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The Midwich Cuckoos
In the sleepy English village of Midwich, a mysterious silver object appears and all the inhabitants fall unconscious. A day later the object is gone and everyone awakens unharmed—except that all the women in the village are discovered to be pregnant.
220 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
About the author
John Wyndham
324 books1,911 followersJohn Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was the son of a barrister. After trying a number of careers, including farming, law, commercial art and advertising, he started writing short stories in 1925. After serving in the civil Service and the Army during the war, he went back to writing. Adopting the name John Wyndham, he started writing a form of science fiction that he called 'logical fantasy'. As well as The Day of the Triffids, he wrote The Kraken Wakes, The Chrysalids, The Midwich Cuckoos (filmed as Village of the Damned) and The Seeds of Time.
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October 6, 2024
I can't remember when I first read The Midwich Cuckoos, but it was certainly within 30 years of the end of World War II. Now, almost 40 years later, the postwartime feel is even more present in this short novel, despite the book itself being published in 1957. The way the army moves in immediately, the jeeps on the road, meetings between people who clearly think of themselves as the elders of the village, the consequent emphasis on protecting ordinary people, the "Grange" with its important secret work, all these contribute to a work redolent with the "stiff upper lip" feeling of post-war British fiction.
Although this novel is class-ridden, and the women's roles are very much of their time, it is told with a wry humour which I had forgotten in the aftermath of all the adaptations. The first of these goes by the name of "Village of the Damned", from 1960, and was followed shortly by a sequel "Children of the Damned". John Carpenter then remade "Village of the Damned" .in 1995. All these are good chilling films, but they are bound to lose the feel of the original text.
The British reserve is very much in evidence in the novel, and Wyndham conveys the clipped "BBC" accent beautifully, with his "Ihad" or "Ithink" in reported conversation. At the beginning too, when the "cuckoos" are perceived, there is much embarrassment and avoidence of discussing how this might have happened. One exchange between the doctor and the vicar is hilarious as neither seem to want to spell out what they actually mean. It becomes obvious that the situation of every single female being pregnant at the same time is scientifically inexplicable. Nothing has ever really happened in Midwich (apart from some amusing historical episodes referred to in a droll fashion right at the start) yet the villagers just accept it and go on with their lives. Again, this is typical of the period. It's dangerous to ask questions. The authorities know best. You keep quiet and carry on.
And indeed, the "elders" of the village do get together, and form a "committee" to discuss what is the best way to proceed for the good of them all. The key figures here are; Gordon Zellaby, an educated and insightful character (if this had been set any earlier he would have been the "Lord of the Manor"); Doctor Willers, the village's GP; the vicar, and Bernard Westcott, the middle man between Midwich and the military, who is usually himself represented by the narrator, Richard Gayford (a published writer who represents "Everyman").
We are thrust into the novel right in the middle of the "Dayout", when the village of Midwich seems to have been put to sleep. This section of the text is told most entertainingly. Although there is an underlying sense of dread and chill, the "indignant squawk" of the canary, as it repeatedly falls off its perch is actually very funny.
Critics of the novel have argued its implausibility; however was this all kept secret? Well, this was 1957, and we are told the village (a sleepy sort of place to start with!) was in an isolated position. It is a stretch to believe, but communications were extremely basic for ordinary folk then. And why, modern readers may ask, was abortion not suggested? Again, different times, different ethics. Abortion was a very rare event. Mostly unwanted pregnancies would end in adoption, and some of these in the story were very much wanted in any case. All the little cameos here are a treat to read. Such a variety of reactions from people very much of their time. The women I found to be especially interesting. Often novels written then tend to objectify women, but, class-ridden though they were, these women are believable as real characters. For the daughter of an educated well-to-do family it is perceived as a minor difficulty, but easily got round. Others less privileged went to dangerous lengths to avoid ever having to disclose the information.
The description of the villagers' slow acceptance of the position is carefully controlled. Again, we feel a sense of the past in the communal solidarity and responsibility; there is a strong ethical code binding them together, whereas just a few miles away, as the character Ferelyn (the daughter of Zellaby, an important pivotal character in the novel) says, "they don't want to believe it…they choose to believe that that is a tale to cover up something more normal but disgraceful." There is both a sociological slant, and a psychological one, as Doctor Willers goes on to say that it is a "self-protective reflex which defends the ordinary man and woman from disquieting beliefs."
Inventing the character of Professor Gordon Zellaby allows this novel to explore scientific hypotheses such as xenogenesis, or the supposed production of children who are markedly different from either of their parents. The narrator Richard Gayford has many indepth discussions with Zellaby, who is prone to philosophical digressions. He tends to soliloquise as he ruminates on various biological mechanisms. "The laws evolved by one particular species, for the convenience of that species, are, by their nature, concerned only with the capacities of that species - against a species with different capacities they simply become inapplicable."
Zellaby is torn between his fascination with an unknown species; his desire to know more about them, and his dawning knowledge that Bernard Westcott, who works for Military Intelligence, is keen to find a way forward, but the ethical issues within the political situation defeat him.
At the start of the novel the narrator, and therefore the reader too, is unsure of Zellaby's astuteness. Indeed Zellaby is portrayed as some sort of "nutty professor". However by the end we are beginning to realise that Zellaby is the only person who sees the bigger picture,
It is a masterstroke by Wyndham to set this novel in the specific place - and time - that he did. You may not care for the parochialism, or the fuddy-duddy characters, but the claustrophobia and conservatism of a small village in England perfectly sets off the stark issue of basic survival. Zellaby said, this struggle is a "fight that goes on perpetually, bitterly, lawlessly, without trace of mercy or compassion." The character of Gordon Zellaby is a construction by John Wyndham, a mouthpiece to convey his important message, "It is because nature is ruthless, hideous, and cruel beyond belief that it was necessary to invent civilisation." And if civilisation breaks down, what then?
