John Wyndham

John Wyndham (July 10, 1903 – March 11, 1969) was the pen name used by the often post-apocalyptic British science fiction writer John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris.

Introduction

In his earlier writings, Wyndham used various combinations of his names, such as John Benyon or Lucas Parkes. In one example, The Outward Urge, he actually used both the names "John Wyndham" and "Lucas Parkes", pretending to be two collaborating authors.

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Major works

The Day of the Triffids is his most famous book and gave the word "triffid" to English. It describes a catastrophe in which most of the world's population dies after being struck blind by green light from a mysterious meteor show. The survivors then have to battle against the venomous walking plants of the book's title.

Related Topics:
The Day of the Triffids - Meteor

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The Kraken Wakes describes the conflict between mankind and an underwater race with highly advanced technology.

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The Chrysalids, also known as Re-Birth, depicts a rural community in Labrador, several centuries after a nuclear war, with a religious obsession about eliminating those born with any genetic abnormalities. It follows a small group of friends who realise their telepathic abilities have to be hidden, and their troubles when these are discovered. The novel was adapted as a BBC Radio 4 play in the early 1980s.

Related Topics:
The Chrysalids - Labrador - Nuclear war - Genetic - Abnormalities - Telepathic - BBC Radio 4 - 1980s

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The Midwich Cuckoos depicts a small village in which, during 24 hours when the inhabitants are unconscious and the village is cut off from the outside world, all the women of child-bearing age mysteriously become pregnant, eventually giving birth to golden eyed children with telepathic abilities.

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These four novels are widely regarded as the peak of his achievement. He went on to write two later novels Trouble with Lichen and Chocky, opinions are more varied on these, but they have their admirers. He also wrote several short stories of variable quality, ranging from hard science fiction to the whimsical. Of particular note are Consider Her Ways, The Wheel, and Pillar to Post.

Related Topics:
Trouble with Lichen - Chocky - Consider Her Ways

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Style

Most of Wyndham's novels have a contemporary English middle-class setting, and have an air of old-fashioned Englishness which is either quaint or stuffy, depending upon one's point of view; some of these have been disparagingly labelled "cosy catastrophes". Significantly, his single major novel that does not have this setting, The Chrysalids, is regarded by some people as his best.

Related Topics:
Cosy catastrophe - The Chrysalids

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