The Day of the Triffids (Paperback)

What it is about is hard to pin down. About how thin the veneer of civilisation is; about the dangers of global weaponry; about how different people would react to an apocalypse; about how society itself is best organised, or why societies are organised the way they are. What is certain is that, at various points in reading this book, you are forced to ask yourself questions to which there are no correct answers. And that is the mark of truly classic fiction.

What's more, this is a terrific story, impeccably told. A true pageturner that had me desperate to know what happened next, and yet wishing it never to end. And enough twists and turns to pack it full of incident. I'm now off to read Wyndham's other works, but I recommend you buy this now.

The hero and narrator Bill awakes in hospital following an accident. He finds that just about the entire population of London has gone blind following a comet and it seems that he is the only one who can still see. He emerges into the silent, ruined, confused & helpless world and begins his journey to survive. Now that no one can see there is no longer any order and blind people very quickly die or descend into anarchy. Meanwhile the Triffids, a new genetically modified stinging plant, become a very real and dangerous threat now that human superiority is gone.

The first couple of chapters of this novel have never been bettered in painting an electric atmosphere. The reader gets a very real sense of the isolation and danger in the new world. It's no surprise that "Wyndhamesque" is an adjective often used to describe gripping and eerie atmospheres in books and film. Reading the opening you are left biting your nails watching the action unfold as if you were actually there.

As well as a great story there is a great deal of thought behind this book. There is much discussion about what the new society of survivors need to survive, and some augments about religion, class and morals along the way. The novel suggests that one of humans greatest threats to survival in the long run are all the old outdated attitudes and prejudices. Meanwhile the earth has been destroyed by careless use of warfare showing that, despite all the Triffids, peoples greatest enemy are actually ourselves. The violent gangs of blind humans and the violent world with no order come across as far more evil and terrifying than the actual Triffids do.

The heroine in the novel, Josella is an excellent female figure. In most other sci fi from this period the female lead is little more than a puppet to scream and cower at the scary things so that the male hero can rescue her over and over again. However Josella is strong, sensible & liberated and manages to avoid all these old insulting attitudes. She spends most of the book on her own doing just fine, and when we meet with her again she has grown independent and resourceful. This book is always refreshingly progressive and hasn't dated at all.

There are some minor faults with this book: Bill and Josella fall in love just a little too easily, and the comet that blinds everyone is never quite fully explained, although some theories are put forward that it might be some kind of satellite weapon that's malfunctioned. Perhaps the mystery is designed to add to the suspense? The Triffids aren't actually the main focus of the book, they're just a very dangerous nuisance that can often be fatal. They are none that less terrifying for that. But we have seen that the real enemy is actually the collapse of society and what happens once our laws, morals and production of food are gone.

Overall this is a wonderful book with some interesting ideas to consider if you read between the lines. Day of the Triffids is an edge of your seat book that will keep you engrossed until the very end. It's been one of my favourites since I first read it years ago aged 12. The highly readable text and fabulous atmosphere make this book a classic. It's just a shame that The Day of the Triffids is normally remembered as just a really bad monster movie instead of the excellent book it is.

1) There are satellite weapons hanging in the sky - out of sight and out of mind, but threatening the world with germ-warfare, nuclear attack and other ghastly inventions of amoral science;

2) A plant has been bred or genetically modified by the dastardly enemies of democracy, to provide a very useful type of oil that is going to make fish oil and a range of other profitable oils obsolete, thereby threatening certain Western economic interests. The plant has some other more alarming qualities and therefore has to be 'imprisoned' and fastened to the ground;

3) An abortive attempt at industrial espionage spreads the interesting and profitable new plant over the whole planet;

4) Both accidents-in-waiting happen in quick succession: one or more of the satellites is (probably) struck by a comet, or something of the sort and explodes with a spectacular and devastating pyrotechnic display and possibly some virulent disease is also rained down - and then, when human-kind is incapacitated by the after effects of the previous evening's illuminations, the GM crops escape confinement and attack;

5) Civilisation turns out to be a thin veneer and desperate people adopt desperate measures in order to survive.

These nightmarish events are just the beginning. The tale is related by that hospital patient who started his record of events puzzling about where the medical staff had got to and why he hadn't had his breakfast or had his bandages removed. He's a biologist whose job in cultivating the new oil-rich plants had landed him in the hospital, where he was recovering from a blinding sting when the comets hit the satellites. When he emerges from the hospital, he finds a terrifyingly changed world. He tells how quickly order unravelled and how the few survivors devised strategies to stay alive.

John Wydham must have put a lot of thought into how people would behave under these conditions. He clearly gave careful consideration to the sorts of behaviour that would make the difference between continued survival and slow or sudden death, the psychological and physical demands of adjusting to a catastrophically changed environment, how people would have to change their way of thinking about ethical and moral issues. He highlights some of the best and the worst of human nature. It's an excellent book and I highly recommend it.