There have been many imitations. The theme of raw survival runs constantly through SF. This novel makes you think, as all good fiction should. It does so with a wry humour, and a deadly sense of foreboding. Yes, it could be described as a "cosy catastrophe". But it incorporates elements from biology, physiology, sociology, psychology, and politics. And most of all, it incorporates ethics. To do this in such a breathlessly entertaining way indicates that this is a true, timeless classic.
Although this novel is class-ridden, and the women's roles are very much of their time, it is told with a wry humour which I had forgotten in the aftermath of all the adaptations. The first of these goes by the name of "Village of the Damned", from 1960, and was followed shortly by a sequel "Children of the Damned". John Carpenter then remade "Village of the Damned" .in 1995. All these are good chilling films, but they are bound to lose the feel of the original text.
The British reserve is very much in evidence in the novel, and Wyndham conveys the clipped "BBC" accent beautifully, with his "Ihad" or "Ithink" in reported conversation. At the beginning too, when the "cuckoos" are perceived, there is much embarrassment and avoidence of discussing how this might have happened. One exchange between the doctor and the vicar is hilarious as neither seem to want to spell out what they actually mean. It becomes obvious that the situation of every single female being pregnant at the same time is scientifically inexplicable. Nothing has ever really happened in Midwich (apart from some amusing historical episodes referred to in a droll fashion right at the start) yet the villagers just accept it and go on with their lives. Again, this is typical of the period. It's dangerous to ask questions. The authorities know best. You keep quiet and carry on.
And indeed, the "elders" of the village do get together, and form a "committee" to discuss what is the best way to proceed for the good of them all. The key figures here are; Gordon Zellaby, an educated and insightful character (if this had been set any earlier he would have been the "Lord of the Manor"); Doctor Willers, the village's GP; the vicar, and Bernard Westcott, the middle man between Midwich and the military, who is usually himself represented by the narrator, Richard Gayford (a published writer who represents "Everyman").
We are thrust into the novel right in the middle of the "Dayout", when the village of Midwich seems to have been put to sleep. This section of the text is told most entertainingly. Although there is an underlying sense of dread and chill, the "indignant squawk" of the canary, as it repeatedly falls off its perch is actually very funny.
Critics of the novel have argued its implausibility; however was this all kept secret? Well, this was 1957, and we are told the village (a sleepy sort of place to start with!) was in an isolated position. It is a stretch to believe, but communications were extremely basic for ordinary folk then. And why, modern readers may ask, was abortion not suggested? Again, different times, different ethics. Abortion was a very rare event. Mostly unwanted pregnancies would end in adoption, and some of these in the story were very much wanted in any case. All the little cameos here are a treat to read. Such a variety of reactions from people very much of their time. The women I found to be especially interesting. Often novels written then tend to objectify women, but, class-ridden though they were, these women are believable as real characters. For the daughter of an educated well-to-do family it is perceived as a minor difficulty, but easily got round. Others less privileged went to dangerous lengths to avoid ever having to disclose the information.
The description of the villagers' slow acceptance of the position is carefully controlled. Again, we feel a sense of the past in the communal solidarity and responsibility; there is a strong ethical code binding them together, whereas just a few miles away, as the character Ferelyn (the daughter of Zellaby, an important pivotal character in the novel) says, "they don't want to believe it…they choose to believe that that is a tale to cover up something more normal but disgraceful." There is both a sociological slant, and a psychological one, as Doctor Willers goes on to say that it is a "self-protective reflex which defends the ordinary man and woman from disquieting beliefs."
Inventing the character of Professor Gordon Zellaby allows this novel to explore scientific hypotheses such as xenogenesis, or the supposed production of children who are markedly different from either of their parents. The narrator Richard Gayford has many indepth discussions with Zellaby, who is prone to philosophical digressions. He tends to soliloquise as he ruminates on various biological mechanisms. "The laws evolved by one particular species, for the convenience of that species, are, by their nature, concerned only with the capacities of that species - against a species with different capacities they simply become inapplicable."
Zellaby is torn between his fascination with an unknown species; his desire to know more about them, and his dawning knowledge that Bernard Westcott, who works for Military Intelligence, is keen to find a way forward, but the ethical issues within the political situation defeat him.
At the start of the novel the narrator, and therefore the reader too, is unsure of Zellaby's astuteness. Indeed Zellaby is portrayed as some sort of "nutty professor". However by the end we are beginning to realise that Zellaby is the only person who sees the bigger picture,
It is a masterstroke by Wyndham to set this novel in the specific place - and time - that he did. You may not care for the parochialism, or the fuddy-duddy characters, but the claustrophobia and conservatism of a small village in England perfectly sets off the stark issue of basic survival. Zellaby said, this struggle is a "fight that goes on perpetually, bitterly, lawlessly, without trace of mercy or compassion." The character of Gordon Zellaby is a construction by John Wyndham, a mouthpiece to convey his important message, "It is because nature is ruthless, hideous, and cruel beyond belief that it was necessary to invent civilisation." And if civilisation breaks down, what then?
There have been many imitations. The theme of raw survival runs constantly through SF. This novel makes you think, as all good fiction should. It does so with a wry humour, and a deadly sense of foreboding. Yes, it could be described as a "cosy catastrophe". But it incorporates elements from biology, physiology, sociology, psychology, and politics. And most of all, it incorporates ethics. To do this in such a breathlessly entertaining way indicates that this is a true, timeless classic.
June 11, 2022
Sci fi, horror, dystopian...? A bit of all of them.
This is a straightforward and somewhat leisurely story that touches on very deep and difficult themes, mostly indirectly, but explicitly in the last quarter.
Typical English Idyll
Midwich is a sleepy English village in the late 1950s. One day, everyone in the village blacks out. They awake, apparently unharmed, only to discover that all the fertile women are pregnant - but the children they give birth to are not like other human children, and turn out to have extraordinary and disturbing powers.
It starts off by establishing the uneventful normality of the village. With dawning awareness of what has happened, most people indulge in denial and eventually a degree of acceptance. The abnormal becomes normal, and things get stranger still.
