Modern Classics Day of the Triffids (Penguin Modern Classics)

By John Wyndham

Book Overview

When Bill Masen wakes up blindfolded in hospital there is a bitter irony in his situation. Carefully removing his bandages, he realizes 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.

John Wyndham was born in 1903. After a wide experience of the English preparatory school he was at Bedales from 1918 to 1921. Careers which he tried included farming, law, commercial art, and advertising, and he first started writing short stories, intended for sale, in 1925. During the war he was in the Civil Service and afterwards in the Army. In 1946 he began writing his major science fiction novels including "The Kraken Wakes", "The Chrysalids" and "The Midwich Cuckoos".

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141185414
• ISBN13: 9780141185415
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Penguin Classic
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.6" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

Day of the Triffids movie mch btr thn book

Just glossed over in book. Mr detailed in movie

Man-Made End of the World Fun

Loved this book! It’s always so fun to read a book about the end of the world that came out before the dawn of the technology age. A quick, easy read that’s interesting from the jump with strong world-building and science fiction. Just as dark as anything that may come out today while also grappling with 50s sensibilities. Great book for any sci-fi fan.

Compelling

My first introduction to The Day of the Triffids was watching the BBC series as a child. I was terrified. Many years later I opened the book and discovered John Wyndham. Having read all his books I rate this one right at the top.Like his other titles, the reader is immediately immersed in the "what if" world that Wyndham creates. The protagonist, Bill Mason is one of the few people in the world not sent blind by a meteor shower. To compound his situation earth is taken over by Triffids; walking, man eating plants, biological abominations created by you guessed it, humans. Our hero must flee the death and depravity of London and attempt to start a new life not only for himself but for humankind. A battle for survival of the fittest is dramatically played out with the winner changing constantly. Some themes that I found interesting included the struggle for man to again dominate over nature and the effect of a cataclysmic event on human inter-relations.This book is classic Science Fiction but I also like think of it as Horror without gore.