Terrifying...The sense of doom, claustrophobia and, quite literally, blind terror that Wyndham stokes up is almost palpable...Nerve-jarringly cl...
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Feb 08, 2012
Bird Brian
rated it: 
(purchased at Powell's bookstore in Portland, OR; at the famous GR Portland Babes' Reunion)
I don’t mean to nitpick but the story introduces us to triffids- motile plants with lethal stings, which feed on human flesh. Nobody knows where they came from. Outer space? An engineered bio-weapon? They just sort of show up. At first, their threat isn’t appreciated; they are even harvested for the useful oils they produce. But eventually the stinging and man-eating part comes to light. But More...
I don’t mean to nitpick but the story introduces us to triffids- motile plants with lethal stings, which feed on human flesh. Nobody knows where they came from. Outer space? An engineered bio-weapon? They just sort of show up. At first, their threat isn’t appreciated; they are even harvested for the useful oils they produce. But eventually the stinging and man-eating part comes to light. But More...
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May 26, 2011
Dan
rated it: 
Everything seemed fine with the domesticated Triffids until the Earth passed through the tail of a comet, blinding much of the world's population. It was then the Triffids struck!
I love the proto-sf of the first half of the 20th century, when the lines between sf and horror were more blurred than they are now. Day of the Triffids is one of those books that many things that came later owe a debt to. The roots of the survival horror genre can be found within its pages, in my opinion More...
I love the proto-sf of the first half of the 20th century, when the lines between sf and horror were more blurred than they are now. Day of the Triffids is one of those books that many things that came later owe a debt to. The roots of the survival horror genre can be found within its pages, in my opinion More...
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(18 people liked it)
Sep 02, 2011
Stephen
rated it:
4.0 stars. I am very glad that I finally got around to reading this classic post-apocalyptic novel. I really liked Wyndham's writing style and the way he presented the story. It was well written, well plotted and kept me interested throughout the book. As with most really good post-apocalyptic science fiction novels, the true point of the story is the exploration of human nature by showing how different people act when the society they have grown up in falls apart. Recommended!!!
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Sep 05, 2011
Hugh The Great Curmudgeon
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Dec 17, 2009
Penny
rated it:
When I was about 14, I read my father's old Penguin classic copy -- a bright orange paperback from the 1950s. And absolutely loved it. I've read it countless times since, and is one of the books I think about most. Officially my favorite book.
Having said that -- it has no literary pretensions, most characters are fairly one dimensional, and the triffids themselves (walking, thinking, carnivorous plants) I have always thought of as a rather annoying distraction. What gripped me, and More...
Having said that -- it has no literary pretensions, most characters are fairly one dimensional, and the triffids themselves (walking, thinking, carnivorous plants) I have always thought of as a rather annoying distraction. What gripped me, and More...
Jan 31, 2008
Bill
rated it: 
The Day of the Triffids had such a great and promising start to it. A man wakes up in a hospital only to realize that he has been spared from a cataclysmic meteor shower that has left most of the remaining
population either dead or blind.
Somehow, this has something to do with the Triffids, a bizarre plant whose origins are a mystery. As the story progresses, more facts and history of the Triffids unfold to reveal sinister characteristics.
Unfortunately for me, my interest b More...
population either dead or blind.
Somehow, this has something to do with the Triffids, a bizarre plant whose origins are a mystery. As the story progresses, more facts and history of the Triffids unfold to reveal sinister characteristics.
Unfortunately for me, my interest b More...