Women
The big flaw of this book is its neglect of female characters, especially given that it is the women who are violated in such a profound way. More understandable is the overprotective attitudes of some of the men, exercising "benign censorship", especially for the less educated women. That may not be acceptable now, but surely typical of the period. It also oddly omits almost all mention of older and younger siblings of the Children (the capital C is used) and barely mentions the pain of the putative fathers.
However, in in the collection Consider Her Ways and Others (see my review HERE), a couple of the stories have a strong female/feminist slant.
Philosophical Scope
The strength of the book is the way it raises so many philosophical issues in a relatively light way and barely 200 pages:
* Fear of tabloid exploitation
* The nature of self and individuality (and how it is affected by mind control and shared consciousness)
* Whether scientific dogma overrides religious dogma
* Societal and biological pressures on mothers to bond with their babies
* Original sin
* Triumph over adversity and the desire to see good in situations
* Whether ends justify means
* What it means to be human
* Evolution versus creationism
* The nature of evil and what can be done in the name of self-preservation
* The politics of colonisation and revolution
The ultimate question is whether humanitarianism trumps biological duty, and hence whether civilisation could ultimately be our downfall in a hostile environment.
Village of the Damned
There are two film versions:
* 1960 black and white classic, starring George Sanders. See details on imdb here.
* 1995 starring Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, and also featuring Mark Hamill. See details on imdb here.
2022 TV adaptation
This seven-part series reverts to Wyndham's title. It focuses on the women (Zellaby is now a female character, played by Keeley Hawes), features some siblings, and sets it in an ethnically diverse contemporary commuter town.
This version adds a major subplot. I thought it got a bit silly towards the end, but it does leave scope for a sequel. Most importantly, it freshens the story for a new audience. See details on imdb here.
I saw it being filmed a year ago:
Image: Synnove Karlsen as Cassie Stone being filmed coming to, after the blackout.
Progenitor
A sci-fi writer should be ahead of their time. But there's a downside. One of the problems Wyndham suffers nowadays is that to modern readers, his work can seem derivative, which is a dreadful injustice when in many cases it's because more modern writers have derived ideas from him.
Wyndham's Next Take on These Ideas
Eleven years after publishing this, Wyndham published Chocky, which takes very similar themes, but puts them in a more realistic setting, and a single cuckoo child, who is firmly human. See my review here.
This is a straightforward and somewhat leisurely story that touches on very deep and difficult themes, mostly indirectly, but explicitly in the last quarter.
Typical English Idyll
Midwich is a sleepy English village in the late 1950s. One day, everyone in the village blacks out. They awake, apparently unharmed, only to discover that all the fertile women are pregnant - but the children they give birth to are not like other human children, and turn out to have extraordinary and disturbing powers.
It starts off by establishing the uneventful normality of the village. With dawning awareness of what has happened, most people indulge in denial and eventually a degree of acceptance. The abnormal becomes normal, and things get stranger still.
Women
The big flaw of this book is its neglect of female characters, especially given that it is the women who are violated in such a profound way. More understandable is the overprotective attitudes of some of the men, exercising "benign censorship", especially for the less educated women. That may not be acceptable now, but surely typical of the period. It also oddly omits almost all mention of older and younger siblings of the Children (the capital C is used) and barely mentions the pain of the putative fathers.
However, in in the collection Consider Her Ways and Others (see my review HERE), a couple of the stories have a strong female/feminist slant.
Philosophical Scope
The strength of the book is the way it raises so many philosophical issues in a relatively light way and barely 200 pages:
* Fear of tabloid exploitation
* The nature of self and individuality (and how it is affected by mind control and shared consciousness)
* Whether scientific dogma overrides religious dogma
* Societal and biological pressures on mothers to bond with their babies
* Original sin
* Triumph over adversity and the desire to see good in situations
* Whether ends justify means
* What it means to be human
* Evolution versus creationism
* The nature of evil and what can be done in the name of self-preservation
* The politics of colonisation and revolution
The ultimate question is whether humanitarianism trumps biological duty, and hence whether civilisation could ultimately be our downfall in a hostile environment.
Village of the Damned
There are two film versions:
* 1960 black and white classic, starring George Sanders. See details on imdb here.
* 1995 starring Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, and also featuring Mark Hamill. See details on imdb here.
2022 TV adaptation
This seven-part series reverts to Wyndham's title. It focuses on the women (Zellaby is now a female character, played by Keeley Hawes), features some siblings, and sets it in an ethnically diverse contemporary commuter town.
This version adds a major subplot. I thought it got a bit silly towards the end, but it does leave scope for a sequel. Most importantly, it freshens the story for a new audience. See details on imdb here.
I saw it being filmed a year ago:
Image: Synnove Karlsen as Cassie Stone being filmed coming to, after the blackout.
Progenitor
A sci-fi writer should be ahead of their time. But there's a downside. One of the problems Wyndham suffers nowadays is that to modern readers, his work can seem derivative, which is a dreadful injustice when in many cases it's because more modern writers have derived ideas from him.
Wyndham's Next Take on These Ideas
Eleven years after publishing this, Wyndham published Chocky, which takes very similar themes, but puts them in a more realistic setting, and a single cuckoo child, who is firmly human. See my review here.
August 15, 2022
Recounted by a resident couple this is the speculative fiction horror story of mysterious event that leaves a gas over the small town of Midwich, it's a month so later that they realise that all the child-bearing age women are pregnant! The meat of the story is the development of the relationship between the children, their 'mothers' and the villagers!
A delightfully old-school BBC drama style British drama with a delightful sense of foreboding and horror that slowly creeps up on you, as you start to ponder, if the only solution is a deadly one. Truly a classic 'sci-fi' read and early flag waver of the more defined speculative fiction sub-genre. This book works especially well as none of the sci-fi elements are explained in any sort of the detail, as the book solely focuses on the human and not-so-human journeys. 8 out of 12.
