This is the first book I’ve read where the most interesting characters aren’t even human. They’re plants. And they want to eat you.
Triffids isn’t a great book, but it truly has its moments. They come in the minutaie of everyday life as it stands years after most of the population is gone, like the necessity of vacuum-sealed cigarettes, to Brighton (England) being bordered off with just a KEEP OUT sign; which is all you need, by then, to know that you really don’t want to go there anymore. I think most of it’s fame came from it being possibly the very first book that imagines a post-apocolyptic world, but it shows its age. First published in 1951, I find the Cold War, and the threat of that, shadows the text and its interesting America is still being depicted as “America, the Brave” with none of the tarnished reputation it is now saddled with in the international media.
Plus, the ‘goodies’ don’t technically win. Neither do the ‘baddies’ lose. Which I liked.
Also, now, I hereby resolve to treat my indoor and outdoor plants with a bit more respect. You know – just in case…..
day of the triffids john wyndham
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