Reading these books marked the first time I had read several books by the same author. It was interesting to see the same themes, ideas, and styles that kept popping up in different ways in different novels and short stories. (The past couple of years I have been reading several of Ray Bradbury's books, and I am again seeing the same thing happening.) On this page, I will give short summaries, and some of my thoughts and observations about various works. I've done little formal research on John Wyndham. At the end of this page are links to other Wyndham sites on the WWW, which contain more information on his other works, as well as details on Wyndham's life. They also contain links and other information.
SPOILER ALERT: This page reveals part of the plot of the novels I discuss. I've done my best to avoid spoiling everything, but many key events are revealed. You've been warned.... :-)
The story's young narrator finds he can communicate with a small group of other young people by means of "thought shapes". The group gradually realizes that this makes them deviants, and they become aware of the consequences should their secret be revealed.
When our class discussed this novel, we talked a great deal about the "loss of innocence" as children grow up. David and the others went from a life free from worries, to one in which their existence is under threat. After reading other Wyndham works, I'm not sure this theme was his main intention. I don't recall this theme appearing in any of the author's other works.
Although I did not notice it until I had read a few other Wyndham works, The Chrysalids makes a point about the equality of the sexes. Specifically, Wyndham is critical of people like Anne, who "isn't content until she's made herself some man's slave and doormat - put herself completely in his power." On the other hand, Rosalind is presented as a strong and independent woman, with "the air of practical, decisive reliability."
Another theme we discussed was that of the citizen's blindly following their beliefs without ever questioning them. The idea of "refusal to change" occurs in several other works, as well as the idea of religious intolerance. However, these are more a part of another theme, not a theme in itself. The major theme in many of John Wyndham's works is a somewhat morbid one: the inferiority of humans. Repeatedly, Wyndham sets humans against other beings, who are in some way better than normal humans. In his novels, humans are confronted with spiders, human-killing plants, sea creatures, half-alien children, long-life humans, and, as in The Chrysalids, "Thought Shape"-capable humans. The Sealand Woman spends a lot of time telling David, Michael, and Rosalind about how the Waknuk people and their way of thinking will not last long. (Long speeches by key characters are frequently found in John Wyndham novels, almost as a lecture to the reader on the author's particular idea.) She refers to think-togethers as the superior variant, and admits that one day they too will have to give place to a new thing. She explains that change and evolution are part of life, an idea which is part of the 'replacement of humans' theme Wyndham frequently uses. The people of Waknuk strive to follow the ways of the Old People, but would that just lead up to another Tribulation? Wyndham warns the reader that we cannot keep doing things in the same way we've always done them. We need to change.
From the way Wyndham describes the world after Tribulation, it is obvious he was thinking of the results of a nuclear war. When this novel was written, the threat was on the minds of many people. The novel contains hints of opposition to the situations surrounding the Cold War. "What can they have done to create such a frightful place? ... There was the power of Gods in the hands of children, we know: but were they mad children, all of them quite mad? ... It is frightening to think that a whole race could go insane. . . ."
The Kraken Wakes seems to be one of John Wyndham's most popular novels, although personally I think several others are better. It seems to lack something, but I'm not sure what. As with his other novels, John Wyndham uses the ideas of humans under threat from another species. On several occasions we are reminded that when two intelligent species find themselves on the same planet, they are bound to compete with each other, and eventually, it is inevitable that one will exterminate the other.
The Kraken Wakes also makes an interesting point about how the media shapes public perception. The narrators are told on several occasions about the type of ideas they should put forward for broadcast. Newspapers and the radio informally agree to put forward the deep-sea menace line, to change the minds of people who think the ship sinkings are the fault of the Russians. (We also see much mention of the media in Trouble with Lichen, though the message-making theme isn't as predominant.)
Tuny is much like Jane in Trouble With Lichen. She has a simple answer to everything, such as her "universal political solvent" method of blaming the Russians for everything. She puts very little effort into thinking. Phyllis, along with Bill and Harold, don't think too highly of this way of thinking.
I'm not sure when the first warnings were made about the threat of global warming and the melting of the ice caps. The Kraken Wakes does give a depressing look at the effects of rising water levels, even though the melting in the book had a different cause.
Diseases, lack of drugs and doctors, and the major climate change killed many people. With only a fifth or an eighth of the world's population left, it will be a very different world. Another Wyndham idea is presented: we will have to change our ways in order to survive.
A Triffid accident lands Bill in a hospital with bandages over his eyes on the night of an amazing meteor shower. Everyone insists on telling him what he's missing: a sky full of bright green flashes. A marvellous sight; nothing like it has ever been seen before. And for all those sky-gazers who wake up blind the next day, they'll never see anything like it again.
