Recommended by Jonah Boothe
The Day of the Triffids is a dystopian novel written in 1951 by English science fiction writer John Wyndham. The book is set around the time of the cold war, as is shown by the fact that the triffids are suggested to be a soviet experiment gone wrong.
The book starts off exploring the origins and characteristics of the triffids in parallel to the main character, Bill Masen’s childhood. Later in the book there is an incident in which Bill is blinded by a triffid. Ironically this incident prevents him seeing a comet show, which blinds all who view it. When our character wakes, he is presented with a very different world than when he could last see. The rest of the book explores the fallout of this disaster, the resulting societal changes, and how the seemingly novel and harmless triffids become a large problem when the balance is shifted.
My favourite part of the book was the consistent way in which our main characters and their world was portrayed. One poignant example of this is the first few chapters of the book. Bill Masen seems to be in a state of denial and is presented with this new world in which he now must survive. Early on he visits a bar and has a drink. Even though the bartender is blind he still offers to pay, showing how he is trying to cling to some normality and not succumb to chaos and anarchy. This set of morals is applied consistently throughout the book, from him leaving money in an abandoned delicatessen for food, to him trying to protect a woman from a gang (which ends in him being knocked out), to him saving Josella from her blind captor (his love interest).
I also enjoyed the way in which sight and the behaviour of humans un restricted by social codes are handled in this book. The author portrays sight in the book as both a gift and a curse, but shows how those both with and without sight are similar. Those who have recently lost their sight must choose to either lose their humanity to try and survive, or choose to die or kill themselves with their humanity intact, and in this way, those who can see and those who are blind are not so different. Our main protagonist Bill is faced with how those with sight torment and manipulate those without, while at the same time not using his gift to help the blind, for fear of being attacked out of envy or desperation. In this way, we are presented with the many facets of human nature, via the treatment of Josella early on, and the first gang’s treatment of the woman. Throughout the book we seem to get an fair depiction of humans with cruelty and desperation, juxtaposed with empathy and hope.
The author’s style of writing is highly effective in my opinion within this book. I disagreed with his ordering of the first few chapters of the book, as I generally find a book beginning “In medias res” quite jarring. But I can accept that that is purely a personal preference, and after reading the second chapter again but first, the problem was immediately rectified. I especially enjoyed the authors descriptions of characters. The reader is given a large amount of information via seemingly innocuous means, such as a conversation between characters or via a description of their appearance, so the characters are fleshed out properly in a way which isn’t overly intrusive. As a result of this the reader begins to feel empathy for these characters, particularly those who have lost loved ones or their sight. And when these characters then proceed to commit suicide casually or when a horrible scene is juxtaposed with something seemingly normal, such as the barman in the third chapter and the horse with the cracked skull, the reader realises the extent of this books horrifying reality.
Overall I would give this book a 9/10. It is very interesting, disturbingly realistic, and may be more relevant today than it was when it was written. Especially if you look at the rate at which technology is advancing and the possibility of creating triffid like threats. Definitely worth a read, maybe even a re-read to examine and enjoy the nuances of the world Wyndham creates.
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