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The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
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The Day of the Triffids (original 1951; edition 1951)

by John Wyndham

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
7,4172071,217 (3.98)4 / 611
"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 posed 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."--BOOK JACKET.… (more)
Member:Hellebore
Title:The Day of the Triffids
Authors:John Wyndham
Info:Doubleday & Company (1951), Edition: Book Club (BCE/BOMC), Hardcover, 302 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:***
Tags:None

Work Information

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (1951)

  1. 101
    The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (clif_hiker)
  2. 92
    Blindness by José Saramago (infiniteletters, juan1961)
    juan1961: Escritas con muchos años de diferencia, no cabe la menor duda de que enel argumento existen grandes similitudes, lo cual no quiere decir que tengan algo que ver. A quien le guste la ciencia-ficción, no debería desdeñar esta obra de Saramago, más centrada en la ciencia-ficción política o social.… (more)
  3. 50
    Earth Abides by George R. Stewart (infiniteletters)
  4. 50
    The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham (timspalding)
  5. 40
    The Country of the Blind and Other Science-Fiction Stories by H. G. Wells (sturlington)
    sturlington: Alluded to in the novel.
  6. 30
    The Death of Grass by John Christopher (Rynooo)
  7. 20
    Dark Piper by Andre Norton (DisassemblyOfReason)
    DisassemblyOfReason: What The Day of the Triffids does with plants, Dark Piper may be said to do with animals. In both stories, a world has been given to large-scale experimentation with dangerous creatures - for commercial reasons with the triffids, while for more military applications with the animals on Beltane in Dark Piper. Both stories carry the suggestion that someone (possibly deliberately) turned loose various weapons of germ warfare not long after a major catastrophe, and both stories follow a small group through territory largely abandoned by humans, although unfortunately not by everything...… (more)
  8. 20
    The Night of the Triffids by Simon Clark (Cecrow)
    Cecrow: Sequel by another author
  9. 21
    The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham (timspalding)
  10. 10
    Bird Box by Josh Malerman (sturlington)
    sturlington: Blindness and monsters
  11. 00
    The Furies by Keith Roberts (infiniteletters)
    infiniteletters: The Furies is definitely on the hokier side.
  12. 00
    Mutant 59: The Plastic-Eaters by Kit Pedler (infiniteletters)
  13. 22
    The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin (Booksloth)
  14. 11
    The Road by Cormac McCarthy (hazzabamboo)
    hazzabamboo: Two post-apocalyptic masterpieces, with much of their power coming from their focus on a couple of characters and the exotic horrors that threaten them.
1950s (57)
Kayla (4)
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» See also 611 mentions

English (194)  Spanish (3)  Italian (2)  Danish (2)  French (2)  Portuguese (Brazil) (1)  Swedish (1)  Slovak (1)  All languages (206)
Showing 1-5 of 194 (next | show all)
This has been on my re-read list for some time. I didn't particularly enjoy it when I first read it as a young teenager - probably because the protagonist, Bill, is a bit of a fussy, nervous type. This time, I loved the cautionary tale of humanity's greed and excess resulting in our downfall. A must-read for all sci-fi fans. ( )
  SarahEBear | Mar 16, 2024 |
Great book! Easily one of the best dystopian novels I have read. I would say currently tied for second best with Earth Abides by George R. Stewart. Couldn't give 5 stars because the ending was a little underwhelming, but overall definitely worth the read. I highly recommend! ( )
  Gadfly82 | Feb 16, 2024 |
I truly don't remember the first time I read this novel. I know I was very young and I was raiding my school library for every single SF book that grabbed me. I know I pretty much read through the entire SF section of Ridgway Secondary Public School that I attended for grades 7 and 8, so I had to have read it somewhere between late 1974 to mid-1976.

So, one heck of a long time ago. And, to the best of my knowledge, this is literally the very first post-apocalyptic novel I ever read (definitely pre-dating HG Wells's WAR OF THE WORLDS and THE TIME MACHINE, as well as Bradbury's FAHRENHEIT 451).

So, at the time, while I remember very little of the actual story from that first read, I do remember it blew my mind, and sent me on a quest to read everything Wyndham I could put my grubby hands on. I also remember that nothing else he wrote seemed to live up to this book.

On this read-through, I'm much older, much more jaded, and I've read far more than my fair share of post-apocalyptic fiction.

But I still see what I loved about this one. The opening, the wandering through the deserted areas of Britain. The various forms of society that are struggled with throughout the short novel are likely the weakest parts of it, as Wyndham can get a tad preachy, and of course the casual misogyny doesn't hold up all that well, seventy-odd years later.

But overall, considering this novel was published six years before the launch of Sputnik 1, the first manmade satellite, and Wyndham was already speculating on what would eventually be up there in Earth orbit is just fascinating.

Overall, Wells's WAR OF THE WORLDS influence is quite obvious on this novel, and I'd still say Wells's is the superior of the two, but this one still holds a certain charm, due to those nasty walking plants.

While it has its flaws, overall, I really enjoyed this one, the second time around. ( )
  TobinElliott | Jan 21, 2024 |
My first survival scifi book. Definitely not a fan of survival films, but this book worked wonders for me. Prose was strong and the structure sound. Definitely deserves its spot on the Top 100 Scifi books list: http://scifilists.sffjazz.com/lists_books_rank1.html. ( )
  MXMLLN | Jan 12, 2024 |
An absolute classic. ( )
  GordCampbell | Dec 20, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 194 (next | show all)

» Add other authors (36 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Wyndham, Johnprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bergey, EarleCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bridge. AndyCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bulgheroni, MarisaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Doeve, EppoCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fruttero, CarloContributorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gierth, PatrickCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Greifeneder, HubertTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Langford, BarryIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Leger, PatrickIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lord, PeterCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lucentini, FrancoContributorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Malcolm, GraemeNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Morris, EdmundIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Powers, RichardCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Salwowski, MarkCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Seelig, IngeTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Stewart, JohnCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Viskupic, GaryCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
West, SamuelNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Willock, HarryCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Wikipedia in English (1)

"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 posed 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."--BOOK JACKET.

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Book description
Fiction. Dystopian. Science fiction. Post-apocalyptic. English.
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.
Бил Мейсън, заради травма, е с превръзка на очите и пропуска най-зрелищния метеоритен дъжд, падал някога над Англия. На следващия ден сваля превръзката и с ужас установява, че хиляди слепци се скитат по улиците. Скоро среща Джозела, друга щастливка съхранила зрението си. Двамата напускат града, осъзнали, че безопасният и така добре познат само допреди 24 часа свят, завинаги е изчезнал. Апокалипсисът бавно, но сигурно напредва с Трифидите - странни растения, появили се на различни места по Земята. Трифидите достигат над два метра, измъкват корените си от почвата, ходят и убиват човек само с един светкавичен замах на отровните си пипала.
И все пак, "Денят на трифидите" не е роман на ужасите, а мъдро предупреждение за риска, който крие всяка самонадеяна човешка безотговорност.
Haiku summary
Night of blinding lights,
Walking plants lurk in darkness,
Now who will survive?
(SylviaC)

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Penguin Australia

3 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.

Editions: 0141185414, 0141033002, 0143566539

 

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