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Nov 18, 2010
Elliott
rated it:
The Day of the Triffids is representative of a certain type of Cold War English novel. It goes like this: England is the last bastion of politesse and moral rectitude in a world awash in Communism and licentiousness. I'm sure there are similar narratives in the Cold War literature of other countries but it always strikes me as a distinctly English point of view. In these novels, the hero is the quintessential Englishman: "Dash it all, woman, you've got no sense! Miraculous how I can dri
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May 13, 2008
Chris
rated it:
I have a long fondness for Apocalyptic novels. The Stand was one of my early favorites from junior high school, and I really enjoyed its cousin by Robert McCammon, Swan Song. There's something about the End Of The World that just grabs me and won't let go. Maybe it's the thought that, should the world end, I would be one of the survivors. The rule of law would break down, all shackles of modern life would be loosed, and I would finally be free to choose my own destiny. Which, knowing me, wo
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(11 people liked it)
Aug 14, 2007
Cagney
rated it:
I don't know what my deal is with these post-apocalyptic yarns. This one is very insightful, but less theoretical and obtuse than The Road. I gave The Road a higher rating though because there are still moments and excerpts of it that cross my mind from time to time. And, although while I was reading Triffids I thought, "I think I like this one better," I ended up forgetting much about it by the time I was done. Perhaps, because it is plot driven and plot intricacies are often lost
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(3 people liked it)
Apr 13, 2009
Ubik
rated it:
WOW! This was so absolutely amazing and not what I thought it was going to be. I avoided it for years thinking it was "killer plants taking over the world 50s B-movie style" but I was fnugging WRONG. If ever there was a piece of literature (or any other media for that matter) that so understated yet made so believable such an at-first-glance ridiculous premise, it is this novel. The characterizations were wonderful. I really knew Bill, Coker, and Josella right off the bat in fewer word
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(4 people liked it)
Jul 16, 2008
Raegan
rated it:
First read this in the sixth grade and it has always been a rather fondly recalled experience.I'm a sucker for good first lines and Day of the Triffids has one of the best in the sci fi genre, right up there with the opening lines of I Am Legend.
"When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere."
"When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere."
Jun 02, 2007
Gabriel
rated it:
The scariest part of this book is not the man-eating plants, but the surrounding circumstances. John Wyndham (whose novels have only impressed me) knows the focus of his book lies in dealing with the destruction of a society based on sight, not on the attack of the plants, and this raises the level of what could have been just a B Movie book to classic status.
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Dec 16, 2009
John
rated it:
Probably doesn't deserve a five star rating but I loved it. Fans of zombie/post-apocalyptic fiction should enjoy. There was a great BBC mini-series based on this book made during the seventies I think.
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Sep 16, 2011
Bill
rated it:
Brilliant, seminal science fiction novel by the legendary John Wyndham. This was the book which started me off reading science fiction again in earnest, looking for the best that the genre had to offer.
The plot of the original - not to be confused with various film, television, and radio versions - is straightforward: the development of a new and hideous species of plants with the capability to move and sting humans lethally is unfortunately coincident with a brilliant cometary light More...
The plot of the original - not to be confused with various film, television, and radio versions - is straightforward: the development of a new and hideous species of plants with the capability to move and sting humans lethally is unfortunately coincident with a brilliant cometary light More...
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May 27, 2007
Simon
rated it:
You know, I was going to give this a two, but it really started to grow on me.
I'm still not sure it deserves its status as 'classic SF', unless it is as an example of one of the first of the 'post-apocalyptic' sub-genre. It's definitely readable, but something about the whole nature of the catastrophe doesn't really ring true-- as a recent documentary observed, it's a very middle class sort of apocalypse.
The worst, or most jarring, part of it is the highly dubious displ More...
I'm still not sure it deserves its status as 'classic SF', unless it is as an example of one of the first of the 'post-apocalyptic' sub-genre. It's definitely readable, but something about the whole nature of the catastrophe doesn't really ring true-- as a recent documentary observed, it's a very middle class sort of apocalypse.
The worst, or most jarring, part of it is the highly dubious displ More...
3 comments
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(2 people liked it)
May 24, 2011
Katie
rated it:
"It is that those of us that start on this task will all have their parts to play. The men must work. The women must have babies. Unless you can agree to that, there can be no place for you in our community."
Remind me when the end of the world comes to hold up in a Sam's Club and shoot anything with a cock that comes near me.
The amusing thing is that the women aren't mortified by the idea of forced breeding, but the abolition of *gasp* the marriage law! Good old More...
Remind me when the end of the world comes to hold up in a Sam's Club and shoot anything with a cock that comes near me.
The amusing thing is that the women aren't mortified by the idea of forced breeding, but the abolition of *gasp* the marriage law! Good old More...
