John Wyndham

[knivesout]

John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was a prolific sf pulp writer in the 30s, under a variety of pen-names. It was the 50s, however, that he really came into his own, writing a series of memorable, largely post-apocalytpic novels under the name John Wyndham. His best known works, such as The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos, depict unforseen disasters descending over normal, middle-class British settings. Eschewing the cliched space-opera approach, Wyndham grounded his stories in well-depicted, realistic situations - which he then proceeded to turn upside down. The Day of the Triffids, for instance, deals with a meteor shower that blinds everyone who sees it, followed by a mass invasion of carnivorous plants (escaped from a secret experimental project). Wyndham very skilfully depicts the utter breakdown of civilized life that follows from these events. There is a deeply unsettling quality to this, and his other works, showing as it does, how thin a veneer our civilized norms and mores are, even though he manages to pull off a positive ending in most cases.

His works were very accesible to the non-genre reader as well, since they did not partake of any of the genre cliches that may have put them off. They have also provided the basis for several movies, with varied results. The best of the lot is probably the excellent 'Village of the Damned' (1960), which is based on The Midwich Cuckoos, a chilling tale of a group of super-human children in a sleepy British village.

Even if the superficial sumaries I've given a couple of his books here sound corny, the way he actually handles these ideas and explains them is very well handled. More than anything else, his books are though provoking and very smooth reads. He had a straight-forward, lucid style that makes the sense of unease that the story conveys that much more intense.

Definitely a writer worth checking out.

[Genus]

The Day of the Triffids is indeed a great book and has sparked an almost cult following through being translated onto film, but the best one has to be The Kraken Awakes.

[Esioul]

I've only read the Day of the Triffeds (about a hundred times!) and The Chrysalids. Both were really fun reads, and Triffids scared me a bit. I saw the film but wasn't too wild on it.

[knivesout]

Interestingly, Wyndham's multi-barelled name came in handy as the basis for a number of pen-names, including the one he is most famous as. I also have an early work by him that was relased under the name John Benyon Harris, and another book was supposedly co-written with one Lucas Parkes - rather cheeky, that!

[Esioul]

Its occurred to me before that I could use my middle name for my first name and my brother's middle name for my surname, because his middle name is a surname.

[knivesout]

My own full name consists of no less than 5 different names. Maybe I should consider doing a Wyndham, too...

[samsbooks]

I have recently placed my collection of John Wyndham's work on the web. It includes a very comprehensive collection of UK first editions, US & UK paperback first editions, an extensive collection of vintage pulp publications that featured the first appearance of his short stories, film scripts as well as other associated works. The site can be found at the following link:

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ontheborderland/indexjohnwyndhamcollection.html

I hope you like it.

[knivesout]

That is an enviable collection! I see that you have three of his John Benyon novels as well. I recently got hold of a copy of The Secret People, and its somewhere on my TBR stack right now. I'm particularly envious of the inscribed first edition of 'Out Of The Deeps'. Thanks for sharing this.

[Arwynn]

my son's name is longer than his! its Elwynn Noam Sage Cornelius Tucker Ives-Dobbyn.so there!

anyways to be more on topic, i like his work.

[Neil040]

I loved John Wyndham from the first time I discovered Day of the Triffids.. that sparked my lifelong interest in science fiction. I read all of his greats, and some were truly great.. Triffids was the best of the early disaster novels.. Midwich Cuckoos was pure genius.. Kraken Wakes I actually dont remember very well now, so long since last read it, but I do know it was superb too. Also read a few of the very very early ones written under the other names..

I read the authorised sequel, Night of the Triffids recently... lurid cover description of 'blood and horror' which was not really accurate at all... but whilst I read it to the end found it very disappointing overall.. not totally without merit but a pale shadow of Wyndham's original in atmosphere..

[Stalker]

Yes, Windham's The Day of Triffids is already a classics of apocaliptic sci-fi. I read it about ten times - so I was impressed with it!

Much later I read Chrisalides but nothing can be compared with the Day of Triffids.

[Thadlerian]

In Norway, we've got a radio adaption of Day of the Triffids. It's a truly amazing piece of work, with very creepy sound effects, though the voice acting is rather pretentious and "50s-ish". You've got to hear it to understand what I mean.

I later read the book, but it turned out different from the adaption at many stages, and I wasn't a very experienced reader back then (that is; even less than now), so I couldn't quite like it.

[knivesout]

Hey! Was this radio adaptation in Norwegian or English? It would be interesting to see if recordings are available anywhere.

[a|one]

Great novelist, loved Day of the Triffids(wow I feel unique now!) and The Chrysalids. Trying to track down a copy of The Midwich Cuckoos, I think I feel more compelled to see it by the Simpsons adaptation "The Bloodening" than by the later Village of the Damned movies.

[Milena]

Have you tried "Chocky" by JW? Very different type of story about an alien communicating through a child's mind. No spectacular action but ties in a lot of typical JW themes.
I really enjoyed all his books, except perhaps "Trouble with Lichen". Got any Candian writer recomends?