Book Review: The Day of the Triffids. John Wyndham

When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.

      This is the first sentence of the post-apocalyptic novel by John Wyndham under the intriguing title "The Day of the Triffids."

      The plot revolves around the main character, Bill Mason, who finds himself in a world where virtually the entire population of the planet has suddenly become blind. An additional layer of panic and confusion is brought by the Triffids - carnivorous plants, which have become very popular in recent years thanks to the nutritious and cheap oil that they produce. Now that the population is not able to keep them on a leash, they are transforming into active hunters. Their ability to move around and attack defenseless people with the poisonous sting creates even greater havoc.

It must be, I thought, one of the race's most persistent and comforting hallucinations to trust that "it can't happen here" -- that one's own time and place is beyond cataclysm. 

        However, the book does not focus so much on the action and a battle with the plants (though there are plenty violent scenes as the author skillfully maintains the tension), but it deals with the moral values ​​and their relevance in the post-apocalypses world, habits and people’s motivations.  

Most people […] prefer to be coaxed or wheedled, or even driven. That way they never make a mistake: if there is one, it's always due to something or somebody else.

      One of the grate scenes takes place during the first days after the disaster, when millions of blind people are robbing the nearest shops in search of food. The protagonist sees as a blind man steals a can from a helpless woman bank only to discover that it’s a paint can.

     At the same time, the author perfectly conveys the desperate situation. The small number of sighted people that remained in the country is facing a difficult choice. To save themselves or to help the blind? Whose well-being is more important – tat of the mankind or of a small community? Which decision is more noble - to give an easy death to the doomed or to prolong their suffering?

    

       Usually I'm not a big fan of post-apocalyptic books, because they often fall under established clichés. However, "The Day of the Triffids" is one of the best books I've read this year. And I'm eager to recommend it to all fantasy lovers.