2022 read
A delightfully old-school BBC drama style British drama with a delightful sense of foreboding and horror that slowly creeps up on you, as you start to ponder, if the only solution is a deadly one. Truly a classic 'sci-fi' read and early flag waver of the more defined speculative fiction sub-genre. This book works especially well as none of the sci-fi elements are explained in any sort of the detail, as the book solely focuses on the human and not-so-human journeys. 8 out of 12.
2022 read
March 31, 2018
What a strange story!
An easy read, at first glance, with dated language and characters. But there is more to it than meets the eye.
I absolutely loved the opening sentence:
"One of the luckiest accidents in my wife's life is that she happened to marry a man who was born on the 26th of September."
It is such a great homage to chance, which played a major role in the main characters' lives in The Day of the Triffids as well. One of the characters happened to be spared blindness, but only by accident, and thus was able to take a leading role in the ensuing action. In Midwich, the ordeal is of a different kind.
From the start, it is quite clear that the main protagonist of the novel is the village itself: the collective of Midwich, proudly present in almost all chapter headings. And it is caught in a fairy tale style beauty sleep in the beginning, thus displaying its innocence, or, - as one might feel tempted to say - virginity:
"Midwich was, almost notoriously, a place where things did not happen."
However, after an incident, soon to be called the Dayout, when all inhabitants are put out of action, the village is shocked to find out that all women (except for the one who had left town to celebrate her husband's birthday) are pregnant.
This marks the start of the story, showing in a sympathetic way how Midwich copes with the problem. As it is a science fiction novel, the reader expects the cuckoos to have super powers and a secret agenda, so their telepathic will force doesn't come as a surprise, and neither does the violence that erupts after a decade of nurturing and educating the Children with the golden eyes.
As the novel is written during the Cold War, it is also quite unsurprising to find a Soviet twist, triggering the ultimate showdown. So far, so sterile and boring, I would say. But it is a strangely compelling plot despite the predictability of some storylines. The main reason is that there are ethical questions of a higher order to consider. Faced with threats, both the human and the cuckoo population fall back on primitive defence mechanisms, and set in motion a blood feud. They create a deadlock, where ethical values clash with biological instincts.
The cuckoos use their superior will power to keep villagers hostage, in order to prevent them from evacuating Midwich and enable the state to strike against the foreign species without losses for themselves. The most important human inventions, according to one character, humour and compassion, as well as deeply rooted beliefs in civilisation, make it impossible for them to kill off their own innocent people to avoid long-term domination by a stronger species, slowly developing and growing to full power.
However, in the end, Wyndham turns the whole power balance around again, and lets the cuckoos show one single sign of humanity, which immediately makes them vulnerable: trust! All it needs then is one human with a superior mind to think like the aliens, and to reflect on the ultimate consequences of the situation:
"If you want to keep alive in the jungle, you must live as the jungle does..."
The logical last step is for this man to become a hero, in the ancient definition, and to sacrifice himself to save the main character:
The collective of Midwich!
Quite interesting, as a thought experiment, and ending on an ambiguous note. Is trust good or bad? Should the individual or the collective be valued more?
Where humanity brought destruction upon itself in The Day of the Triffids, ruthlessly playing with nature and technology, "The Midwich Cuckoos" on the other hand celebrates human inventiveness, compassion and humour, as superior to pure intellectual capacities.
As for trust? Not to be trusted...
An easy read, at first glance, with dated language and characters. But there is more to it than meets the eye.
I absolutely loved the opening sentence:
"One of the luckiest accidents in my wife's life is that she happened to marry a man who was born on the 26th of September."
It is such a great homage to chance, which played a major role in the main characters' lives in The Day of the Triffids as well. One of the characters happened to be spared blindness, but only by accident, and thus was able to take a leading role in the ensuing action. In Midwich, the ordeal is of a different kind.
From the start, it is quite clear that the main protagonist of the novel is the village itself: the collective of Midwich, proudly present in almost all chapter headings. And it is caught in a fairy tale style beauty sleep in the beginning, thus displaying its innocence, or, - as one might feel tempted to say - virginity:
"Midwich was, almost notoriously, a place where things did not happen."
However, after an incident, soon to be called the Dayout, when all inhabitants are put out of action, the village is shocked to find out that all women (except for the one who had left town to celebrate her husband's birthday) are pregnant.
This marks the start of the story, showing in a sympathetic way how Midwich copes with the problem. As it is a science fiction novel, the reader expects the cuckoos to have super powers and a secret agenda, so their telepathic will force doesn't come as a surprise, and neither does the violence that erupts after a decade of nurturing and educating the Children with the golden eyes.
As the novel is written during the Cold War, it is also quite unsurprising to find a Soviet twist, triggering the ultimate showdown. So far, so sterile and boring, I would say. But it is a strangely compelling plot despite the predictability of some storylines. The main reason is that there are ethical questions of a higher order to consider. Faced with threats, both the human and the cuckoo population fall back on primitive defence mechanisms, and set in motion a blood feud. They create a deadlock, where ethical values clash with biological instincts.
The cuckoos use their superior will power to keep villagers hostage, in order to prevent them from evacuating Midwich and enable the state to strike against the foreign species without losses for themselves. The most important human inventions, according to one character, humour and compassion, as well as deeply rooted beliefs in civilisation, make it impossible for them to kill off their own innocent people to avoid long-term domination by a stronger species, slowly developing and growing to full power.
However, in the end, Wyndham turns the whole power balance around again, and lets the cuckoos show one single sign of humanity, which immediately makes them vulnerable: trust! All it needs then is one human with a superior mind to think like the aliens, and to reflect on the ultimate consequences of the situation:
"If you want to keep alive in the jungle, you must live as the jungle does..."
The logical last step is for this man to become a hero, in the ancient definition, and to sacrifice himself to save the main character:
The collective of Midwich!
Quite interesting, as a thought experiment, and ending on an ambiguous note. Is trust good or bad? Should the individual or the collective be valued more?