22 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Jul 25, 2010
Petra
rated it:
I think I liked this story more now than the first time I read it.
John Wyndham sci-fi stories are the perfect post-apocolyptic stories. His characters are real, the situations they find themselves in are real (or would be real if they happened), there's always a strange "something" to give a twist (in this case, the Triffids). Always, Wyndham's books are hopeful, giving the humans who survive the opportunity to rebuild.
Now I want to reread the rest of Wyndham's books!
John Wyndham sci-fi stories are the perfect post-apocolyptic stories. His characters are real, the situations they find themselves in are real (or would be real if they happened), there's always a strange "something" to give a twist (in this case, the Triffids). Always, Wyndham's books are hopeful, giving the humans who survive the opportunity to rebuild.
Now I want to reread the rest of Wyndham's books!
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Nov 13, 2011
Debra
rated it:
Stephen King recommended author as his "favorite in the field" (science fiction) mentioned in Chapter 2 of the Berkley's 1983 paperback edition of Danse Macabre.
This book noted as "important to the genre we have been discussing" from Danse Macabre, published in 1981.
I can't believe I managed to miss this one when I was growing up. I don't even remember seeing the movie. A story ahead of it's time and very intriguing. I raced through it caring deepl More...
This book noted as "important to the genre we have been discussing" from Danse Macabre, published in 1981.
I can't believe I managed to miss this one when I was growing up. I don't even remember seeing the movie. A story ahead of it's time and very intriguing. I raced through it caring deepl More...
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Sep 16, 2007
Elsa
rated it:
A survivor narrates, telling us how an odd new plant cultivar and a terrible celestial accident intersect to bring civilization to its knees.
Though it's easy to dismiss this book as trite sci-fi schlock, author John Wyndham focuses less o the whiz-bang elements of science and more on the crumbling of society's agreements --- the slim line of the social contract that keeps us safe. (If you were were chilled by the military compound Danny Boyle's film "28 Days Later," you ma More...
Though it's easy to dismiss this book as trite sci-fi schlock, author John Wyndham focuses less o the whiz-bang elements of science and more on the crumbling of society's agreements --- the slim line of the social contract that keeps us safe. (If you were were chilled by the military compound Danny Boyle's film "28 Days Later," you ma More...
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(3 people liked it)
Jan 29, 2008
Keith
rated it:
An often overlooked modern classic, and any fan of the zombie genre should read this. It's predicament done right - danger with a sense of gravity, scary and leads the imagination to even scarier places.
What's worse than a world infested with aggressive carnivorous plants? A world where 99% of the population has gone blind and is at their mercy. Those "lucky" enough to have retained their sight face a whole new series of dangers.
An author that really thought thr More...
What's worse than a world infested with aggressive carnivorous plants? A world where 99% of the population has gone blind and is at their mercy. Those "lucky" enough to have retained their sight face a whole new series of dangers.
An author that really thought thr More...
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(3 people liked it)
Aug 09, 2011
Una historia interesante centrada, sobre todo, en la fragilidad de lo que llamamos 'el sistema'. Todo funciona perfectamente, como una maquinaria bien engrasada, para que nuestra vida sea fácil y cómoda (todo lo posible). Los logros de la Civilización son asombrosos, todos sustentados sobre la base de 'el sistema'. Pero 'el sistema' es extremadamente frágil, todo marcha a la perfección hasta que surge un problema y todo se desmorona rápidamente sin posibilidad de recuperación. Se clasifica el li
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Aug 01, 2011
When Bill Masen wakes in hospital after wearing bandages for a week, everything feels wrong - the hospital is eerily quiet and nobody comes when he rings the bell. Upon investigation, he discovers that nearly every other person alive is blind after watching a green comet. Not only that, but the strange plants - the Triffids - which were being cultivated to make oil for the planet are on the loose and these walking, stinging plants are out to kill.
Now it becomes a frantic struggle to survive. More...
Now it becomes a frantic struggle to survive. More...
