The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham – 1951
I have read a couple of Wyndham novels, but fifties classic The Day of the Triffids was my introduction to him. When I was fourteen my English teacher tasked us with reading the book, which turned out to be one of the better literary choices I was given in high school. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that the following year, when I had to write a report on a novel, I chose this one.
Twenty-five years later, and I still have that report. Actually, for some reason I have three versions of it, the first of which is footnoted with a rather scathing teacher’s comment, that begins like this:
As I read, Brian, I began to feel more and more uneasy. I suspect you have relied very heavily on the intro to D of the T or some study guide.
…and ends like this:
Your review is totally devoid of quotes. You need to reference throughout to evidence from within the text to back up your extremely sweeping statements.
The fact that I tried to be edgy by titling it, The Day of the Triffids: A Textual Appreciation, probably didn’t help my chances, and with great stuff such as:
It is made up of many chapters of varying lengths.
…it’s difficult to argue the lack of effort I put in to the essay, which is a shame, because I really did enjoy the story. It was the first time I had dabbled with science fiction, but the post-apocalyptic premise grabbed me from the start, and the strong emphasis on character development over the typical sci-fi stereotypes, made the prose accessible and engaging to genre virgins like me.
So, after a quarter of a century it would appear that I still haven’t grasped how to write an in-depth analysis of The Day of the Triffids, but trust me – I’ve read it. And it’s good.
It’s very difficult to read stories of this vintage – even those written by a deity of the supernatural genre such as MR James – after spending any length of time with modern authors. It takes a while to acclimatise to the differences in language and the way that the story itself has been put together, but stick with it – it’s a worthwhile excursion.
Cartoons play a large part in the lives of many children, but Rocko’s Modern Life – featuring an impetuous wallaby and his group of often neurotic, anthropomorphic friends – didn’t even begin broadcasting until I was seventeen. In fact, in a sombre kiss with history, I was watching an episode when the news of Princess Diana’s death broke, on the 31st August, 1997, and interrupted the show.
With the exception of one other television show – which I will get to later in this series – Rocko’s Modern Life was the only cartoon that I followed when I was, well… too old to really be following cartoons. The thing that appealed to me about Rocko and his buddies is that their target audience was never children. Sure, it was an original Nickelodeon production, but the crudely drawn characters and rough-around-the-edges animation fed into some adult humour that was often filled with innuendo and suggestion. Unfortunately, because of that, its mainstream success was ultimately limited.
-- Purveyor of Imagination -- 