This novel probably made me feel the most uncomfortable of any other of Wyndham's works. The Triffids are the main part of the story, but a world gone blind is an uncomfortable thought. The flow of food into towns and cities stops. The electricity is gone. Everyone is still alive, however. All the blinded people begin to realize that they're probably going to die. Food supplies will run out, and there will be nothing left to do but to wait, hungry, for death.
It's an unpleasant situation too for those who can see. You have the ability to save people's lives by finding food and supplies for them, but you can't save everyone. There are too few sighted people. Who do you choose? Family? Friends? How do you choose between two friends or relatives, who are pleading with you to save them? Who do you condemn to death? You know how you'd feel, if someone you know essentially sentences you to a painful end. It's a horrible thought.
We see how another species (the Triffids) becomes superior to humans. We also see the theme of change. When the world's population drops so suddenly, and the world system stops functioning, we must change the whole way we think. As in The Chrysalids, we cannot keep clinging to old ways in a new world.
We again see a reflection of the time when the book was written. People say that the beautiful green flashes in the sky were meteors, but Bill thinks otherwise. "But one thing I'm quite certain of - that somehow or other we brought this lot down on ourselves." There are "unknown numbers of satellite weapons circling round and round the Earth. Just a lot of dormant menaces, touring around, waiting for someone, or something, to set them off. . . . Now suppose that one type happened to be constructed especially to emit radiations that our eyes would not stand - something that would burn out, or at least damage, the optic nerve . . . ?"
Wyndham's theme of 'equality of the sexes' again comes up in Triffids. Coker presents it, when he encounters the girl who didn't try to start the engine. She insists she's "not any good at things like that." "Men understand how machines and electricity work. Women just aren't much interested in that kind of thing as a rule." Coker replies that both sexes are equally capable and both can handle the most complicated and delicate machines when they take the trouble to understand them. In the new world in which they now live, all the old thoughts and stereotypes must be willing to be replaced.
This is a key theme in the novel. Many times, the need for change is expressed. We see how different groups of people split, based on their willingness to change (or lack thereof). As in The Chrysalids, we can't keep just using the ways of a world which no longer exists. We must let our ways evolve.
Nine months pass, and the town's population suddenly increases by 31 males and 30 females. The babies seem perfectly healthy, except they all share the same bright gold coloured eyes, the same darkened blond hair, and the same silvery sheen on their skin. They all also share one unusual ability: to exert a form of compulsion upon others. The residents are unable to leave their town, no matter how hard they try.
The Midwich Cuckoos has been made into a movie, twice, as "The Village of the Damned". Personally, I think that this was not the best Wyndham novel to make into a movie. It can easily be boiled down to a simple sci-fi idea: "Alien-children, who, with their alien powers, control humans and try to wipe out the human race." It has more popular 'Horror Movie'-style appeal than Wyndham's other works. I haven't seen the first film. I missed the first half hour of the recent version when it aired on a local television station, but the impression I got was similar to the reviews I read in a local newspaper. Many deeper meanings in the book were lost, and a lot was simplified (as is almost always necessary when making a screenplay out of a novel). Much of the focus seemed to be on the special effects and the emotions evoked by Psychic Alien Kids.
The obvious theme throughout the book, is that of the mind-controlling children. Again, two species will struggle to inherit the earth, and we humans have the disadvantage. The Children ask us, "Will we agree to be superceded, and to start on the way to extinction?"
This Diana wasn't famous for being part of the Royal family, or her activism against land mines. She was famous for her biological discovery: a type of lichen which slows the aging process. It has the potential to let us live more than five hundred years. However, the source of this lichen is very limited. How do you announce to the world that people can now more than quadruple their life expectancy, and then tell them that only a few selected people will have that chance?
I think this is one of Wyndham's most interesting and thought-provoking novels, and perhaps his most original. What would happen to businesses (life insurance companies, perhaps) if people lived even three hundred years? How would we feel, having to work for a living for two hundred years, in the same position with the same boss for several decades? How many times would we switch careers? Would some people fight one-another for the lichen, or fight to stop it? What would happen to the population of the earth? Would we be able to produce enough food? Think of the number of years people could attend universities, with scientists being able to work many decades on research? Many interesting questions are raised.
We see the typical conflict between humans and super-humans, in that there's now a group of long-life humans who can replace the rest of us normal-life humans. The Lichenin provides a step in evolution. The topic of women however is more prominent here, than in Wyndham's other works. Diana Brackley is a biochemist, who switches careers and ends up running a highly successful beauty parlour. She is a smart woman, who manages to think of a way of slowly introducing the Antigerone (anti-aging substance) to the people. Initially, she supplies it to Britain's wealthiest women without their knowledge. These women, in turn, have connections all over in important places. If anyone tries to take the Antigerone away from them, they'll face stiff opposition. Diana uses the high-class stereotypes and culture to her advantage.
