John Wyndham

Yes yes he’s talking Science Fiction again.

I blogged about John Wyndham 11 years ago!! but here I am again as before going on Holiday recently I had just read the title story of the Collection “Consider Her Ways”.

Wyndham started writing Science Fiction in 1931 and his style matured over the years but his fame really resides in 4 novels he wrote in the 1950’s.

The Days of the Triffids (1951)

The Kraken Wakes (1953)

The Chrysalids (1955)
The Midwich Cuckoos (1957)

I enjoyed all of these and particularly like The Day of the Triffids, it stands up very well to rereading. Wyndham is a particularly English writer, I couldn’t see an American writing them.

In 2016 crime writer Val McDermid did a radio adaption of The Kraken Wakes that was placed in the modern world. I really enjoyed it but have a reservation …. Kraken is an alien invasion story and takes place over an elongated period of time. Isolated incidents occur that either don’t get reported or reported in a low key manner. In these days of social media I don’t think it works as well as it did in 1953 when you can imagine isolated incidents taking places and not being connected or reported right away. It is a book that really needs to be set in the 50’s

In 2007 I suggested Wyndham was a writer who was “out of favour” but his publisher Penguin has him regularly in print and his books are easily available electronically.