Scan barcode
jimbowen0306's review against another edition
4.0
I'm torn by this book. It's about how the Earth (and its' assorted governments) deal with strange happenings that occur over a period of 10+ years. The happenings start with shooting stars landing in the sea, and end with widespread flooding, and the associate impact on the people and the governments.
I felt that the book might be a little dated, because instead of addressing the issues, the people were quick to blame communism, and other countries, when it was palpably obvious they'd have real problems creating the technology that would cause the effects that were observed. In addition, I'm surprised the populace Wyndham described kept it together as long as they did.
My other grumble is the ending. When we were kids doing English at school we were told to never finish essays with "I woke up to find it was all a dream," but this book felt very much that way. The fightback only started in the last few pages of the book.
This said, the book observed the genteelness and formality of society back in the 1950s quite will, and contrasted it well with the gradually increasing the tension. In addition. If you approach this as a period piece, I think you'll actually quite like it.
I felt that the book might be a little dated, because instead of addressing the issues, the people were quick to blame communism, and other countries, when it was palpably obvious they'd have real problems creating the technology that would cause the effects that were observed. In addition, I'm surprised the populace Wyndham described kept it together as long as they did.
My other grumble is the ending. When we were kids doing English at school we were told to never finish essays with "I woke up to find it was all a dream," but this book felt very much that way. The fightback only started in the last few pages of the book.
This said, the book observed the genteelness and formality of society back in the 1950s quite will, and contrasted it well with the gradually increasing the tension. In addition. If you approach this as a period piece, I think you'll actually quite like it.
the_sunken_library's review against another edition
5.0
As with all John Wyndham books this was delightfully eloquent, intelligent and innovative.
An alien invasion that came in a shower of fireballs and then disappeared beneath the waves. A slow narrative told by two EBC journalists, documenting the coming war. Icy dread along your spine as all hope for humanity dwindles and the tides begin to rise. A drowned world.
But is all lost? You'll just have to read and find out for yourself.
An alien invasion that came in a shower of fireballs and then disappeared beneath the waves. A slow narrative told by two EBC journalists, documenting the coming war. Icy dread along your spine as all hope for humanity dwindles and the tides begin to rise. A drowned world.
But is all lost? You'll just have to read and find out for yourself.
oxnard_montalvo's review against another edition
Sadly lacken' in Kraken...
But otherwise I was charmed by this jolly archtypical English broadcaster man and his beloved wife and their attempts to make sense of the Horrors. If you're reading this for creature descriptions, you'll be disappointed; the awkwardly named 'Bathies' hardly feature. There's one scene in which they attack a sleepy port town, nearly make off with our heroine, and then... we never see them again. Instead we get loads about the bureaucracy of the apocalypse. Disrupted trade routes leading to high inflation, international rumblings and sabre rattling, day to day inconveniences; we read about the labour strikes and the media vvying to be the first to break the story. There's a "EBC? Don't you meann BBC?" running gag that gets shoehorned in every five minutes; a doomsayer whose monologues are so dull I skipped them, only to have to read back because PLOT HAPPENED; it's a meandering, unfocused story, but I dug it.
The tone and narrative are very unexpected; what struck me most about this book about sea monsters, is how lovely the protagonists' marriage was. As characters they have a bit of that public schoolboy/girl adventurer about them as they go about their reporting, but they still felt like actual real people you might encounter in real life.
There's a whole (admittedly brief) section Mike (I can't believe his name is Mike... it makes him sound American to me, but whatever) and Phyllis proceed to go to meditative in patient therapy to overcome the trauma they experienced; they work together as a team, consult one another, still work independently on their own projects. Mike clearly thinks the world of his wife, sees her as his professional equal, sees himself as HER professional equal.
I dunno. It got to me. Especially since it was written in 1953. It's notable.