Where humanity brought destruction upon itself in The Day of the Triffids, ruthlessly playing with nature and technology, "The Midwich Cuckoos" on the other hand celebrates human inventiveness, compassion and humour, as superior to pure intellectual capacities.
As for trust? Not to be trusted...
December 1, 2022
2.5 "started solid ended rather tediously" stars !!!
This is my 2018 Halloween read and I chose it off an internet list of this century's best horror novels. This is also the book that the films Village of the Damned is based on. One was 1960 and the other was 1995. I have yet to see either.
Here is a trailer of the 1995 film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WzcW...
Worth seeing just to see the little girls' wigs :)
This book seemed more sci-fi than horror to me and is about a night where all the village women in a small community become pregnant after a night of deep sleep and the discovery that a flying ship had landed close to a laboratory. The women are merely hosts and 31 or so children are born and look identical with luminous yellow eyes. As they grow they develop physically and intellectually very rapidly and seem to share one consciousness....I will stop there as ominous things begin to happen to the village folk.
The first three quarters was fairly interesting but staid and ponderous and not at all frightening but the last quarter became quasi-philosophical, pseudo-political, sort of intellectual and quite frankly duller than a broken doorknob. The ending was also rather sudden and quite frankly insultingly expected.
This is a classic that I could have done without but am still sort of glad that I read.
This is my 2018 Halloween read and I chose it off an internet list of this century's best horror novels. This is also the book that the films Village of the Damned is based on. One was 1960 and the other was 1995. I have yet to see either.
Here is a trailer of the 1995 film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WzcW...
Worth seeing just to see the little girls' wigs :)
This book seemed more sci-fi than horror to me and is about a night where all the village women in a small community become pregnant after a night of deep sleep and the discovery that a flying ship had landed close to a laboratory. The women are merely hosts and 31 or so children are born and look identical with luminous yellow eyes. As they grow they develop physically and intellectually very rapidly and seem to share one consciousness....I will stop there as ominous things begin to happen to the village folk.
The first three quarters was fairly interesting but staid and ponderous and not at all frightening but the last quarter became quasi-philosophical, pseudo-political, sort of intellectual and quite frankly duller than a broken doorknob. The ending was also rather sudden and quite frankly insultingly expected.
This is a classic that I could have done without but am still sort of glad that I read.
January 1, 2020
This was one of the coolest sci-fi / horror stories I’ve ever read, and was the basis for the 1960 film “Village of the Damned” and John Carpenter’s remake. It centers around the small English village of Midwich where the entire population, and all within a 2 mile radius of the village, are suddenly rendered unconscious for a day and a half. When the phenomena passes, all women of child bearing age are pregnant, and nine months later give birth to oddly emotionless blonde-haired children with golden eyes and terrifying abilities. I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen the movies or isn’t familiar with the story, but it’s a tense and creepy exploration of how we, as the dominant species on the planet, would react if we were to suddenly find among us a vastly superior race that presented an existential threat to our survival—and that threat bore the resemblance of children. The “cuckoo” in the title is an analogy it draws to a nefarious bird which lays its eggs in another bird’s nest, and the hatchlings, after being raised by the mother bird as her own, dispense with the mother’s real offspring. 5 stars.
Read
July 15, 2020
"All these sixty golden-eyed children we have here are intruders, changelings: they are cuckoo-children."
So speaks Gordon Zellaby, well-educated resident of the British village of Midwich when discussing the nature of a large group of highly unusual children born some nine years prior to village women of childbearing age.
The Midwich Cockoos, John Wyndham's 1957 masterfully constructed, highly philosophic tale of alien invasion was made into a science fiction horror film, Village of the Damned, in 1960 and then again in 1995.
Filming of the novel proved both fortunate and unfortunate - fortunate since the story became instantly famous; unfortunate because, being film, the horror elements and sensational visuals took over, thus relegating philosophy to the background.
Again, such a masterfully constructed tale. Spoiler alert: I'll touch on a number of revelations made in the course of the plot; however, I suspect many readers are already familiar with the happenings in Midwich, at least in broad outline.
The first mysterious occurrence is what people in Midwich refer to as the "Dayout," - within a certain invisible boundary surrounding Midwich, all living beings - humans, cows, birds, et al.- slump to the ground unconscious for a considerable time and thereafter regain consciousness with no apparent ill effects.
Some months afterwards, Midwich women discover they're pregnant and eventually give birth to a batch of babies with striking physical traits, including distinctive golden eyes. Equally alarming, none of the children have their mothers' features.
Of course, the villagers are all astir at what could have caused such an unaccountable phenomenon. Meanwhile, the men and women in neighboring towns chuckle knowingly, reckoning the folks in Midwich had themselves one of those fabled old farmers' hoots that turned naughty after midnight.
The babies grow into extraordinarily bright toddlers. Alarmed, sensing something definitely "off," Gordon Zellaby conducts experiments on these exceptional but odd toddlers and concludes, gulp, they don't have individual consciousness; rather, the 31 boys partake of one general consciousness (they share memories, learning skills and a hyper-awareness) and the 30 girls partake of another similar unified consciousness.
And so it goes until the Children (eventually recognized as a separate group, thus the capital "C") are living in their own village dormitory and receiving advanced instruction from a special teacher with a background in psychology and sociology.
Things come to a head when tragedy strikes: riding along a lane in his car, a villager, young Jim Pawle, turns a corner and accidentally runs over one of the Children. The Children's response is immediate and extreme: they cause young Jim to accelerate and crash into a wall, causing instant death. The law can place no blame on the Children. Dissatisfied with the verdict, Jim's brother grabs a gun and takes aim at the Children but immediately turns the shotgun on himself and fires.
Gordon Zellaby and others recognize the Children posses non-human powers of the mind. And, in important respects, they also acknowledge the Children's actions, even murderous, violent actions, are beyond the reach of the law.
