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John Wyndham

36 replies

TheHound86 · 18/02/2021 19:48

I just finished The Chrysalids by John Wyndham and loved it. He seems to have written quite a lot of books. Which should I try next?
I was looking at The Midwich Cuckoos and possibly The Day of the Triffids.

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Branleuse · 10/03/2021 17:58

The chrysalids is one of my favourite books.
Triffids was good too but not as good

LApprentiSorcier · 10/03/2021 17:57

one in fact where a man wakes up in the future to a world where there are only women, no men

That's 'Consider Her Ways' and totally agree, it's brilliant.

LApprentiSorcier · 10/03/2021 17:55

I love John Wyndham and second all the above recommendations. Can I just put in a word for his short stories. 'Consider her ways' and others is a particularly good collection - it includes 'Random Quest' which was made into a film and an updated TV series.

Sugarandteaandmum · 10/03/2021 17:49

I love John Wyndham. All his books basically stocked my brain with post apocalypse imagery - roads overgrown with trees, that sort of thing. Triffids great, Chrysalis, Lichen. Was Consider Her Ways a sort of Handmaid's Tale thing about women being used for breeding??

And the Nicholas Fisk book about the tiny sparkly things that built themselves and had consciousness- thanks for reminding me of that one @SnowyBranches!

Needhelp101 · 09/03/2021 14:18

The Kraken Wakes is almost eerily prescient about global warming.

I must re-read them now!

SisyphusDad · 09/03/2021 14:18

Another fan of 'The Trouble with Lichen'. And damn, I've missed the first episode Sad.

starfishmummy · 09/03/2021 13:53

So now you have made me want to re-read them and I have spotted a couple I didnt read previously!!

Original poster
TheHound86 · 09/03/2021 13:32

I think I’m going to try The Trouble with Lichen. That sounds pretty good. Thanks for all the replies.

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RoyalCorgi · 09/03/2021 09:21

I read (and re-read) almost all of them as a teenager in the 70s and loved them. Favourites were The Day of the Triffids and The Trouble with Lichen. I also remember the short stories being brilliant - there was one in fact where a man wakes up in the future to a world where there are only women, no men. I know a PP said there was a lot of sexism, and there probably was, but I remember really enjoying that story, and in fact he had quite a few strong women characters in the novels.

bruffin · 07/03/2021 23:37

Chrysalids is one of my favorite books, read it so many times in my teens
There is also a short stories which is about a time traveller in a policeboxShock

Like previous poster I would also recommend John Christopher

SnowyBranches · 07/03/2021 23:31

I loved John Wyndham as a teenager, and read them all, but the only ones I owned were The Chrysalids and The Trouble with Lichen, so those are the two I know best. My favourite was always The Chrysalids, which I think has a very different tone from the rest of his books, followed by Day of the Triffids and then The Kraken Wakes.
I found Nicholas Fisk (Grinny, Trillions) had a similar vibe but he was more of a children/ young adult author, and also On The Beach had a similar feel to me.
I read the short stories but the only one I can really remember is Pawleys Peepholes, about a plague of future time travellers coming back to the present day to gawp at people. It was pretty funny.

Vulgarlady · 07/03/2021 23:22

I actually don’t think they should be modernised. I think they should remake “chocky and the Midwich cuckoos set in the 50s. Styled a bit like those recent Miss Marples. The dialogue in his books is very Received Pronunciation. I think modern day CGI would work really well with a period setting

MsAmerica · 07/03/2021 22:12

@TheBitchOfTheVicar

Trouble with lichen
Yes! I never knew anyone else who even heard of it.
Needhelp101 · 03/03/2021 05:37

Love John Wyndham!

I would love to see a decent adaptation of Day of the Triffids. I'm sure it could be modernised, what with genetic engineering and so forth. Might even write the script myself.

PomBearWithoutHerOFRS · 03/03/2021 04:40

Read them all, and when you finish, try John Christopher. He wrote later than JW but in a similar style of "cosy catastrophe" . (Just ignore "The Pendulum Swings"! God only knows what he was doing when he churned it out! It's totally out of his style and a complete bag of shite!)
There's also a sequel to "Day of the Triffids" by Simon somebody or other that is good too.

DuesToTheDirt · 24/02/2021 20:58

I'm re-reading Wyndham just now and am on the Chrysalids at the moment. I have to say though, the sexism is totally shocking. I don't really remember that from reading them before. E.g. on a space trip full of astronauts, the only woman present is someone's wife. He imagined all kinds of things, but not equality between the sexes. (The women do often prevail over the men, as in the above story, but the starting premise is that they are the underdogs.)

BobBobBobbing · 24/02/2021 20:51

All of them! My favourite author apart from Pratchett. avoid Web if you don't like spiders though

AliceBlueGown · 24/02/2021 20:45

My Dad recommended me John Wyndham years ago - love them.

Vulgarlady · 24/02/2021 20:41

The trouble with lichen is being serialised on BBC sounds right now

HumphreyCobblers · 24/02/2021 20:19

The chrysalids is the best but I like all of them.

Just finished re-reading The Midwich Cuckoos.

JanFebAnyMonth · 24/02/2021 20:16

Love Wyndham. Haven't read any since teens but there was abrill radio 4 version of Midwich on a few years ago, don't know if still available. My tweens got quite into it.

Koolandorthegang · 24/02/2021 20:11

He also wrote a book of short stories called Consider Her Ways and Others that is great. There’s one story in it that still gives me nightmares years later

ShakeaHettyFeather · 24/02/2021 20:04

Seeds of Time and other collections of his short stories are good. If somewhat dark and grim.

NovemberR · 24/02/2021 20:03

They are all brilliant.

I re-read Day of the Triffids in March last year when we went into lockdown. It felt a suitable read at the time!

BunnyRuddington · 24/02/2021 20:01

Thank you!