Most Famous Wyndham example essay topic

A very interesting book this, and in my opinion, the best of Wyndham's novels. The first sci-fi novel I ever read was Day of the Triffids, which is probably the most famous Wyndham, and the most popular. It sold very well in the 1950's and found its way into the national consciousness and even onto the school curriculum, which is where I encountered it over a decade later. For some reason, people seemed able to relate to the idea of a bunch of intelligent, ambulatory giant plants taking over the world - surely he wasn't alluding to the Russians? As much as I enjoyed Triffids, it was The Chrysalis I read next of my own accord, and this was the book which was to become one of the 'milestone' novels in my life - one of those you know that you " ll read many times and always have a copy of on your bookshelf. It thoroughly caught my imagination and had me right in there with the protagonists when the action begins to heat up.

Now the plot. Although it's never explicitly referred to, it's clear that the events take place in a post nuclear holocaust world which has taken some time to recover. The legacy of the blast still remains in the form of 'no-go' areas of land, referred to as 'the badlands', and malformations in the progeny of everything from plants to humans. The other major factor is that the bible, in the form of the old testament, has survived Armageddon to strongly dominate the lives of a largely evangelical community which is their response to their own need to survive and control their world once again. Unfortunately, anything which comes into life with any kind of physical defect is either burned (plants), slaughtered (animals) or banished to the badlands (humans) as abhorrence's in the eyes of God.

The unfortunate humans in this position tend to get a bit rebellious as they know that there is a tendency for people who set foot in the badlands to die sooner rather than later. Wyndham's clever ploy is to introduce a group of humans who are physically normal, but have been bestowed with the power of telepathy and who gradually form a group who have the same disruptive potential in the eyes of their society as a group of anti-capitalist demonstrators seems to have on ours. By now you should have the idea that it's quite a complex book and one which has the potential for some very heady human conflict and emotion - and you'd be right! I think it's the most fluent of Wyndham's stories and certainly the most comprehensive in terms of the world he creates. It must be one of the earliest attempts at tackling the consequences of nuclear war and I think Wyndham successfully demonstrates that the literally open minds of the telepathy are the way forward from the bigotry of their society that remains even after the devastation.

A lot of people have called Wyndham a pessimist, but there's a lot of hope offered in this book. I can't understand why no-one's ever attempted a film version, it would be a cracker. Maybe one day I'll get round to a screenplay.