The Chrysalids is the first science fiction book I’ve read in a long time, and I regretted what I missed.
The Chrysalids is a cult work that will attract readers who are not particularly interested in science fiction. The world that the author created decades ago with this novel is still (unfortunately) alive today. It will astonish you and make you resent humanity a little more. You will evaluate the normal, the abnormal, the different, the same repeatedly. And you will examine what emerges through them with slightly different eyes. I would also like to say that you will love how the author describes class divisions and what people do with the power they have gained in masses. It is a book that I think would be very useful, especially for young readers. They will look forward to taking a short break from classes. Enjoy!
The Chrysalids
The disturbing post-apocalyptic novel The Chrysalids by John Wyndham, author of The Day of the Triffids and The Kraken Wakes and dramatised on BBC Radio 4.
David Strorm’s father doesn’t approve of Angus Morton’s unusually large horses, calling them blasphemies against nature. Little does he realise that his own son, and his son’s cousin Rosalind and their friends, have their own secret abberation which would label them as mutants. But as David and Rosalind grow older it becomes more difficult to conceal their differences from the village elders. Soon they face a choice: wait for eventual discovery, or flee to the terrifying and mutable Badlands. . .
The Chrysalids is a post-nuclear apocalypse story of genetic mutation in a devastated world and explores the lengths the intolerant will go to keep themselves pure.
‘Perfect timing, astringent humour. . . one of the few authors whose compulsive readability is a compliment to the intelligence’ Spectator
‘Remains fresh and disturbing in an entirely unexpected way’ Guardian
John Wyndham
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes. Some of his works were set in post-apocalyptic landscapes.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
