John Wyndham is best known for “The Day of the Triffids”. Although “The Midwich Cuckoos” (filmed as “The Village of the Damned”) and “The Chrysalids” under review here, also attracted considerable interest.
Wyndham is an interesting, very British, ... Read review
Advantages: Entertaining, occasionally thought-provoking Disadvantages: Two-dimensional characterisation, tapers off
...known for “The Day of the Triffids”. Although “The Midwich Cuckoos” (filmed as “The Village of the Damned”) and “The Chrysalids” under review here, also attracted considerable interest.
Wyndham is an interesting, very British, science fiction writer. He does not deal in fantasy worlds with hosts of unfamiliar creatures battling each other for control of galaxies. Wyndham’s novels ... ...rogue element introduced which creates the dramatic conditions for his novels.
In the case of “The Chrysalids” Wyndham is concerned with a post nuclear holocaust scenario – the novel was written in 1955 when the Cold War threat was a very real one – where the effects of radiation have devastated much of civilisation and created a fragmented series of civilisations with little contact with each other.
... more
John Wyndham is best known for “The Day of the Triffids”. Although “The Midwich Cuckoos” (filmed as “The Village of the Damned”) and “The Chrysalids” under review here, also attracted considerable interest.
Wyndham is an interesting, very British, science fiction writer. He does not deal in fantasy worlds with hosts of unfamiliar creatures battling each other for control of galaxies. Wyndham’s novels may not be parochial but they are very much earthbound, with a rogue element introduced which creates the dramatic conditions for his novels.
In the case of “The Chrysalids” Wyndham is concerned with a post nuclear holocaust scenario – the novel was written in 1955 when the Cold War threat was a very real one – where the effects of radiation have devastated much of civilisation and created a fragmented series of civilisations with little contact with each other.
Starting off as what appears to be a textbook children’s book, a lonely boy looking for new playmates who chances upon a little girl with six toes – the story soon takes off with the background of fear of mutants and a drive for a purity of race in imitation of the “Old People”. A bible-bashing but technologically primitive culture has developed in what is revealed as Labrador. Fearing mutations, any deviations from the norm, from the accepted “image of God” are ruthlessly extirpated. Whilst these deviations are largely physical the protagonists of the novel are children who are able to communicate telepathically with each other even at considerable distances and soon realise they must keep this secret or face being treated as mutants themselves.
With the treatment of suspected deviations being pitiless – even fields of abnormal crops are burnt – the children have no option but to act as a cabal to protect each other but in growing up they find that the problems of interacting with “norms” gets more complicated and endangers their very survival.
Wyndham seems to be suggesting, as indeed many other science-fiction writers have done over the years, that it is the mind which offers the greatest possibilities of bettering humanity. He is also, amusingly for a writer, questioning the accuracy of expression of oral and written language. A society which could think together could act together with greater unity and effectiveness. At the same time he is condemning the tyranny of orthodoxy and warning against mankind’s folly in creating weapons over which they lose control.
A satisfactory rather than brilliant novel – my personal Wyndham favourite is “The Kraken Wakes” – which I believe most general readers and science-fiction lovers will enjoy.
I read this is a new quirkily-covered paperback edition (bought at Waterstone’s) published by Penguin, priced at £7.99.
Advantages: Thoughtful, intelligent sci-fi... Disadvantages: ... some occasionally long-winded speeches
The Chsysalids by John Wyndham is a post-apolaclyptic vision of a world where people are obsessed with conformity to the norm, or in their words, "the image of God". Anyone who does not conform to this image becomes an outcast, and the women who are categorised as Deviants are sterilised before being sent off. The "image of God" has 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 eyes, 1 nose, 5 digits at the end of eat hand and foot… etc. You get the idea. The narrator of this ... ...is, so is safe from the religious-minded people around him, chief of whom is his father. Not so lucky is a girl he meets who has a physical deviation, and this causes him to wonder whether it really is the will of God being done by the zealots here… As David realises the danger his special talents wrought from his differences could cause, and becomes aware of others with the same talents, he is drawn instinctively away from his family. He knows that ...
