John Wyndham - The Midwich Cuckoos (SciFi at its best)

I enjoyed this novel so much and John Wyndham's gripping style of writing is at its best during this wonderful science fiction story. I could not put it down. I have enjoyed many of John Wyndham's fantastic science fiction stories - The Chrysalids, and The Day of the Triffids among others. All great, but this - The Midwich Cuckoos is the best of all, in my humble opinion. 

The feel of the story and its location show the reader how difficult the situation is for the villagers of Midwich. We also see how the outside world is nothing more than an impotent spectator as the unearthly phenomenon evolves and grows with terrifying credibility over the years. The actual writing style is superb and gripping from beginning to end. A smashing SciFi story with a 1950s/1960s Retro British feel. 

Everything about the uncanny tale allows the reader to feel so personally involved (as an impotent onlooker) and marvel at the ways of the villagers as the try to adapt to the sinister fate that has befallen them. One person, in particular, is the patient learner. He politely observes and works out a way around the complex and dreadful situation of the village of Midwich. What an absolute climax at the end. I love science fiction in all forms, but this is my absolute favourite SciFi story of all time.

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham - Dystopian future Sci/Fi

This is a great dystopian story and like all John Wyndham; so well written. This is my third favourite of John Wyndham novels. Its not that it does not make the grade, because it does. Its just that The Midwich Cuckoos and The Chrysalids were so fabulously out there. The Day of the Triffids is too, so my advise is to read all three. You'll not be disappointed in any of these sci/fi gems.

The Day of the Triffids gives us a chilling dystopian world were Triffid plants are being cultivated for their oil and so on. The plants are dangerous because they can move and have a lethal sting. Only specialists can farm them. 

Then a meteor shower cripples the world population. Over night everyone who witnessed the comet display becomes blind by the following morning. Civilisation is at an end and nothing can function. Only a handful of people, who never saw the meteor display, can see. They are so few in number that they cannot do anything for the multi-millions of people who are blind. 

The cultivated triffids brake free from the confines in the agriculture industry, which no longer functions. As said, the plants can move and have a sting. They can also consume dead flesh. The blind population are a feast awaiting triffid attention.

The world is turned upside down and the survivors with sight have their work cut out for them. Only the strong and ruthless can survive. The millions of blind are of little use.

Now you get the picture?

This was my favorite John Wyndham story until The Midwich Cuckoos. The Chrysalids is a story set in a dystopian future around a coastal area of Canada (I think) The people struggle to live in a post apocalyptic world. They have regressed back in time and live like the old Pilgrim Fathers of America. They farm and ride about on horses and are deeply religious. The society is of an extreme christian and fundamental belief. They indoctrinate all that God sent tribulation because the old people were evil and made atomic bombs and machines - things that were abominations.

When babies are born, they are strictly examined to make sure there is no mutation upon the infant's anatomy. If there is, the child is taken to the fringes away from the Good lands. Here the mutant infant, if it survives, is brought up by the Outcast mutants.

Into this fundamental Christian society, a group of infants slip through the net. They are not normal but have no physical defects. Yet they are telepathic. It is something they must keep secret or risk being outcast and sent to the Fringes among the mutants where the girls are wickedly sterilised before being sent away.

It is a moving and very clever story with some great and very tense moments. I can't think why it has never been made into a film.

Great Retro Brit Sci-Fi Post Apocalypse Reads.

During the 1940s to 1970s, I think Britain had a fabulous crop of sci/fi writers. As a youngster, I read many and was enthralled by some of the stories. Especially John Wyndham, who I think wrote three marvellous books. They are The Midwich Cuckoos, The Chrysalids and The Day of the Triffids. Yes, he did write other fine stories as well, but I loved these particular three.

   

I thought the writing was splendid and I was totally gripped by each story. As a youngster, I liked The Chrysalids best. However, over a period of time, The Midwich Cuckoos as gained stronger prominence in my mind.

During my youth at school, we had a great English lit, teacher and she would often have the class reading allowed during the lesson while the rest of the class followed with their own copy of the book. Sometimes she would read for a bit and then she would single out a pupil to read. Gradually working round every pupil during the different English lit: lessons. We did two of John Wyndham's stories during that course. The Day of the Triffids and The Chrysalids. It was an all-boys school and our teacher was female and not very strict, but she was able to get every adolescent boy's attention because of the way she had us reading and understanding these stories. She would pause now and then to explain characters and observations on the way the writer picked up on human themes. I don't think any of us wanted the bell to ring. By the end of the course, every boy lost his inhibition of reading allowed in the class.

                            

From these stories, I went on a mad journey of post-apocalyptic tales. I was captivated by them. John Christopher's The Death of Grass, George Orwell's 1984 and the original Daddy of them all, H.G. Wells, War of the Worlds and The Time Machine. I used to buzz with delight and my mind was working over time. I suppose I was a bit of a Geek for these type of stories.

      

Another author who seemed to do nothing more than write stories of various types of post-apocalyptic Britain was Edmund Cooper. He was probably a little pulpier than the others but he still did a lot of stimulating and far-fetched things that flicked a switch with me. Novels like: Who Needs Men, All Fools Day and Five to twelve. Two of these tales caused a stir with fem groups. Another good tale is The Cloud Walker. They always seemed to be about humankind trying to pick up the pieces after the world is destroyed.

Twelve to five and Who Needs Men caused controversy among feminist groups.