The book has been adapted into that awful 1962 version and two BBC series which are both supposedly much better. But more than anything, I just enjoyed it as a very entertaining and fast-paced post-apocalyptical novel. I liked how this novel leaves unanswered questions (what are the Triffids? What was humanity’s role in the decline of civilization? What will the future hold?). The Triffids are much more interesting in the novel than they are in the movie version and they don’t simply go around chomping humans in venus-trap mouths.Ĭonsiderably less violent than Saramago’s Blindness (with a similar premise), Wyndham’s novel shows a slightly more optimistic account of humanity although he does present the range of possible human responses. Thankfully, the novel isn’t about giant man-eating plants. Not only was it hugely entertaining, but it was well-written and raises interesting questions about loneliness, survival, and human morality. Here’s the trailer:īut I read this book in large part because I was assigned it for a reading challenge. My bias wasn’t helped any by having seen the horrendously cheesy 1960s film clips for the movie based on this book. Biologist Bill Masen and author Josella Playton are two of them, finding each other and starting out on an adventure to survive and build a new world.Īs I mentioned above, science fiction isn’t really my favorite genre and I had no real desire to read this book.

The only individuals saved from blindness were those who, for one reason or another, did not witness the meteor shower. Published in 1951, it tells the story of the end of the world as we know it. Humans are left blind after a mysterious comet lights up the world’s skies with eery bright green flashes ― allowing the mysterious Triffids free reign. The Day of the Triffids is perhaps the best known, and most critically-acclaimed novel by science fiction author John Wyndham. Find out why…įind it/Buy it here: The Day of the Triffids Science fiction is not my favorite genre but this classic had me rethinking my mild aversion.

Day of the triffids 1951