Diana's occupation, before turning to the cosmetic industry, was at Darr House Developments, where Diana and her boss, Dr. Saxover, made the discovery of Antigerone independently. He was happy to find that Diana wasn't like some of the other women, who were more interested in frivolities than serious work, and who rushed 'lemming-like' into marriage. We see another of Wyndham's comparisons between 'independent' women, and 'other' types, when Dr. Saxover tells his children about the discovery. Zephanie seriously considers the implications. On the other hand, Jane insists that Paul's family is in some sort of conspiracy against herself and humanity, and she sees nothing but the opportunity to make a fortune. "She doesn't think about anything - she's sort of programmed, like a computer."
Diana complains that "The greatest enemies of women aren't men at all, they are women: silly women, lazy women, and smug women." There is so much wrong with the world. "It would be different if we had more time to spare, but now there isn't enough margin to make people do things about it. By the time your children have grown up you're beginning to get old, so it isn't worth trying to do much, and then in another twenty-five years it will be the same for them. . . ." Longer life, however, will "give us time to acquire the wisdom to control our destiny; to get us beyond this state of acting like animal prodigies, and let us civilize ourselves."
Chocky is shorter than most of Wyndham's other novels, and does not seem to present as many ideas as his other novels. One theme which crops up throughout the novel involves Mary's relatives. David can't understand their desire to have so many children, and how they are continually comparing their kids to everyone else's. Visits from Janet and others become quite tedious.
Throughout the novel, Mary refuses to believe that Chocky is something more than a fictitious entity. Perhaps she just doesn't want to believe that Matthew is 'possessed', as David and Landis believe.
The key idea doesn't seem to show up until the last two chapters, when we find out what Chocky really is. In the universe, life is rare, and intelligent life is very rare. Chocky telepathically talks with Matthew, with the eventual goal of some sort of exchange of knowledge between lifeforms. It is a sacred duty of one intelligent life to nurture another, and to help it grow. She says that she would have interested Matthew in Physics, leading him to discover a new form of energy: 'cosmic-power'. We would eventually be able to tap into the radiation throughout the cosmos, and with this infinite amount of energy we'd no longer need to depend on the limited sun-based supplies we have now. A source of infinite power would lead to infinite possibilities. Some day, we too would be able to help other lifeforms develop; perhaps we'd even help Chocky's form at some point.
Unfortunately, Chocky failed in her first attempt, and we too helped make her first mission a failure. Certain people discovered what Chocky really was. Matthew would become very precious indeed. If Chocky had started to explain cosmic-power, what would worldwide power empires do about a threat to their existence? What would one boy's life matter? As in Trouble With Lichen, what would be the effect of a sudden scientific breakthrough with the potential to revolutionize the world? Chocky and her people will certainly try again. They will have to be much more subtle, and it will take a long time, but eventually, we'll develop this cosmic-power and more.
It turned out that the particular island they chose had a curse put upon it before its natives abandoned it many years ago. The twin mountains are infested with spiders - so many that their webs cover much of the forest, and the island looks as if an eternal fog has settled in. These are no ordinary spiders. They have learned to cooperate. They hunt in large packs. These spiders use their silk to catch warm air currents from the beach, and they can fly through the air to wherever they may land. They can cross ditches when a long silk thread, blowing in the wind, takes hold the other side. Indeed, these spiders have killed most of the animal life on the island, and will soon be killing the newly arrived humans, too.
Web has essentially the same theme as most other Wyndham works, and Camilla, who happens to be a pestologist, presents the theme quite bluntly. Web is quite similar to The Chrysalids, in that we are reminded that humans will one day be superceded by some other species. Mother nature is not motherly and kind. She is "red in tooth and claw, she ravens for food - and she has no favourites." There is no such thing as the "Balance of Nature". "All the time there is change - change of competitors, change of environment, change of evolution - and sooner or later any species will prove inadequate, and be superceded." Just like in The Chrysalids, Web even uses the "God created man in His own image" line, though here it is used as a reason why humans should use all their abilities to improve themselves, rather than to keep themselves static.
Web was published ten years after Wyndham's death. It is a short novel, and more than half of it is used to set up the situation and provide background information. As for the plot itself, relatively little happens. This novel is probably the most to-the-point of the novels I have discussed here, and it spends little time bringing up other ideas. It seems somewhat unfinished, since it doesn't go into a wide range of situations or ideas.
I have not seen The Outward Urge for sale, and I could not find it in an index of currently published books. It is mentioned on the inside front cover of recently-published Penguin editions of his novels (in the 'About the Author' blurb). It says that The Outward Urge was written with Lucas Parkes, but this is apparently a pseudonym Wyndham himself sometimes used.
Consider Her Ways and Others contains the following short stories: