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 book is David, a young, apparently normal boy who finds out quite early on that he is not quite normal… but to all outward appearances he 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 they would think nothing of banishing him to the "Fringes", and area where mutation is more likely and thus is considered Godless. But what hope is there even if he and his friends could escape? Is there really anything past the "Badlands", where the ground has been so damaged by the "Tribulation" that happened to the "Old People" that nothing can live? What do his dreams of a city mean, which he began to have even before he knew what a city was?
Unlike many modern science fiction writers, Wyndham's style exhibits a directness and lack of jargon that makes his work among the most accessible of all sci-fi to those new to the genre. He also focuses very much on the results of the situation on the people in the stories, rather than focusing on what actually happened / is happening. His characters are fairly well developed, though there were rather too many throw-away characters for my liking that could have been interestingly developed if they had continued part of the story. At times his characters do tend to be a little preachy (as in "Day of the Triffids", though in this case it's completely in character when it happens. Another similarity to his most famous book is that the language at times ascends to a poetic level, which adds to the novel despite contrasting to the rather pragmatic style that characterises most of the book. My biggest criticism of the book would have to be the occasional long-winded speeches given by some characters, and the fact that the ending didn't really seem quite satisfying, but it's still a very good read.
As with all good sci-fi, there is plenty to make you think here. Wyndham's novel seems to be attacking both religious fanaticism and what people would be like if they truly believed in the "survival of the fittest" evolutionary theory. The world he presents here is both believable and chillingly possible, while everyone has their own, very different interpretation of why things have happened, and each believes their own version absolutely. Perhaps most tellingly, the view of one of the characters seems to bear just as much relevance to our own times as in the future of the novel. This is how they viewed humanity of our day:
"They learnt to co-operate constructively in small units; but only destructively in large units. They aspired greedily, and then refused to face the responsibilities they had created. They created vast problems, and then buried their heads in the sand of idle faith. There was, you see, no real communication, no understanding between them."
All in all, The Chrysalids is a very well-written, interesting science fiction novel that all fans of the genre will enjoy. To me it didn't quite have the brilliance of "Day of the Triffids", but it came pretty close. Recommended to anyone who likes intelligent sci-fi, and perhaps to open-minded non-fans of skiffy too.
You should be able to find this in any bookshop with a sizeable Science Fiction section, sadly Wyndham isn't as well known as his talents deserve so his works are sometimes harder to find than other recognised names in the sci-fi world. Amazon.co.uk have it listed at £6.35 new, with it being listed on the Marketplace from £1.60 upwards.
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A great review of one of my favourite sci-fi books. Alboy
jankperegrine 08.09.2005 05:27
Well, he's on my list to read now. Terrific taste you have! jan
torr 06.09.2005 16:10
Funny thing about Wyndham. He was very much the big name in British SF in the 50s and 60s and almost anyone here would have heard of him, but he definitely seems to have disappeared off the public radar in recent years. A timely reminder of one of his better books. Duncan
Aug 31st, 2005
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