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The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham


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Just seen these questions! ooops!

 

9) The Day of the Triffids was first published in 1951, and a lot has changed in the world since then. How do you feel the book has dated? Does it show its age, or is it a timeless classic?

I don't think the book has 'dated' as such, it skill reads well and I would say its a timeless classic.

 

10) Bill and Josella hit things off pretty quickly; the day after they first meet they are contemplating having children together, is this convincing? (do you think it would have taken longer, or do you feel a real-life Josella would have ditched Bill when they met up with a larger group?).

I think its the human survival instinct kicking in, however I do feel that they are well suited and also strong enough to stand the test of time.

 

11) Is this the first post-apocalyptic you have read? If yes, would you read another?

Yep, my first one! And definitaly now a type of book that I would read again!

 

12) Is this the first John Wyndham novel you have read? If yes, would you read another?

Yep first John Wyndham book too, and id defintly read another!

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7) Which group do you think were right, and would you have joined them?

 

I didn’t feel that any group had it completely right. The Isle of Wight group were the closest for me by thinking logically while taking into account human nature, but additionally the saw the enemy as the Triffids rather than any future potential other group. I think I would have wanted to remain at the house in the country, a small group that get on and work together.

 

8) Are women portrayed well in Triffids? What do you think are their strengths and weaknesses?

 

The women are all pretty weak and feeble, seen to have little contribution to make to discussions, decisions and planning. I like to believe that this reflects the era in which the novel was written rather than the heartfelt viewpoint of Mr Wyndham.

 

Josella was perceived to be a rather racy writer, although she comes across not so much as a sexy feminist as she does a woman who had indulged an aspect of herself through her writing and had since moved on. She seeks security in the novel, through her attachment to Bill and her desire to make her friend’s home her destination.

 

Susan was well written, although a tad to sparsely for me. She is practical and calm and determined from the start. She doesn’t want to leave her brother until she knows he is definitely dead, but once this happens she looks toward the next step. Her observations on the Triffids are treated dismissively by Bill until he sees for himself that what she has noted about their behaviour is true. She just gets on with life without philosophising about it or bemoaning her fate.

 

9) The Day of the Triffids was first published in 1951, and a lot has changed in the world since then. How do you feel the book has dated? Does it show its age, or is it a timeless classic?

 

The portrayal of women is dated, but beyond that I think the book could be set at any time in the last 60 years. If you wrote in a few mobile ‘phones and the internet it could be set in the present. How people might behave is captured well in the book, although to a degree more people now would not necessarily agree with blindness being an end to usefulness. Changing attitudes have positively taught us that the blind are differently abled rather than disabled. Despite the horror felt at the outset, this would have been replaced with a concerted effort to get the blind organised and trained. As discussed here, Wyndham neatly sidestepped any long term problems with the massed blind by sending a plague in to slice through the entire population.

 

10) Bill and Josella hit things off pretty quickly; the day after they first meet they are contemplating having children together, is this convincing? (do you think it would have taken longer, or do you feel a real-life Josella would have ditched Bill when they met up with a larger group?).

 

I agree that this reflects the post war attitude, but also I think it indicates that here are two fairly like-minded people whom circumstance has thrown together. They get on well enough, a fact that is established straight away, so from their perspective it is prudent to stay close to each other both for survival’s sake and companionship’s sake. This situation didn’t jar as much as it might have had this been a story about a normal boy meets girl scenario. Desperate times lead to haste in decisions.

 

11) Is this the first post-apocalyptic you have read? If yes, would you read another?

 

I have read a number of different post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels, and enjoy the genre. The Day of the Triffids is a worthy addition to my P-A reading.

 

12) Is this the first John Wyndham novel you have read? If yes, would you read another?

 

I have read The Midwich Cuckoos, and plan on reading more John Wyndham.

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1) Who was your favourite character?

 

~ Coker was my favourite character, I liked how he went in action, trying to organise everyone. His actions at times were questionable but in his mind, he believed it was for the greater good.

 

2) The book has several distinct phases; the collapse of society in London; the search for Josella and life at Shirning, which was your favourite section and why?

 

~ I enjoyed the collapse of society in London, I liked how it was described so well, a major city effectively plunged into darkness in all sense of the world with people losing their sight and people facing the unknown of what will happen next, I liked the anticipation.

