, you should read, as it is a fine example of his early writing. (3 stars)"

 In 2016, I discovered Wyndham's 2nd book, written under the name John Beynon, The Secret People was published in 1935. 

"The Secret People was one of science fiction author, John Wyndham's first books, written under the pen-name, John Benyon in 1935. Wyndham is one of my favourite science fiction writers. His books, The Day of the Triffids, The Chrysalids and The Kraken Wakes are amongst my favourite books in the genre.

So, it was quite a pleasant surprise when I found The Secret People while I was leafing through one of my used book store's shelves.

Was The Secret People at the same level of Wyndham's classics? Not by a long shot. However, it was still an entertaining adventure, somewhat in the same vein as Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth, and maybe more so, HG Wells' Land that Time Forgot books.

The Secret People is set in Africa, in the Sahara Desert. The French and Italians have begun a project to flood the desert by piping up water from under the desert to make a huge sea. An English adventurer, Mark Sunnet, in his new jet plane, is visiting Africa, just to see new lands and to try out his plane. He meets the lovely Margaret in a stopover in Algiers and takes her for a flight to see this new sea. Unfortunately, an accident lands them, floating, in the middle of the sea.
 
Caught in a whirlpool, the are sucked beneath the surface into a world of tunnels and caves under the desert. It's peopled by a pygmy people who are desperate to remain undiscovered. It turns out that there are many people who have by various accidents been made prisoners below the surface.
Thus begins an adventure to escape from below the desert before a major disaster occurs (I'll leave that part for you find out about). It's an entertaining story, sometimes encumbered with philosophical discussions, but all in all fun to read and a nice intro to the future works of Wyndham.  I hope that I can find his other earlier works. (3 stars)" 

Wyndham wrote 3 other early books -
- The Curse of the Burdens (1927)
- Foul Play Suspected (1935)
- Planet Plane (1936)

One more book was published posthumously -
- Web (1979)

I highly recommend Wyndham's stories. I'd suggest starting with The Kraken Wakes and then trying the other 3 I mentioned first. 

Watching a weird episode of Evil right now... Freaky! 

Have a great Friday and weekend!