Sep 27, 2010
Teresa
rated it:
Before I read this classic novel by John Wyndham, all I knew about it was that it involved killer plants. In actuality, the plants, which are known as triffids, are merely a complication; the sudden onset of blindness among most of the world population is the more serious problem. There are some suggestions that the triffids are somehow behind the blindness, but these suggestions are not explored in much detail. Survival of the human race is the paramount issue for the people of this book; why t
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Mar 26, 2009
Steve
rated it:
The Day of the Triffids. First read in my teenage years, this was a 20-plus year return to Wyndham and a welcome reunion with a favourite author of that time. This novel is more relevant to today’s society than when I read it first time in the early 1980s, and it offers a remarkable poignancy to the science fiction given that John Wyndham penned this novel only a few years after the end of the second World War. The title comes from the rise of genetically modified killer plants, the Triffid
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Feb 28, 2009
Dreadlocksmile
rated it:
Back in 1951 John Wyndham first published his novel "The Day Of The Triffids". Since then the novel has been hailed as a sci-fi masterpiece and has become one of the cornerstones in the post-apocalyptic fiction subgenre.
Within "The Day Of The Triffids" Wyndham explores humanities need for power and its inevitable downfall towards its own destruction. Wyndam probes away at our lustful need for supposed `civilised development' whilst pointing towards greed as the r More...
Within "The Day Of The Triffids" Wyndham explores humanities need for power and its inevitable downfall towards its own destruction. Wyndam probes away at our lustful need for supposed `civilised development' whilst pointing towards greed as the r More...
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Jan 31, 2009
Mia
rated it:
Let me get this straight. You have a country of teachers, doctors, farmers, soldiers, leaders, etc., and when most of them become blind they all pretty much become entirely useless and irrational and incapable of planning or thought? I mean, the author does layer extra complications onto the plot -- the titular triffids (which are ominous (and apparently all the Russians' fault)), an unexplained plague -- but come on! And that's not the only unwarranted presumptuous premise that gets presente
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Dec 30, 2008
Eric
rated it:
I don't know what I was expecting, but my only experience w/ the story was "waddling killer plants" from film clips.
the book is so much more than that though. it's social commentary and satire which has more in line with the tone of The Host mixed in with some serious end of the world commentary.
Basically, there are these semi-intelligent plants from Russia whose oil and pulp have great uses and the novelty of walking carnivorous plants a few feet high has made them More...
the book is so much more than that though. it's social commentary and satire which has more in line with the tone of The Host mixed in with some serious end of the world commentary.
Basically, there are these semi-intelligent plants from Russia whose oil and pulp have great uses and the novelty of walking carnivorous plants a few feet high has made them More...
Jan 16, 2012
Kristopher
rated it:
Stop me, oh-ho-whoa stop me, stop me if you think that you've heard this one before: A man wakes up in a London hospital to find no one around, stumbles out into Piccadilly to find the world has gone all apocalyptic while he's been sleeping.
Yep. Turns out this book was made into a movie called 28 Days Later, among others.
There's a lot to recommend this book by John Wyndham, which details the attempts to rebuild civilization after a meteorological event renders most of the w More...
Yep. Turns out this book was made into a movie called 28 Days Later, among others.
There's a lot to recommend this book by John Wyndham, which details the attempts to rebuild civilization after a meteorological event renders most of the w More...
Dec 20, 2011
Roberta
rated it:
Un uomo si sveglia nel suo letto d’ospedale e percepisce subito che c’è qualcosa di strano. Ricoverato per un incidente agli occhi, e quindi momentaneamente impossibilitato a vedere a causa di un pesante bendaggio, egli scopre ben presto che la maggior parte dell’umanità è stata accecata dal passaggio di una cometa. Ben poche sono le persone che si sono casualmente salvate da questo destino, lui incluso. Ben presto il problema della sopravvivenza e della riorganizzazione completa della società u
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Nov 27, 2011
Leslie
rated it:
It's hard to overestimate this book's influence. If you have any interest in the whole post-apocalyptic, dystopian subgenre, this is a must-read. Not that it's without flaws. Wyndham's treatment of gender is horribly dated: although we can work hard and help out a bit with a few things if we have strong men guiding us, what we are mostly designed for is babymaking. And the characters pontificate a lot; it's a tremendously talky book. Reading this just after Matheson's I Am Legend makes for an in
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