Book Nerd’s Comments (group member since Dec 20, 2018)

Book Nerd’s comments from the Never too Late to Read Classics group.

Enjoy, Erich!

I didn't realize it was before Sputnik. I'm always surprised that early sci-fi can be so prophetic.

This was a really good early post-apocalypse story. Though they're plants it reminds me of a lot of zombie apocalypse stuff. And as usual the real villains are the power hungry humans.

Welcome Kim!

It's funny how humans always think they're in danger of underbreeding.

So far the triffids aren't a big factor, they're mostly dealing with almost everybody in the world being blind.

I've been wanting to read this one for a while. I just started but it's good so far.

Bill Masen, bandages over his wounded eyes, misses the most spectacular meteorite shower England has ever seen. Removing his bandages the next morning, he finds masses of sightless people wandering the city. He soon meets Josella, another lucky person who has retained her sight, and together they leave the city, aware that the safe, familiar world they knew a mere twenty-four hours before is gone forever.

But to survive in this post-apocalyptic world, one must survive the Triffids, strange plants that years before began appearing all over the world. The Triffids can grow to over seven feet tall, pull their roots from the ground to walk, and kill a man with one quick lash of their poisonous stingers. With society in shambles, they are now poised to prey on humankind. Wyndham chillingly anticipates bio-warfare and mass destruction, fifty years before their realization, in this prescient account of Cold War paranoia.

Yeah, it was kind of Animal Farm.

Yeah with the first story, "Everybody has their own plane!", I thought it would be pretty dated but it was really unique.

Yeah, he was really writing serious sci-fi and with some really unique ideas.

Welcome, Six.

Great review Erich. Did your copy have Epilog in it?
Simak said it was a late addition and he considers the story complete without it but I thought it was great and fit well with the others.

I finished and loved it. Very unique and the stories fit together so well as a group that it's hard to believe they were individual stories at first.

City by Clifford D. Simak


264 pages

Total to date: 236,319

Welcome, Steve.

Yeah, it was interesting but I didn't love it overall.

Erich C wrote: "Good Morning Readers,

I am joining you for this one! I'm looking forward to reading your comments.

I love the frame of the book as written by dogs. In the preface, Simak mentions that he original..."
Enjoy. Simak was apparently a huge dog lover.


The third story made me laugh. Ants could be a technological civilization if they just didn't hibernate.
I guess Joe kicking over the anthill was him symbolically saying screw human civilization.

Hi Grace and Shoshana. Welcome to the group.

John wrote: "I'm intrigued enough by the description to give it a try, Book Nerd, so I've just downloaded a copy. I was almost put off by its "SF Masterworks" description, as I've read some absolute dogs (excuse the pun) in that series."
I'm liking it so far and think it's worth reading.

Rosemarie wrote: "I read this a couple of years ago. It was my first book by this author but it won't be my last."
It's my first time with the author too.

The second story Huddling Place reminded me a lot of Asimov's robots books, especially The Robots of Dawn.