Review
Ingenious, horrifying (Guardian )
Review
Ingenious, horrifying Guardian
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although "The Kraken Wakes" never got the same acclaim as Wyndham's (justly) famous "The Day of the Triffids", it isn't just a pale `Triffids' rip-off either. Yes, the book's ending is a bit of a damp squib and, yes, the narrator's wife Phyllis might strike modern readers as a patronising stereotype, but then again ... "The Kraken Wakes" may be just about the best alien invasion story since H. G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds". Wyndham is one of the few British S.F. writers who could match Wells for invention and logical construction. He doesn't go in for histrionics - the introduction of the sub-aquatic aliens is very low-key and the screw oftension tightens slowly but inexorably as the book progresses. "The Kraken Wakes" cleverly combines a Wellsian war between very different species with a Ballard-style environmental disaster. Gradually, control of the high seas passes to the invaders. Strange objects rise out of the waves and kidnap human samples. Finally, the polar ice melts, the oceans rise and the world suffers catastrophic floods. We never get to see Wyndham's "Xenobath" aliens up-close - they remain tantalisingly ill-defined and all the more alarming as they gradually encroach on the deep seas and luckless ships. In amongst the sometimes lame characterisation, there are passages of real nail-biting tension and some very funny swipes at Cold War rivalries. Okay, so maybe the "Triffids" it ain't, but "The Kraken Wakes" is still one of Wyndham's best stories and a very rewarding book in its own right.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
John Wyndham thought about rising sea levels long before the rest of us. This sci-fi work remains a small masterpiece. It explores the key issues when society breaks down in the face of unimagined and uncontrolled disasters. The characters of hero and heroine reflect the British writing style of the era, with stiff upper-lipped hero and perceptive heroine who manage their emotions discreetly and without public breast-beating or overt navel-gazing. A great yarn with aliens from outer-space, vast rises in ocean levels, ocean-going traffic no longer possible, and near total failure of civilization to cope! Very well worth reading in light of the rising sea levels that are happening now.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Superb sci-fi novel in the same strain as Welles's War of the Worlds, Abe's Inter Ice Age 4 and Wyndham's own Day of the Triffids.
The Kraken Wakes is more political and, with its journalist main characters (they can hardly be called protagonists - the protagonists are the 'bathies', the things that live in the Deeps) and its constant updates on what all the papers and radio stations are saying, is a satire on the media, and the media's reaction to crises - and also how a single event can can be interpretted and, more importantly, presented in countless, differing lights.
In the continual public rejection of what Bocker, the genius scientist who always correctly predicts what the bathies are going to do next and says it like it is, it's a particular satire on our tendency to ignore and deny crises. In 'Phase 3' (the book is divided into three 'phases') this bears a striking parallel with modern day climate change, as ice caps melt and sea levels rise, threatening to drown the world.
In its drowned world section The Kraken Wakes blows Ballard's Drowned World out of the water.
There's something at the end which smacks slightly of selling out, but even this is nearly acceptable, though it does go against the book's presiding current of doom and inevitable loss.
I wonder why this book never became as famous as the Triffids or why it has never been adapted for film or television. Its world-spanning description of the slow, spectacular and terifying extermination of the human race by an unknown alien force is fantastic dramatic fare.
The Kraken Wakes is more political and, with its journalist main characters (they can hardly be called protagonists - the protagonists are the 'bathies', the things that live in the Deeps) and its constant updates on what all the papers and radio stations are saying, is a satire on the media, and the media's reaction to crises - and also how a single event can can be interpretted and, more importantly, presented in countless, differing lights.
In the continual public rejection of what Bocker, the genius scientist who always correctly predicts what the bathies are going to do next and says it like it is, it's a particular satire on our tendency to ignore and deny crises. In 'Phase 3' (the book is divided into three 'phases') this bears a striking parallel with modern day climate change, as ice caps melt and sea levels rise, threatening to drown the world.
In its drowned world section The Kraken Wakes blows Ballard's Drowned World out of the water.
There's something at the end which smacks slightly of selling out, but even this is nearly acceptable, though it does go against the book's presiding current of doom and inevitable loss.
I wonder why this book never became as famous as the Triffids or why it has never been adapted for film or television. Its world-spanning description of the slow, spectacular and terifying extermination of the human race by an unknown alien force is fantastic dramatic fare.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Kraken Wakes - a very English end of the world
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris - the name tends to say it all
Wyndham occupies a very special place in my reading history, and as I hadn't read this book for many a... Read more
Wyndham occupies a very special place in my reading history, and as I hadn't read this book for many a... Read more
Published 29 days ago by Mr. M. Booth
Kraken Wakes
In po-faced defiance of its title, The Kraken Wakes contains no tentacular sea monsters of Scandinavian mythological origin whatsoever. Read more
Published 8 months ago by TomCat
Brilliant
I picked this book up after revisiting some of the books I was made to read at school. So much better when you're not forced to read them. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jk Turner
Wyndham's Kraken
Not a bad read, with some of Wyndham's typical concerns e.g. environmental disaster and just a hint of alien presence, although we are never sure about the origins of the beasts. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Docdaved
Not Quite the Kraken Read it Should Be
What novels lack in visuals they can make up for in imagination; there are no budget restrictions when writing prose. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Sam
Classic Science Fiction
This is a classic end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it novel that offers hope at the end. It's an unusual story, because you never actually see the aliens who are making our world their... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Ms. Elise Hey
Great book awful cover.
Great book but what is the appalling cover art about? In fact this whole series of Wyndham from Penguin has this artwork by Cronin. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Sea Monster
Not his best but still worth reading
As in the Day of the Triffids, the tension builds gradually and the reader shares the characters' frustration and helplessness in the face of an unknown menace. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Ben
More relevant today than its ever been
Skip over the middle class '50s sensibilities of holiday cottages and dinner parties with important chaps in the military and this book is more relevant today than it has ever... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Alan Head
Passable
This is an okay read but nothing groundbreaking. More for the diehard Wyndham fans. What struck me when reading this book was how it very well may have provided the inspiration... Read more
Published on 24 Jan 2010 by MichaelSavageFan
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