But otherwise I was charmed by this jolly archtypical English broadcaster man and his beloved wife and their attempts to make sense of the Horrors. If you're reading this for creature descriptions, you'll be disappointed; the awkwardly named 'Bathies' hardly feature. There's one scene in which they attack a sleepy port town, nearly make off with our heroine, and then... we never see them again. Instead we get loads about the bureaucracy of the apocalypse. Disrupted trade routes leading to high inflation, international rumblings and sabre rattling, day to day inconveniences; we read about the labour strikes and the media vvying to be the first to break the story. There's a "EBC? Don't you meann BBC?" running gag that gets shoehorned in every five minutes; a doomsayer whose monologues are so dull I skipped them, only to have to read back because PLOT HAPPENED; it's a meandering, unfocused story, but I dug it.
The tone and narrative are very unexpected; what struck me most about this book about sea monsters, is how lovely the protagonists' marriage was. As characters they have a bit of that public schoolboy/girl adventurer about them as they go about their reporting, but they still felt like actual real people you might encounter in real life.
There's a whole (admittedly brief) section Mike (I can't believe his name is Mike... it makes him sound American to me, but whatever) and Phyllis proceed to go to meditative in patient therapy to overcome the trauma they experienced; they work together as a team, consult one another, still work independently on their own projects. Mike clearly thinks the world of his wife, sees her as his professional equal, sees himself as HER professional equal.
I dunno. It got to me. Especially since it was written in 1953. It's notable.
andreastopit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
captlychee's review against another edition
4.0
[a:Brian W. Aldiss|33297|Brian W. Aldiss|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1333457329p2/33297.jpg] once referred to the essential Englishness of John Wyndham's works, and this is a good example. He also talked about the 'cosy catastrophe' in whic the protgonists should have a relatively good time while the world collapses around them. [b:The Day of the Triffids|530965|The Day of the Triffids|John Wyndham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320530145l/530965._SY75_.jpg|188517] might have that, at least in its first four chapters, but this book dispenses with cosiness fairly quickly.
Something, possibly extraterrestrial in origin, is now n the depths of the oceans and it isn't friendly. At first, the 'baddies' as they're eventually called, attack ships, causing loss of life and economic disruption, to which the protagonists, a pair of writes for the 'EBC'* are pretty immune. Then mysterious objects, quickly called 'sea tanks' come up out of the sea and capture people, quickly dragging them back to the depths in a drowned state (using a sticky substance that appears again in [b:The Chrysalids|826845|The Chrysalids|John Wyndham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1271095852l/826845._SY75_.jpg|910927]). They're repulsed again, so they take to melting the polar icecaps and flooding the world. This third phase is the one that will ring loudest with Climate Change doomsayers.
The Englishness comes from the way the protagonists get through these problems with pluck and preparedness, while maintaining their English politeness. While an American novel would have society collapse into a muddle of Libertarian conclaves, England remains England up until very near the end. When we see our heroes in a drowned London, with Trafalgar Square underwater and people rowing the flooded streets looking for furniture to burn to keep warm, the end really sinks home, but the heroes are still quoting poetry—and [a:T.S. Eliot|18540|T.S. Eliot|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1612500008p2/18540.jpg]—to each other.
Wyndham doesn't shy away from the violence, though. It's just underplayed, much like [a:John Christopher|2001324|John Christopher|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1437333572p2/2001324.jpg] does in [b:The Death of Grass|941731|The Death of Grass|John Christopher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486838846l/941731._SY75_.jpg|797220]. As they leave flooded London for their house in Cornwall, they are fired upon, and they appropriate a boat from its dead owner to get there. The cosiness of this catastrophe ebbs pretty quickly. Unlike The Day of the Triffids, which in ends on a note of resolve, this one ends with a note of hope.
While the England that Wyndham wrote in is probably gone forever, those of us who remember that there was such a place, even if only in our imaginations inspired by writers like Wyndham, will enjoy this book. For the rest of you, it's a lesson in how to write a good story about good people.
*The EBC is a rival to the BBC, which exists in the story, but other media outlets are called by euphemistic names. The Sunday Times is referred to as The Sunday Tidings, for example. Why Wyndham did this is a mystery for someone to solve if they write a biography of him.