CaptainDisaster 31.08.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Chrysalids - John Wyndham
Advantages: Well written, good characters Disadvantages: no sequel
This is my favourite of the books written by John Wyndham. I first read it when I was about 11 and it was my very first adult sci-fi book. I believe that it is the book that started my passion for sci-fi, and that in itself is very high praise. I remember my friend, who had told me about this book, and I sitting on her bed while we tried to think “thought shapes” to each other. I was very disappointed when it didn’t work.
The book is set in a future ... ...caused a large wasteland, called the Badlands, which is uninhabitable. Around the Badlands is an area called the Fringes, this area suffers badly from mutations and many of the people who live here have bizarre, even nightmarish deformations.
Over time the Fringes give way to frontier country, which is settled upon and cultivated. Such a community was founded by the grandfather of out narrator, David Storm. David lives in the “orderly, law abiding, ...
SleepyDormouse 07.01.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Chrysalids - John Wyndham
Advantages: Great story telling, not over padded, likeable characters... Disadvantages: Could have gone further at the end?
...not know, Mr Wyndham is the British author of several Sci-Fi classics such as The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos (filmed as Village of the Damned), Chocky and the book I am about to discuss… The Chrysalids. He is now dead, but his memory lives on and will do so for many a year. Our hero of the Chrysalids is David. David lives in a world set in the future where everyone has gone back to basics following the ‘Tribulation.’ In this God-fearing ... ...Because this is out of the norm, he and his telepathic friends have to keep this secret, lest they be cast out for this ‘defect’ and abomination before God. After his sister Petra is born it becomes apparent that she, too, is like David – however her powers are much stronger. The area in which they live is habitable, but there are many areas around known as the Fringes. In these Badlands many deviants and mutants live. When David and his friends ...
Borg 04.06.2003 (06.05.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Chrysalids - John Wyndham
"The Chrysalids" was the third novel that John Wyndham wrote under that name; he had previously written numerous, relatively uninteresting science fiction potboilers until shortly after the war he decided to use the forms of sf to produce more thoughtful and intelligent social novels.
"The Chrysalids" is probably best read when you are an adolescent, as it deals with a number of young people who are persecuted in their post-apocalyptic society for ... ...in order to survive (it is easy to see this novel being popular with young gay readers). It probably owes its success to this theme - many young readers of science fiction probably feel as if they don't fit into society (I did) so a book that claims that these differences aren't just natural but may even be superior can only help. However Wyndham also provides a well-written, highly readable and absorbing novel, and I would recommend it to anyone, ...
NeilHudson 01.10.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Chrysalids - John Wyndham
Advantages: Thought provoking, engrossing and focussed Disadvantages: The ending is probably less powerful in the modern day
...without people throwing things around the classroom while I was trying to read. I was not disappointed. It was only as an adult with more knowledge of the world that I could fully appreciate the background and atmosphere in the book. The story is basically a child's view of a strange, restrictive world with punishing laws determining the difference between 'Norms' and 'Mutants'. The main character - David - grows up through the course of the book ... ...David has the power of telepathy and struggles to simultaneously hide and accept his gift when the messages he gets from his law-abiding, landowner father and submissive mother are that any kind of difference is punisable by death. He shares his gift with his sister Petra, cousin Rosalind and seven other children. We are shown how each deals with his or her secret skill and the consequences of their actions. Although we see glimpses of the truth ...
meldee 16.02.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Chrysalids - John Wyndham
Product Information for "The Chrysalids - John Wyndham" »
Product details
Genre
Science Fiction
Type
Fiction
Title
The Chrysalids
Author
John Wyndham
Manufacturer
0141181478
ISBN
0140013083; 071810062X; 0786700416
Manufacturer's product description
In the community of Waknut it is believed mutants are the products of the Devil and must be stamped out. When David befriends a girl with a slight abnormality, he begins to understand the nature of fear and oppression. When he develops his own deviation, he must learn to conceal his secret. From the PublisherConnection Series`Connections will leave a legacy for youth theatre groups everywhere. The collections should be enthusiastically received in the classroom.' Times Educational SupplementConnections is a new series of challenging and entertaining playscripts for 11-19s, commissioned by the Royal National Theatre and written by professional playwrights. Each books contains reference details for online educational resources for teachers and youth group leaders, as well as Royal National Theatre website information where details of past productions and interviews with authors can be accessed.If we hope to have discerning practitioners and audiences tomorrow we must ensure that work of quality is available to young people now. Connections provides that quality. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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