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The Midwich Cuckoos (RosettaBooks into Film)
 
 
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The Midwich Cuckoos (RosettaBooks into Film) [Kindle Edition]

John Wyndham (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
Print List Price: £8.99
Kindle Purchase Price: £5.86
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Formats

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Kindle Edition £5.86   -- --
Hardcover --   -- --
Paperback £6.74   -- --
Audio, CD, Audiobook £15.19   -- --
Unknown Binding --   -- --
Audio Download, Unabridged £6.89 or Free with Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial

Product Description

Review

* Clyde gives an excellent performance. Publishing News * Jeremy Clyde's reading cannot be faulted. audiobooksreview.co.uk * Listening to it now in our age of ambitious genetic experimentation, it packs even more of a punch, The Times

Review

Exciting, unsettling and technically brilliant Spectator
See all Product Description

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 588 KB
  • Print Length: 239 pages
  • Publisher: RosettaBooks (1 July 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B003XREM3S
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #35,914 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, But... 7 July 2012
By Monday
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
It's a shame you can't review the writing and the format separately. John Wyndham's writing is impeccable, well deserving of five stars. It's an incredible book that's well worth reading. However I brought the RosettaBooks into Film Kindle edition. The text was so riddled with typo's and grammatical errors it became painful; they completely ruined the book. The formatting was downright rubbish. At least once a page you'd see words that ran into each other. The fact that I'd paid close to a fiver for something so poorly executed just leaves me feeling robbed. It isn't a very long book, it would have taken someone a couple of hours at most to just proofread it and correct the errors, but no. So by all means buy the book, I doubt you'll regret it, but my advice would be to cut the Kindle Edition a very, very wide berth.
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49 of 55 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars What a truely great writer John Wyndham was. 27 Sep 2002
By rp
Format:Paperback
Surely the hardest thing for a Science Fiction writer - or any writer for that matter - to acheive is to make the paranormal sound beleiveable. John Wyndham makes it look so easy that by the time you've finished one of his books you feel ready to pick up a pen and write one yourself.
The Midwich Cuckoos is impeccably written, easy to read, and extremely well thought out. Wyndham provides a broad pallete of characters unrivalled in most Science Fiction, each of whom expresses a different, thoroughly beleivable opinion/reaction to the bizzare coming of the "Midwich Cuckoos". What is important is that Wyndham never loses focus of the central characters, so that the book is, in the end, more about people than aliens/spaceships etc.
The point I'm trying to make here (not very coherently) is that whereas most Science Fiction centers around action and fanciful phenomenon, Wyndham's work never loses touch of humanity. He has a keen ear for the voice of post-war England, and a keen eye towards the behaviour of men and women who are 'up against it.' In this way the Midwich Cuckoos is a very English book and as acute a piece of social observation of 1950's village life as you are likely to find.
If none of this wittering makes any sense then allow me to sumarise: The Midwich Cuckoos is an superbly written, elegantly crafted work of Science Fiction that you really have to read.
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An unsettling, eerie read 13 Aug 2005
By Lilly Penhaligon TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
This was a very eerie, disturbing read. I guess that most people are now familiar with the concept of the story. The novel deals with a whole lot of complicated issues - the division of people, attitudes and morals in a small town is easily reflective in modern society. This novel deals with so many different issues, it can make you mental trying to distinguish them all but here's a few: the mass fear taht can arise when humans are faced with something they don't understand and doesn't readily fit into their morals, attitudes and what they have been taught; the inability to see the opportunities of welcoming and trying to understand those things; it shows how division in attitude, morals, religion and custom can divide a town leading to mass hysteria and violence.
It also complicates all the above issues with this one:

What do you do if your child, a product of your own body, something you care for, look after, guide and love turns out to have ideas, concepts and methods that are almost the exact opposite of what you have tried to instil in them? What if they turn out to be manipulative, destructive, controlling and in the end downright evil? How far would you go to keep your faith in that child, continue to defend it and love it knowing that it was capable of committing hideously evil deeds? How do you deal with a child taht knows you are under its control and that you are terrified of it?

This book was brilliant and should be read - it's fairly short so there's no danger of it becoming too overboard or tedious adn I guarantee taht the children will freak you out!!!

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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Insidious alien invasion of a small English village 28 Aug 2002
By Peter Davidson
Format:Paperback
A very well-written piece of sci-fi. John Wyndham has achieved a beautifully realised feeling of tension and an ominous foreboding as the book progresses, particularly after the mention of the fate of the Children of Gizhinsk towards the end. What I particularly find remarkable about this novel is that Wyndham has the ability to make the reader totally aware of the confused and mixed emotions of Midwich's inhabitants after the "birth" of the Children and I find the book all the more better for it.

A classic piece of sci-fi that deserves a place in the bookshelf of any sci-fi fan.

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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Metaphor For The Cold War 12 July 2002
By E. A. Redfearn TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
This is the novel for which John Wyndham is best remembered. Written at the height of the Cold War between East and West, it is a metaphor for the vast differences in political cultures which existed at that time. The village of Midwich is cut off from the world for 24 hours without any reason. Months later, many of the local women give birth to children who look remarkably alike. Cold and indifferent, the children establish their own culture despite misgivings by the Establishment. It soon becomes apparant that the children have unusual gifts, telepathy; telekinis, and are becoming a danger to the established order. I wont reveal the ending of course. Overall, its a beautifully written book and should be read by a new generation of sc-fi fans.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars An old favourate
A good tale - maybe not one of his best but a very pleasant light read and a timeless sci-fi classic.
Published 16 days ago by Tenaj
5.0 out of 5 stars a great book
When reading a book having seen the film judgement cannot be helped. Both stand alone as good, but this book showed how an author can leave you haunted, and maybe that's why we... Read more
Published 1 month ago by E. Weston
5.0 out of 5 stars A John Wyndham classic
A great book that I have bought to establish my twenty-eight-year-old son into the habit of reading. I am sick of play station games and TV, get stuck into a good book.
Published 2 months ago by Ms. C. C. Ramshaw
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book despite the typos
I love John Wyndham and this is one of his better books, which I enjoyed reading once I worked out that certain typos occurred regularly. Read more
Published 3 months ago by MichaelS
4.0 out of 5 stars An old favourite
Still a good read. A S.F staple full of "what ifs" and the horrors of humanities solutions to survival of the fittest
Published 3 months ago by Judyann
4.0 out of 5 stars Midwich cuckoos
A thought-provoking book if a bit long-winded at times. Definitely worth a read and stands the test of time. I'm glad I read it.
Published 4 months ago by Tricia Howard
5.0 out of 5 stars Love Love Love
I am only half way through this book, but I can already tell that I love it. The way that the story is told, makes you really think about the story. Would definately Recommend!
Published 4 months ago by kindle<3
5.0 out of 5 stars past revisited
I love my Kindle! I read this book about 30+ years ago and would never have bought it in book form, but thanks to the sample I downloaded, I have rediscovered this, and other,... Read more
Published 4 months ago by percy
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and unsettling
Omnipotent, telekinetic children! Wyndham's ability to create menace and despair from the most innocuous situations reached its peak with this book. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Sam Moore
2.0 out of 5 stars Too Many Typos/Too Little Dramatic Tension
This was the first book I have read on Kindle and I was shocked by the number of typographical errors. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Tufnell Paul
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