Classic Science Fiction: 'Day of the Triffids' is dated but haunting

Despite showing its age, John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids continues to be a consuming post-apocalyptic tale.

A hit since its 1951 publication, I first read John Wyndham's landmark story of a post-apocalyptic England sometime in the mid 1980s. This was the very first book I found at Santa Monica's A Change of Hobbit, one of my earliest science fiction reads. I had not thought of it in years and couldn't recall having re-read it.

I would say I had a hard time putting the book down, but other things have kept me exhausted. I did eagerly look forward to opening it every chance I got and could be found taking every spare moment away from life's daily catastrophes to read til I was done. I love it when books do that for me.

Wyndham's tale is one of England after a cosmic event blinds 99% of humanity. With humanity sightless, a semi-sentient plant challenges man for the role of apex predator! Naturally, humanity is more its own enemy than the plants.

I was impressed with how believable the world building and set-up was for what, in 1951, was such an outlandish tale. I know various folks accused Wyndham of borrowing heavily from others, but this story inspired a LOT of subsequent fiction. The triffids are wonderfully thought out.

The early 1950s gender and race relations come thru pretty strong in the book. Reading this now, living in a time where it seems 27% or so of the United States seems to want to go back to this, was kind of disturbing. Read the rest