 

 

3) The novel is often billed as being a horror story. Did you find the Triffids scary and if so when did you feel they were most effective?

 

~ I did not find the Triffids as plants scary but I was not about to plant one in my back yard but the fact that they could blind you scared me, They were more effective I thought in the scenes in the city, no one knew where they were but they could watch you from everywhere, that was scary.

 

4) John Wyndham is big on ideas, but not always as good with his story telling. Do you think this was a case of concept over story?

 

I thought 'The Day of the Triffids' was well written, the concept was solid, humans fighting against Triffids, which they domesticated and used for their own ends, the last thing they expected was the Triffids to fight back on such a large scale.

 

:reading:

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Well, that's pretty much it for this month.

 

I haven't had a chance to answer the last few questions myself yet, or to reply to the comments made by others, but I will do so in the next few days.

 

For those who have read The Day of the Triffids and enjoyed it, I can recommend the following books:

 

Other John Wyndham novels:

 

The Kraken Wakes

The Midwich Cuckoos

 

Other novels in a similar vein:

 

The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells - The classic alien invasion novel

The Death of Grass, by John Christopher - Very similar to Triffids, in a lot of ways, but far, far darker.

 

My thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply to the questions!

Edited by Raven
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7) Which group do you think were right, and would you have joined them?

 

I would probably have chosen the Isle of Wight group, particularly since the island setting would be easier to defend from other groups, and to keep clear of triffids (I have forgotten how they reproduce and am assuming that seeds would blow over to the island!)

 

8) Are women portrayed well in Triffids? What do you think are their strengths and weaknesses?

 

Did they have many strengths? In the main they seemed a bit ... pleasant. Although Susan certainly seemed as though she would grow into quite a capable young woman. I have often wondered, though, whether equality would survive in a post-apocalyptic world; I have the feeling it would disappear pretty soon. In which case, being pleasant would probably be a very useful attribute to have!

 

9) The Day of the Triffids was first published in 1951, and a lot has changed in the world since then. How do you feel the book has dated? Does it show its age, or is it a timeless classic?

 

I felt that the book had dated surprisingly little, I had been prepared for it to be showing its age quite a bit by now.

 

10) Bill and Josella hit things off pretty quickly; the day after they first meet they are contemplating having children together, is this convincing? (do you think it would have taken longer, or do you feel a real-life Josella would have ditched Bill when they met up with a larger group?).

 

I think that after a calamity reproduction would be on many people's minds! But I'm not so sure Bill would have tried so hard to find Josella, I think everyone would be too busy trying to ensure they survived to hanker after a brief acquaintance.

 

11) Is this the first post-apocalyptic you have read? If yes, would you read another?

 

I have read a few post-apocalyptic novels, it is a genre I really enjoy.

 

12) Is this the first John Wyndham novel you have read? If yes, would you read another?

 

I have read The Chrysalids and really enjoyed it (probably more than I enjoyed The Day of the Triffids), and have The Midwich Cuckoos on my shelf to read.

Edited by Ooshie
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Raven,

 

Thanks for the recommendation of The Death of Grass, by John Christopher. I was able to find a copy on ABE books for a reasonable price.

 

This was an excellent thread, I enjoyed reading it. :cool:

 

The Day of the Triffids was really the first Post Apocalyptic book I read, back around 1960. Of course I was only 10 at the time. :) It has remained one of my favorite genres. I've read it innumerable times over the years, it's like an old friend.

 

Regarding some of the questions, just a few thoughts.....Bill was really my favorite character, his honesty and sweetness really impressed me.

I think for the times, the women were represented accurately. As has been mentioned Bill and Josella were like minded people, and in any time would probably have been friends at the least. If he could have gotten past her breezy facade. At least that was the impression I had of her. The catastrophe certainly broke down barriers of that sort.

 

I do not think the blind are helpless by any means.....but given the situation, the suddeness of complete breakdown of all normal public services (for example), there wasn't much chance to train people that had been living a sighted life the skills in which a blind person must be proficient.

 

I've seen the BBC version, the older one...I think 1981, and enjoyed it, thought it was fairly close to the book. I have a couple other Wyndham books on the TBR shelf.

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