Now the serious philosophical issues and implications are manifest and something must be done. Here are a couple of snatches of tension filled dialogue:
Mr. Leebody, the village vicar, addresses Gordon Zellaby, "But you have told me, and on the evidence I came to believe it, that the Children do not have individual spirits - that they have one man-spirit, and one woman-spirit, each far more powerful than we understand, that they share between them. What, then are they? They have the look of the genus homo, but not the nature." Zellaby acknowledges the conundrum, particularly since the law has not foreseen application to a non-human form of higher intelligence.
Mr. Leebody continues, "And from that one must go further. If they are another species, are we not fully entitled - indeed, have we not perhaps a duty? - to fight them in order to protect our own species?" Zellaby muses: all the interplanetary invasions he had read about in science fiction feature forthright attacks like H.G. Wells' Martians. He has never come across an account of an insidious invasion like the one they are evidently dealing with at the moment.
On top of everything else, shortly thereafter, a government official overseeing the Midwich phenomenon ever since the "Day Out," makes a shocking, startling revelation to Gordon Zellaby and a few others. What exactly? For John Wyndham to tell . . .
The Midwich Cuckoos - for someone like myself who enjoys a gripping story laced with philosophy, a novel not to be missed.
British SF author John Wyndham, 1903-1969
“But, as I understand it, your God is a universal God; He is God on all suns and all planets. Surely, then, He must have universal form? Would it not be a staggering vanity to imagine that He can manifest Himself only in the form that is appropriate to this particular, not very important planet?”
― John Wyndham, The Midwich Cuckoos
December 1, 2018
One day vanishes off the calendars of a peaceful village of Midwich. When everyone goes to sleep for an entire day and wakes up to find all the women of the village to be pregnant. The children when born are all identical physically with golden eyes and sharing only two consciousness; one shared by all the females and the other by all the males. Apart from that, they are not normal children. They are children with a capital C, having super psychic powers and such reasonable arguments to make as are unable to grasp by any normal person living on the planet.
The people of the village are terrified shit and manage to control the situation somehow but still are unable to prevent the inevitable. I am glad I read it as a classic because no matter how strongly it failed to terrify me out of my wits, this book does shower light philosophically on the condition of humans. And also tells that how much a need is there for man to be politically correct even in the rightest of situations! Well well, I liked reading this book.
Recommended!
The people of the village are terrified shit and manage to control the situation somehow but still are unable to prevent the inevitable. I am glad I read it as a classic because no matter how strongly it failed to terrify me out of my wits, this book does shower light philosophically on the condition of humans. And also tells that how much a need is there for man to be politically correct even in the rightest of situations! Well well, I liked reading this book.
Recommended!
December 22, 2021
The Midwich Cuckoo's is an odd name for a classic science fiction story from the 1950s. It was made into a great film in 1960 with the great British actor George Saunders. That's how I learned about the book actually. I saw the movie first. The movie and book follow each other very neatly.
Something lands in Midwich and causes everyone in the tiny, English village to fall asleep, even the animals. This is a temporary condition, but the area is cordoned off, because it's very dangerous to suddenly fall asleep at the wheel. Some people in the town are killed. When they wake, everything seems the same, but something extraordinary had happened to all the women of a certain age. The cuckoo in the title gives a hint at what that is. Cuckoos are parasitic birds who leave their eggs in other bird's nests for them to raise.
Something lands in Midwich and causes everyone in the tiny, English village to fall asleep, even the animals. This is a temporary condition, but the area is cordoned off, because it's very dangerous to suddenly fall asleep at the wheel. Some people in the town are killed. When they wake, everything seems the same, but something extraordinary had happened to all the women of a certain age. The cuckoo in the title gives a hint at what that is. Cuckoos are parasitic birds who leave their eggs in other bird's nests for them to raise.
July 27, 2016
John Wyndham's books are often described, labeled or tagged as cozy catastrophe, I am not sure what that means as the two books* I have read so far of his are rather unsettling. My guess is the Englishness of his prose style and the politeness of his characters. As something of an anglophile I very much appreciate this style of writing, it is very comforting and old school, especially with a nice cuppa tea in my hand. The only serious problem with this book is that the plot is so well known. It was filmed a couple of times as Village of the Damned, adapted for radio plays and is required reading in many schools. If you really really have no idea what this book is about here is my ridiculously simplified synopsis:
The women in an English village are implanted with alien babies while the entire village is put to sleep for a few days. The babies grow into hive mind children with mental powers.
Another great Mark Salwowski cover.
These days the hive mind idea is old hat to sci-fi fans, with Star Trek TNG's The Borg, and Doctor Who's Cybermen being the most famous examples (as far as I know). In sf literature beside The Midwich Cuckoos Theodore Sturgeon's classic More Than Human is probably the best known. The main difference is that the Sturgeon's book concerns a small group of homo gestalt people who operate as one being but are also non-homogeneous individuals. In any case, you are not likely to have your mind blown by this book.
The book was published in 1957, in those days they tell stories with such economy, a lot of story is packed into about 250 pages. The drawback is that there is little room for character development, so the polite inhabitants of this book tend to be somewhat two-dimensional. As mentioned earlier I was already well aware of the plot from the movie versions so there is no surprise in store for me but I still find the book worth reading and immersive. If you are unfamiliar with the story when you read this fine sf classic I envy you.
____________________________
* The other one being The Day of the Triffids - also a must read classic
Note:
There are two movie adaptations of The Midwich Cuckoos that I know of.
1960’s Village of the Damned
And John Carpenter’s 1995 remake
I quite enjoyed both versions but the 1960’s one is better in term of atmosphere and subtlety.
Oh! There is also a Thairipoff adaptation
There is no official English title, the Thai title “กาเหว่าที่บางเพลง” translates as “Cuckoos at Bangpleng”, Wikipedia calls it Blackbirds at Bangpleng for some reason. Here is an interesting review of this movie by Variety. I haven't seen it, don't really fancy it to be honest :)
The women in an English village are implanted with alien babies while the entire village is put to sleep for a few days. The babies grow into hive mind children with mental powers.
Another great Mark Salwowski cover.
