Home > John Wyndham
John Wyndham ( July 10, 1903 - March 11, 1969) was the pen name used by the apocalyptically oriented British science fiction writer John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris.1 Introduction
In his earlier writings, Wyndham used various combinations of his names, such as John Benyon or Lucas Parkes. In one example, The Outward Urge, he actually used both the names "John Wyndham" and "Lucas Parkes", pretending to be two collaborating authors.
His book The Day of the Triffids was possibly the origin of the style of British science fiction described as the "cosy catastrophe": a genre in which everyone is killed except for a handful of middle-class survivors, who from the ashes of civilisation secure for themselves a Savile Row wardrobe and a sporty roadster or two. This was his most famous book and gave the word "triffid" to the English language, though several of his other books are proving to be equally durable.
The Midwich Cuckoos depicts a small village in which, during 24 hours when the inhabitants are unconscious and the village is cut off from the outside world, all the women of child-bearing age mysteriously become pregnant, eventually giving birth to golden eyed children with telepathic abilities. It was filmed as Village of the Damned (1960), with (unusually for a science fiction film) the script being fairly faithful to the book. There is also a remake in colour by John Carpenter, starring Christopher Reeve in one of his last film roles before he was paralysed in a riding accident. There have also been several radioFor other uses see: radio (disambiguation Radio is a technology that allows the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of light. Radio waves Radio waves are a form of electromagnetic radiation, and are adaptations by the BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation BBC is primarily a national publicly-funded broadcaster based in the United Kingdom, which also has some international services. Some of the international services (such as BBC cable TV in America, Canada and elsewhere, the most recent in 20032003 is a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar), and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Summary Perhaps the defining global event of the year 2003 was the Invasion of Iraq launched by the U. Wyndham began work on a sequel novel, Midwich Main, which he abandoned after only a few chapters.
The ChrysalidsThe Chrysalids ( US title: Re-Birth is a science-fiction novel by John Wyndham, first published in 1955. The story is set in a post-apocalypse rural area of Labrador whose leaders are frantic to keep God from bringing Tribulation upon the land again., also known as Re-Birth, depicts a rural community in NewfoundlandThis is about the island in Canada. For the Canadian province of Newfoundland see Newfoundland and Labrador. For other meanings of Newfoundland see Newfoundland (disambiguation). Newfoundland is a large island off the north-east coast of North America, an, several centuries after some nuclear war, with a religious obsession about eliminating those born with any genetic abnormalitiesA birth defect is a physical or mental abnormality present at the time a child is born. Birth defects range from minimal, such as birthmarks, and slightly mobility-impairing, such as amelia of the legs, to very serious, such as cerebral palsy, and incompa. It follows a small group of cousins who realize their telepathic abilities have to be hidden, and their troubles when these are discovered. The novel was adapted as a BBC Radio 4 play in the early 1980s.
All of Wyndham's novels have an air of old-fashioned Englishness which is either quaint or stuffy, depending upon one's point of view.
