The Day of the Triffids

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

John, Wyndham

Thrillers & Suspense

Michael Joseph Limited

A powerful post-apocalyptic allegory of persecution and intolerance, the Penguin Modern Classics edition of John Wyndham's science fiction masterpiece The Day of the Triffids contains an introduction by M. John Harrison. Nuclear war has devastated the world, bringing with it a host of genetic mutations. In the bleak, primitive society that has emerged from its ruins, any sign of deviation, no matter how small, is ruthlessly rooted out and destroyed. David lives in fear of discovery, for he is part of a secret group of children who are able to communicate with each other by transferring thought-shapes into each other's minds. As they grow older, they feel increasingly isolated. Then one of them marries a 'norm', with terrifying consequences. John Wyndham (1903-1969) the son of a barrister, tried a number of careers including farming, law, commercial art and advertising before writing short stories, intended for sale, in 1925. After serving in the Civil Service and the Army during the Second World War, he decided to try writing a modified form of Science Fiction, which he called 'logical fantasy'. Among his most famous books are The Day of the Triffids (1951), The Kraken Wakes (1953), The Chrysalids (1955), The Midwich Cuckoos (1957, filmed twice as Village of the Damned), Trouble with Lichen (1960), and Chocky (1968). If you enjoyed The Chrysalids, you might like Arthur Miller's The Crucible, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. 'One of those few authors whose compulsive readability is a compliment to the intelligence' Spectator

The Chrysalids (Unicorn)

Nelson Thornes Ltd

In 1951 John Wyndham published his novel The Day of the Triffids to moderate acclaim. Fifty-two years later, this horrifying story is a science fiction classic, touted by The Times (London) as having “all the reality of a vividly realized nightmare.”\nBill Masen, bandages over his wounded eyes, misses the most spectacular meteorite shower England has ever seen. Removing his bandages the next morning, he finds masses of sightless people wandering the city. He soon meets Josella, another lucky person who has retained her sight, and together they leave the city, aware that the safe, familiar world they knew a mere twenty-four hours before is gone forever.\nBut to survive in this post-apocalyptic world, one must survive the Triffids, strange plants that years before began appearing all over the world. The Triffids can grow to over seven feet tall, pull their roots from the ground to walk, and kill a man with one quick lash of their poisonous stingers. With society in shambles, they are now poised to prey on humankind. Wyndham chillingly anticipates bio-warfare and mass destruction, fifty years before their realization, in this prescient account of Cold War paranoia.

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

Hutchinson

The Chrysalids

The triffids are a monstrous species of stinging plant; they walk, they talk, they dominate the world. The narrator of this novel wakes up in hospital to find that, by missing the end of the world, he has survived to witness a new world. But the new world that awaits him is fantastic and horrific.

Literary

Penguin??Books

Chocky (Puffin Plus)

Web (Simply Stories: Level 3)

Reference

Foreign Language Study & Reference

Penguin Books, Ltd.

This is a series of simplified stories, designed as an introduction to literature. The series offers classics, best-sellers, film-titles and original stories. Each book has extensive exercises, a detailed introduction and information about the syllabus. They are published at six levels: level 1 - beginner (300 words); level 2 - elementary (500 words); level 3 - pre-intermediate (1050 words); level 4 - intermediate ( 1650 words); level 5 - upper intermediate (2300 words); level 6 - advanced (3000 words). The series is designed to be suitable for students of English as a foreign language, for students of English as a second language and for reluctant readers.

Web (Penguin Longman Penguin Readers)

Education & Teaching

Schools & Teaching

Penguin

David Strorm's father doesn't approve of Angus Morton's unusually large horses, calling them blasphemies against nature. Little does he realize that his own son, his niece Rosalind and their friends, have their own secret aberration which would label them as mutants. But as David and Rosalind grow older it becomes more difficult to conceal their differences from the village elders. Soon they face a choice: wait for eventual discovery or flee to the terrifying and mutable Badlands. "The Chrysalids" is a post-nuclear story of genetic mutation in a devastated world, which tells of the lengths the intolerant will go to keep themselves pure.

Chrysalids

Science & Math

Penguin Books, Limited (UK)

When a freak cosmic event renders most of the Earth's population blind, Bill Masen is one of the lucky few to retain his sight. The London he walks is crammed with groups of men and women needing help, some ready to prey on those who can still see. But another menace stalks blind and sighted alike. With nobody to stop their spread the Triffids, mobile plants with lethal stingers and carnivorous appetites, seem set to take control. "The Day of the Triffids" is perhaps the most famous catastrophe novel of the twentieth century and its startling imagery of desolate streets and lurching, lethal plant life retains its power to haunt today.

Day of the Triffids

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by John, Wyndham. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by John, Wyndham