- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Penguin UK; New impression edition (Feb 1 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0140009930
- ISBN-13: 978-0140009934
- Product Dimensions: 18.2 x 11.1 x 1.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 154 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #114,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Library Journal
This classic sf novel traces the fate of the world after a comet shower blinds most of the world's population. The few with sight must struggle to reconstruct society while fighting mobile, flesh-eating plants called triffids. Samuel West's narration of this powerful and realistic story provides a flawless interpretation of the text. The listener is caught up in the catastrophic chain of events, imagined and told with such skill?by narrator as well as author?that one can easily visualize the cataclysmic events. All of West's vocal characterizations, including cockney accents, female voices, and children's voices, ring true. This superlative production of an outstanding and entertaining novel belongs in all audio collections.?Melody Moxley, Rowan P.L., Salisbury, N.C.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
Review
Good confidence-builders for reluctant readers, this series provides a quick way into a range of classics. The Bookseller Back to School Supplement
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
WHEN a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
WHEN a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Triffids Light It Up!,
By Stacey Cochran (Raleigh, NC, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Day of the Triffids (Paperback)
Day of the Triffids kicks butt! Two weeks ago I had never heard of John Wyndham, but I found his name in scifi.com's fiction archive, and I looked up his books here at Amazon. The opening scene in Triffids is mesmerizing. The basic premise of the book is that a meteor shower blinds most of the world population, except for a handful of people. One of lucky ones is Bill Masen, who was in a hospital with bandages over his eyes and was not able to watch the meteor shower. Towards the end of the book, narrator Masen speculates that the meteor shower might have been caused by man-made satellites orbiting Earth, and indeed, the whole apocalyptic vision of the novel voices the concerns any sane human being would have had shortly after WWII and the discovery of the destructive power of atomic energy. That said, the novel is not at all a doom and gloom book. It is actually quite hopeful, optimistic, and funny. There is a romantic subplot wherein Bill meets a charming woman named Josella Payton, only to be separated from her in the aftermath of the devastating meteor shower. A good part of the book follows Bill's search for Josella through various malevolent organizations that spring up in the months after the meteor shower. Developing alongside this story line, is the story of the triffids, a kind of six-foot-tall Venus Flytrap with a stinging whip that has the ability to pick up its roots and walk around. In the wake of world blindness, these plants begin attacking people who stumble blindly around London and the English countryside outside of London. The novel has a very solid ending that made me feel happy to have read the book. It was such a good story I'm going to see if I can get a copy of Wyndham's other classic bestseller, The Cuckoo's of Midwich. I highly recommend Day of the Triffids to any sci-fi fan, as well as to anyone who likes a good old-fashioned white-knuckle yarn. And, of course, I hope this review is helpful to you! Stacey PS Do me a favor and click "yes" if you would be interested in seeing a modern Hollywood remake Day of the Triffids.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Is the human race getting too smart for their own good?,
By scarletsapphire (MA, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Day of the Triffids (Library Binding)
The Day of the Triffids is set in the suburbs of England in the early twenty-first century. Bill Masen, the main character, is admitted to the hospital after having survived a savage attack by a triffid, a strange and unusual carnivorous plant. During the assault, the triffid struck him across the face, injuring his eyes. The doctors are making every effort to prevent Bill from becoming blind by performing a risky surgery. Little do they know, they will save his sight more than once. While Bill is in the hospital, the Earth passes through what is believed to be a cloud of comet debris, creating what the press calls, "the most remarkable celestial spectacle on record." However, the beautiful meteor shower has a hidden catch - all who watch it become blind. Bill, who is unable to view the phenomenon due to his bandaged eyes, awakens the next morning to a deathly silence. After removing his bandages, he comes to the awful realization that everyone around him is sightless. He ventures out of the hospital and teams up with a young author, Josella Playton, another lucky person who can see as well. Together they explore the country in the hope of finding more humans who have not been blinded by the meteor shower. Instead, they discover that the triffids have begun to walk and are attacking the blinded humans. The Day of the Triffids relates the story of Bill and Josella's fight to survive against seemingly impossible odds in a world of chaos, violence, and destruction.John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids is an exciting and compelling novel that will keep the reader hanging on to every word, just waiting to see what will happen next. The plot of the book is farfetched yet understandable and interesting, and leaves one wondering if something so horrifying could occur in the world today. It also makes one think about whether or not our advances in science are actually as beneficial as they initially seem. Is the human race getting too smart for their own good? Wyndham strings together a series of events in such a way that every part of the book is engrossing, and he leaves the reader begging for more.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Old sci-fi at its best...,
By
This review is from: The Day of the Triffids (Audio Cassette)
I love old sci-fi movies -- especially those made in the late 50s and 60s. This book was reminiscent of those old movies. It had the same character build-up, the sense of despair, and horror at what was happening, which was countered with the determination of the individuals to survive no matter what the odds. The book started off well, and continued on in the same vein, giving enough information along the way to paint the picture of what life might be like if nature turned on us and another form of life took over. The story is told through the eyes of Bill Masen, one of the lucky ones who survived the first events and retained his eye sight. Through his eyes we see mankind turning on each other, we desolation, and we experience fear. Fortunately, we also see hope and the will to live through a story well told. I recommend this book.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
