The Day of the Triffids (Penguin Modern Classics)

Wyndham, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141185414 ISBN 13: 9780141185415

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2001

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".

Review:

"I had forgotten just how real this 1951 classic seems - and am impressed by how eerily relevant it now appears." (The Observer)

"...read by Alex Jennings, the clear-cut narration lends itself well to Bill's creeping sense of doom." (The Bookseller)

"Jennings carries all the characters with consummate skill." (audiobooksreview.co.uk)

"Remains fresh and disturbing in an entirely unexpected way." (The Guardian)

Book Description:

The post-apocalyptic British sci-fi classic.