When Penguin first published the book, Wyndham was consulted on the cover design. Set squarely in postwar England, Wyndham's apocalyptic vision of nature's triumph over civilisation is partly stylised, with the trappings of Cold War paranoia (the triffids are the result of Soviet biological experimentation), but though considered a conservative exponent of the genre, he avoids easy allegories and instead questions the relative values of the civilisation that has been lost, the literally blind terror of humanity in the face of dominant nature, and the possibility of regeneration without offering easy answers.įrightening and powerful, Wyndham's vision remains an important allegory and a gripping story. Clarke called The Day of the Triffids an 'immortal story'. He returned to writing in 1946, using the pen name John Wyndham, and The Day of the Triffids was published in 1951. During World War II, he worked in the Ministry of Information before serving in the army, and took part in the Normandy landings. It's possible to put too modern a slant on a novel that remains within the constraints of post-war science fiction, but as Barry Langford points out in his introduction, The Day of the Triffids is 'at heart a strict Darwinian parable' the carnivorous plants are not sentient, malicious invaders from another planet, but the culmination of human hubris. Under several pseudonyms, he wrote numerous short stories for American science fiction magazines. When The Day of the Triffids was published in 1951, John Wyndham could hardly have predicted the extent to which genetic meddling would dominate the news half a century on. Sell, buy or rent The Day of the Triffids (Penguin Clothbound Classics) 9780241284674 0241284678, we buy used or new for best buyback price with FREE.
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