These days the hive mind idea is old hat to sci-fi fans, with Star Trek TNG's The Borg, and Doctor Who's Cybermen being the most famous examples (as far as I know). In sf literature beside The Midwich Cuckoos Theodore Sturgeon's classic More Than Human is probably the best known. The main difference is that the Sturgeon's book concerns a small group of homo gestalt people who operate as one being but are also non-homogeneous individuals. In any case, you are not likely to have your mind blown by this book.
The book was published in 1957, in those days they tell stories with such economy, a lot of story is packed into about 250 pages. The drawback is that there is little room for character development, so the polite inhabitants of this book tend to be somewhat two-dimensional. As mentioned earlier I was already well aware of the plot from the movie versions so there is no surprise in store for me but I still find the book worth reading and immersive. If you are unfamiliar with the story when you read this fine sf classic I envy you.
____________________________
* The other one being The Day of the Triffids - also a must read classic
Note:
There are two movie adaptations of The Midwich Cuckoos that I know of.
1960’s Village of the Damned
And John Carpenter’s 1995 remake
I quite enjoyed both versions but the 1960’s one is better in term of atmosphere and subtlety.
Oh! There is also a Thai
There is no official English title, the Thai title “กาเหว่าที่บางเพลง” translates as “Cuckoos at Bangpleng”, Wikipedia calls it Blackbirds at Bangpleng for some reason. Here is an interesting review of this movie by Variety. I haven't seen it, don't really fancy it to be honest :)
October 7, 2021
"Si uno no está cegado por la seguridad de su propia indispensabilidad, debe admitir que, al igual que los reyes de la creación que nos han precedido, estamos llamados a ser reemplazados un día. Esto podrá producirse de dos maneras: sea por nosotros mismos, por nuestra autodestrucción, sea por la invasión de una especie que no podamos dominar por falta de medios técnicos suficientes. Bien, henos aquí ahora frente a una voluntad y una inteligencia superiores. ¿Con qué podemos oponernos a ella?"
"La crueldad es tan vieja como la vida. Ha habido algunos paliativos: el humor y la compasión son las más importantes invenciones humanas, pero aún no están definitivamente establecidas, pese a lo que prometen"
3.5*
Un tranquilo pueblo británico, Midwich, sufre un extraño evento .Todos sus habitantes se desvanecen y sufren un periodo de inconsciencia. Terminado este periodo recuperan la conciencia sin efectos aparentes. Sin Embargo a los meses los habitantes descubren que todas las mujeres del pueblo en edad fértil están embarazadas.
Al nacer estos niños son aparentemente normales(a excepción de un tono dorado en sus ojos). A medida que van creciendo se adelantan en su desarrollo y comienzan a presentar habilidades telepáticas y de control mental que representan "una amenaza".
Esta novela de Ciencia Ficción no se se destaca por su ritmo, personajes o situaciones. Sin embargo, en mi opinión se destaca por los planteos y dilemas éticos, morales y filosóficos. Y su intento de llevar una situación extraordinaria a un pueblo ordinario con habitantes comunes y que prevalezca cierta "lógica". Ademas de un respectivo planteo sobre la creación, la evolución, la supervivencia y la destrucción de la humanidad.
Resulta una obra bastate original, desprendiéndose de cierto parámetro de historias de la época sobre "invasiones alienígenas".
De esta historia se desprendieron dos adaptaciones cinematográficas "El pueblo de los malditos" (Village of the Damned): La original de 1960 que resulta bastante fiel.
Y la dirigida por John Carpenter en 1995 .Protagonizada por Christopher Reeve y Mark Hamill. Apunta mas al terror( la pasaban hasta el hartazgo en TV a fines de los 90 y principios de los 2000)
"La crueldad es tan vieja como la vida. Ha habido algunos paliativos: el humor y la compasión son las más importantes invenciones humanas, pero aún no están definitivamente establecidas, pese a lo que prometen"
3.5*
Un tranquilo pueblo británico, Midwich, sufre un extraño evento .Todos sus habitantes se desvanecen y sufren un periodo de inconsciencia. Terminado este periodo recuperan la conciencia sin efectos aparentes. Sin Embargo a los meses los habitantes descubren que todas las mujeres del pueblo en edad fértil están embarazadas.
Al nacer estos niños son aparentemente normales(a excepción de un tono dorado en sus ojos). A medida que van creciendo se adelantan en su desarrollo y comienzan a presentar habilidades telepáticas y de control mental que representan "una amenaza".
Esta novela de Ciencia Ficción no se se destaca por su ritmo, personajes o situaciones. Sin embargo, en mi opinión se destaca por los planteos y dilemas éticos, morales y filosóficos. Y su intento de llevar una situación extraordinaria a un pueblo ordinario con habitantes comunes y que prevalezca cierta "lógica". Ademas de un respectivo planteo sobre la creación, la evolución, la supervivencia y la destrucción de la humanidad.
Resulta una obra bastate original, desprendiéndose de cierto parámetro de historias de la época sobre "invasiones alienígenas".
De esta historia se desprendieron dos adaptaciones cinematográficas "El pueblo de los malditos" (Village of the Damned): La original de 1960 que resulta bastante fiel.
Y la dirigida por John Carpenter en 1995 .Protagonizada por Christopher Reeve y Mark Hamill. Apunta mas al terror( la pasaban hasta el hartazgo en TV a fines de los 90 y principios de los 2000)
December 27, 2015
The dawn of the 27th was an affair of slatternly rags soaking in a dishwater sky, with a gray light weakly filtering through. Nevertheless, in Oppley and in Stouch cocks crowed and other birds welcomed it melodiously. In Midwich, however, no birds sang.
In Oppley and Stouch, too, as in other places, hands were soon reaching out to silence alarm clocks, but in Midwich the clocks rattled on till they ran down.
In other villages sleepy-eyed men left their cottages and encountered their workmates with sleepy good mornings; in Midwich no one encountered anyone.
For Midwich lay entranced.