Something, possibly extraterrestrial in origin, is now n the depths of the oceans and it isn't friendly. At first, the 'baddies' as they're eventually called, attack ships, causing loss of life and economic disruption, to which the protagonists, a pair of writes for the 'EBC'* are pretty immune. Then mysterious objects, quickly called 'sea tanks' come up out of the sea and capture people, quickly dragging them back to the depths in a drowned state (using a sticky substance that appears again in [b:The Chrysalids|826845|The Chrysalids|John Wyndham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1271095852l/826845._SY75_.jpg|910927]). They're repulsed again, so they take to melting the polar icecaps and flooding the world. This third phase is the one that will ring loudest with Climate Change doomsayers.
The Englishness comes from the way the protagonists get through these problems with pluck and preparedness, while maintaining their English politeness. While an American novel would have society collapse into a muddle of Libertarian conclaves, England remains England up until very near the end. When we see our heroes in a drowned London, with Trafalgar Square underwater and people rowing the flooded streets looking for furniture to burn to keep warm, the end really sinks home, but the heroes are still quoting poetry—and [a:T.S. Eliot|18540|T.S. Eliot|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1612500008p2/18540.jpg]—to each other.
Wyndham doesn't shy away from the violence, though. It's just underplayed, much like [a:John Christopher|2001324|John Christopher|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1437333572p2/2001324.jpg] does in [b:The Death of Grass|941731|The Death of Grass|John Christopher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486838846l/941731._SY75_.jpg|797220]. As they leave flooded London for their house in Cornwall, they are fired upon, and they appropriate a boat from its dead owner to get there. The cosiness of this catastrophe ebbs pretty quickly. Unlike The Day of the Triffids, which in ends on a note of resolve, this one ends with a note of hope.
While the England that Wyndham wrote in is probably gone forever, those of us who remember that there was such a place, even if only in our imaginations inspired by writers like Wyndham, will enjoy this book. For the rest of you, it's a lesson in how to write a good story about good people.
*The EBC is a rival to the BBC, which exists in the story, but other media outlets are called by euphemistic names. The Sunday Times is referred to as The Sunday Tidings, for example. Why Wyndham did this is a mystery for someone to solve if they write a biography of him.
100yrs's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
brandenfoley's review against another edition
3.5
Pretty interesting but maybe just a tad too slow for me
stephibabes's review against another edition
4.0
The slow unravelling of all society under the sustained attack resonated so much. The arrogant denials that any outside lifeform or threat could pose a real danger to the human race due to their delusional belief that we are so intelligent as to not require any real countenance measures, really seems quite painfully synonymous with the approach to climate crisis.
Obviously this was never written to intend that and it does scan in all possible ways. But the discrediting of science in order to sure up the markets, and then the kind of gawping at the unfolding disaster as water washes around the ankles is really chilling.
I love dystopian fiction. I have done seen being a teenager. John Wyndham slots in nicely with those authors whom I think do it in a compelling and harrowing way.
I listened to the audiobook on Audible. I won't be keeping it after the free trial. Support your local libraries and explore their collections of physical books, ebooks and audiobooks!
Obviously this was never written to intend that and it does scan in all possible ways. But the discrediting of science in order to sure up the markets, and then the kind of gawping at the unfolding disaster as water washes around the ankles is really chilling.
I love dystopian fiction. I have done seen being a teenager. John Wyndham slots in nicely with those authors whom I think do it in a compelling and harrowing way.
I listened to the audiobook on Audible. I won't be keeping it after the free trial. Support your local libraries and explore their collections of physical books, ebooks and audiobooks!
dantalion_xi's review against another edition
5.0
Well paced narrative dense of subtle human drama throughout apocalyptic times. The description of what is happening in the world is slow, deliberate, with a focus on how the protagonists react. The atypical couple at the center of the story make for ideal, reliable witnesses, which makes the impact of the worldwide events more significant. I loved it.