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Description edit
In 1951 John Wyndham published his novel The Day of the Triffids to moderate acclaim. Fifty-two years later, this horrifying story is a science fiction classic, touted by The Times (London) as having “all the reality of a vividly realized nightmare.” Bill Masen, bandages over his wounded... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
A meteor shower conveniently blinds people. Large carnivorous plants get loose. People are killed off by the plants or die of virulent plague. Survivors get corraled by militaristic thug. Escapees get to the Isle of Wight.
Characters edit
- Mr. Bill Masen: Protagonist and narrator. Triffid reasearcher.
- Josella Playton: Author and debutante
- Wilfred Coker: This character has a very normal reaction to something that is quite important. He is a serious and clever character who deals well with the various problems throughout the novel. He is a very likeable character who we respect by the end of the novel.
- Susan: Girl found by Bill
- Dennis Brent: Add a description of this character.
- Walter Lucknor: Triffid researcher.
- Stephen Brennell
- Mary Brent
- Torrence
- Michael Beadley
- Alf
- Miss Durrant
- David Masen: child
- Ivan Simpson: pilot
- Umberto Christoforo Palanguez
- Joyce Taylor
- Elspeth Cary: The 'official record'
- Dr. E. H. Vorless
- Sandra Telmont: Former continuity girl
- Jimmy
- Tommy: Younger brother of Susan
- Mrs. Walton
- Ted Danton
Quotes edit
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“Standing there, and at that time, my heart still resisted what my head was telling me. Even yet I had the feelin that it was all something too big, too unatural really to happen. Yet I knew that it was by no means the first time that it had happened.”
Bill Masen -
“Complete loneliness was the worst state I could imagine just then. Alone one would be nothing. Company meant purpose, and purpose helped to keep the morbid fears at bay”
Bill Masen -
“I point this out to you because the world we knew is gone - finished. The conditions which framed and taught us our standards have gone with it. Our needs are now different, and our aims must be different.”
Dr. E. H. Vorless -
“We went on sitting there on the wall hand in hand, looking at the dappled trees - but not seeing them very much, at least, I wasn't. Then in the building behind us someone started up a gramophone, playing a Strauss waltz. It was painfully nostalgic as it lilted through the empty courtyard. For an instant the road before us became the ghost of a ballroom; a swirl of colour, with the moon for a crystal chandelier”
Bill Masen -
“There is an inability to sustain the tragic mood, a phoenix quality of the mind. It may be halpful or harmful, it is just a part of the will to survive - yet, also, it has made it possible for us to engage in one weakening war after another.”
Bill Masen
- Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
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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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When almost half a lifetime has been spent in one conception of order, reorientation is no five-minute business.
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It’s surprising how much you don’t grow out of when it comes to the test.
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“Anybody who has had a great treasure has always led a precarious existence,”
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To deprive a gregarious creature of companionship is to maim it, to outrage its nature.
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There’s a whole lot of people don’t seem to understand that you have to talk to a man in his own language before he’ll take you seriously. If you talk tough and quote Shelley they think you’re cute, like a performing monkey or something, but they don’t pay any attention to what you say. You have to talk the kind of lingo they’re accustomed to taking seriously.
Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers -
“You know, one of the most shocking things about it is to realize how easily we have lost a world that seemed so safe and certain.”
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers -
Everyone starts by knowing nothing about anything, but God gives him—and even her—brains to find out with. Failure to use them is not a virtue to be praised; even in women it is a gap to be deplored.”
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers -
There is an inability to sustain the tragic mood, a phoenix quality of the mind. It may be helpful or harmful, it is just a part of the will to survive—yet,
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers -
It was some little time later that the first one picked up its roots and walked.
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
First Sentence edit
WHEN a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.
Table of Contents edit
1 The End Begins
2 The Coming of the Triffids
3 The Groping City
4 Shadows Before
5 A Light in the Night
6 Rendezvous
7 Conference
8 Frustration
9 Evacuation
10 Tynsham
11 …And Further On
12 Dead End
13 Journey in Hope
14 Shirning
15 World Narrowing
16 Contact
17 Strategic Withdrawal
Series & Lists edit
This is book 120 of 200 in BBC 'Big Read' Top 200 Novels, 2003. (authoritative list)
This is book 10 of 10 in Science Fiction Masterworks Hardcover Series. (publisher edition list)
This is book 526 of 1286 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)
This book is in Penguin's Top 100 Classics. (authoritative list)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This book is in Significant Speculative Fiction (Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror). (community list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- John Wyndham (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Country: Great Britain
Publication Date: December 1951
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Country: Great Britain
Publication Date: December 1951
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 304
Awards edit
- BBC's Big Read (April 2003, #120)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PR6015.A6425 D3 2003
- Dewey: 823.91
Subjects edit
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