Gardening Sale!
 
 

Special Offers see all

Enter to WIN!

Weekly drawing for $100 credit. Subscribe to our Specials newsletter for a chance to win.
Privacy Policy

More at Powell's

Recently Viewed clear list

Guests | May 6, 2013

Benjamin Percy: IMG The Roof People

1 comment By Benjamin Percy

My sister slept with the light on until she was 27. She rightfully blames me. I would leap out of closets with my hands made into claws. I would... Continue »
  1. $18.19 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    Red Moon

    Benjamin Percy 9781455501663
spacer
Ships free on qualified orders.
$15.00
New Trade Paper
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
Qty Store Section
1 Beaverton Science Fiction and Fantasy- A to Z
4 Burnside Science Fiction and Fantasy- A to Z
9 Local Warehouse Science Fiction and Fantasy- A to Z
6 Remote Warehouse Science Fiction and Fantasy- A to Z

More copies of this ISBN

This title in other editions

Other titles in the Modern Library 20th Century Rediscovery series:

The Day of the Triffids (Modern Library 20th Century Rediscovery)

by

The Day of the Triffids (Modern Library 20th Century Rediscovery) Cover

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

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 eyes, misses the most spectacular meteorite shower England has ever seen. Removing his bandages the next morning, he finds masses of sightless people wandering the city. He soon meets Josella, another lucky person who has retained her sight, and together they leave the city, aware that the safe, familiar world they knew a mere twenty-four hours before is gone forever.

But to survive in this post-apocalyptic world, one must survive the Triffids, strange plants that years before began appearing all over the world. The Triffids can grow to over seven feet tall, pull their roots from the ground to walk, and kill a man with one quick lash of their poisonous stingers. With society in shambles, they are now poised to prey on humankind. Wyndham chillingly anticipates bio-warfare and mass destruction, fifty years before their realization, in this prescient account of Cold War paranoia.

Review:

"My son's middle name is Wyndham. Does that tell you how much I respect and revere the late John Wyndham? And The Day of the Triffids is the best of them all. He was a wonderful writer who was able to reinvigorate science fiction with spectacle and true thrills, and do so with a writing voice that created both suspense and elegance. A true master." Ed Gorman

Review:

"A thoroughly English apocalypse, it rivals H. G. Wells in conveying how the everyday invaded by the alien would feel. No wonder Stephen King admires Wyndham so much." Ramsey Campbell

Review:

"John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids is one of my all-time favorite novels. It's absolutely convincing, full of little telling details, and that sweet, warm sensation of horror and mystery." Joe R. Lansdale

Synopsis:

Wyndham chillingly envisions biowarfare and mass destruction in an account that seems even more prescient today than when it first appeared in 1951 at the height of cold war paranoia.
back to top

About the Author

John Wyndham (1903-1969) was a successful English author who wrote novels and short stories from the 1950s to the 70s, focusing on science fiction and creating many classics still popular today, including Out of the Deep.

Edmund Morris won a Pulitzer Prize for The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, the first in a trilogy, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for the sequel, Theodore Rex, both available as Modern Library Paperbacks. He lives in New York.

back to top

What Our Readers Are Saying

Add a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 3 comments:
cwelgin, September 25, 2011 (view all comments by cwelgin)
In order to read this book and enjoy it, you have to put yourself back in the time period in which it was written. This is a 'classic' sci-fi novel. Its dated.

First of all, you have over reaching elements of early space exploration (Sputnik), the cold war, and limited communication. If you think about the plot and the meteor shower that opens this story and the subsequent blindness worldwide, its sort of stretching plausibility. But if you go with it and read on, your in for a historical treat.

Im sure your aware, The Triffids are these carnivorous plants that humans originally planted for the oils they produced. Only when everyone went blind, the plants were able to break out and hunt down the humans. They could think collectively.

This is sort of like a zombie novel before Romero and Night of the Living Dead. This is also written as a memoir... from the point of view of a survivor. Its well done and holds up well.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
report this comment
patch, November 25, 2007 (view all comments by patch)
I read this knowing that it's on everyone's recommended reading list for great classic sci-fi, knowing I should read it, but I didn't really expect to like it. I got sucked into the plot and spat out again on the other side, looking at my garden in a very suspicious fashion. Some of the science and sociology seems a little naive, but the characterization is absorbing and the burning desire to find out "what happens next??" was more than enough to get me hooked.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(4 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment
lukas, June 5, 2007 (view all comments by lukas)
An unjustly neglected classic of British sci-fi, "The Day of the Triffids," like the best of its kind, has all the thrills of the genre, as well as a deeper, daker social resonance. After a meteor shower leaves most of the inhabitants of Britain blinded, society crumbles and homicidal plants (seriously) take over. The survivors try to start again, but end up fighting with each other as much as they do the triffids. Wyndham's writing is swift, direct, and restrained; despite the outlandish plot, there is a real sense of dread, a harsh view of human nature, and a firm grasp of the apocalypse. Written during the Cold War, it certainly captures a dark and paranoid mood much better than its mainstream counterparts. In our age of bio-terrorism, failed states, and widespread poverty, the book has lost none of its relevance and power. The opening of "28 Days Later" (hero in hospital, deserted city) owe a lot to this.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(5 of 10 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment
View all 3 comments
back to top

Product Details

ISBN:
9780812967128
Introduction:
Morris, Edmund
Publisher:
Modern Library
Introduction by:
Morris, Edmund
Introduction:
Morris, Edmund
Author:
Wyndham, John
Author:
Morris, Edmund
Location:
New York
Subject:
General
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Science Fiction - General
Subject:
Science fiction
Subject:
England
Subject:
Blind
Subject:
Meteorites
Subject:
Plant mutation.
Subject:
Science / General
Subject:
Science Fiction and Fantasy-A to Z
Copyright:
2003
Edition Number:
2003
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Series:
20th Century Rediscoveries
Series Volume:
107-292
Publication Date:
20030731
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
256
Dimensions:
7.98x5.35x.56 in. .45 lbs.
back to top

Other books you might like

  1. The Martian Chronicles
    Used Mass Market $2.95
  2. Startide Rising (Bantam Spectra Book) Used Mass Market $4.95
  3. I, Robot Used Mass Market $4.95
  4. Dune Used Mass Market $4.95
  5. Pontypool Changes Everything Used Trade Paper $11.00
  6. The Demolished Man
    Used Trade Paper $7.50
back to top

Related Subjects

Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Science Fiction and Fantasy » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Science Fiction and Fantasy » Classics
Humanities » Philosophy » General

The Day of the Triffids (Modern Library 20th Century Rediscovery) New Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$15.00 In Stock
Product details 256 pages Modern Library - English 9780812967128 Reviews:
"Review" by , "My son's middle name is Wyndham. Does that tell you how much I respect and revere the late John Wyndham? And The Day of the Triffids is the best of them all. He was a wonderful writer who was able to reinvigorate science fiction with spectacle and true thrills, and do so with a writing voice that created both suspense and elegance. A true master."
"Review" by , "A thoroughly English apocalypse, it rivals H. G. Wells in conveying how the everyday invaded by the alien would feel. No wonder Stephen King admires Wyndham so much."
"Review" by , "John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids is one of my all-time favorite novels. It's absolutely convincing, full of little telling details, and that sweet, warm sensation of horror and mystery."
"Synopsis" by , Wyndham chillingly envisions biowarfare and mass destruction in an account that seems even more prescient today than when it first appeared in 1951 at the height of cold war paranoia.
spacer
spacer
  • back to top
Follow us on...




Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.