While the rest of the world began to fill the day with clamor, Midwich slept on. Its men and women, its horses, cows and sheep; its pigs, its poultry, its larks, moles and mice all lay still. There was a pocket of silence in Midwich, only broken by the whispering of the leaves, the chiming of the church clock, and the gurgle of the Opple as it slid over the weir beside the mill.
The Midwich Cuckoos, or The Village of the Damned was written in 1957 by Wyndham, the same man who wrote The Day of the Triffids.
In this book, the small, sleepy English town of Midwich falls asleep by force one night. When the people awaken, nothing seems amiss except for a huge depression in the ground where perhaps an alien craft once stood.
The people try to forget what happened until they find that every female of childbearing age in the village is pregnant. At first, consumed by shame and secrecy, this is not common knowledge, but the rates of women falling downstairs, taking very hot baths, and attempting suicide by overdose are increasing. Virgins have to tearfully confess to their loyal fiances that they are pregnant. A man comes home from 18 months overseas serving in the military and is confused to find his bewildered wife pregnant. Another man nearly beats his wife to death upon finding out she's pregnant, convinced she's cheated on him. Young teenagers who have never had sex go to the vicar in confusion and angst about their inexplicable pregnancies.
As soon as the doctor and the vicar catch on to what is happening, they team up to from a female-lead committee to calm and support the masses - assure them that they have done nothing wrong, and stop these young women from trying to commit suicides and dangerous illegal abortions.
Finally, 58 children are born in the village. Only 5 are human. The rest have yellow eyes and a fearsome psychic power that can compel people to do their bidding.
This mass rape of a town's females by aliens is a form of invasion, a weaponized rape, a way to trick another species into welcoming invaders (their own children!) with open arms instead of guns and weapons as the aliens are poised for domination of the planet. As the Children become older and older, more and more dangerous, more and more murderous, and stand to inherit the entire planet, can anything be done to stop them?
...
I really enjoyed this retro sci-fi book. It was very interesting. Of course, you have what is now seen as "old-fashioned" discourse on the differences between men and women, such as:
"Man's arrogance is boastful," he observed, "woman's is something in the fiber. We do occasionally contemplate the once lordly dinosaurs and wonder when and how our little day will reach its end. But not she. Her eternity is an article of faith. Great wars and disasters can ebb and flow, races rise and fall, empires wither with suffering and death, but these are superficialities: she, woman, is perpetual, essential; she will go on forever. She doesn't believe in the dinosaurs: she doesn't really believe the world ever existed until she was upon it. Men may build and destroy and play with all their toys; they are uncomfortable nuisances, ephemeral conveniences, mere scamperers-about, while women, in mystical umbilical connection with the great tree of life itself, KNOWS that she is indispensable. One wonders whether the female dinosaur in her day was blessed with the same comfortable certainty."
If you can ignore this hogwash, or at least smile and be amused, you will get through this book fine. I found it amusing.
We also have a change of pace in which the bleeding-heart liberals of the books - the ones who see the Children as having a right to live - are in the wrong; and the conservatives who want to bomb all of the Children out of existence are in the right. It is put forth that England's "decadent, democratic" society is the perfect breeding ground for alien spawn because they are too diplomatic and liberal to sanction the hard choices that need to be made - killing the Children quickly and effectively - in a way that, let's say, Soviet Russia wouldn't hesitate to do.
Are the Children made in the image of God? Debates are held in the book as to whether - if God is all powerful and controlling the whole universe - with all its suns and planets - if God has created these aliens in God's own image and it is simply time for humans (who always thought they were God's Chosen Ones) to step down as head honcho of the universe.
Tl;dr - I found this book's religious and philosophical and political debates fascinating. Even thought the whole basis of this book is mass rape, this issue isn't really addressed except for a few off-hand comments from the women about how used they feel and how they feel 'like animals' after having been raped this way, but it's barely a plot-point. Completely glossed over, I feel, because Wyndham was a man who (probably) was never raped and can't understand this aspect of life. He just ignores this issue altogether.
The writing is good - Wyndham is surprisingly funny and does a fair job of characterization - Gordon Zellaby is a particularly strongly written character, although he isn't our protagonist.
A fine bit of retro-sci-fi fun.
Take a look at these creepy covers:
and my personal favorite:
In Oppley and Stouch, too, as in other places, hands were soon reaching out to silence alarm clocks, but in Midwich the clocks rattled on till they ran down.
In other villages sleepy-eyed men left their cottages and encountered their workmates with sleepy good mornings; in Midwich no one encountered anyone.
For Midwich lay entranced.
While the rest of the world began to fill the day with clamor, Midwich slept on. Its men and women, its horses, cows and sheep; its pigs, its poultry, its larks, moles and mice all lay still. There was a pocket of silence in Midwich, only broken by the whispering of the leaves, the chiming of the church clock, and the gurgle of the Opple as it slid over the weir beside the mill.
The Midwich Cuckoos, or The Village of the Damned was written in 1957 by Wyndham, the same man who wrote The Day of the Triffids.
In this book, the small, sleepy English town of Midwich falls asleep by force one night. When the people awaken, nothing seems amiss except for a huge depression in the ground where perhaps an alien craft once stood.
The people try to forget what happened until they find that every female of childbearing age in the village is pregnant. At first, consumed by shame and secrecy, this is not common knowledge, but the rates of women falling downstairs, taking very hot baths, and attempting suicide by overdose are increasing. Virgins have to tearfully confess to their loyal fiances that they are pregnant. A man comes home from 18 months overseas serving in the military and is confused to find his bewildered wife pregnant. Another man nearly beats his wife to death upon finding out she's pregnant, convinced she's cheated on him. Young teenagers who have never had sex go to the vicar in confusion and angst about their inexplicable pregnancies.
As soon as the doctor and the vicar catch on to what is happening, they team up to from a female-lead committee to calm and support the masses - assure them that they have done nothing wrong, and stop these young women from trying to commit suicides and dangerous illegal abortions.
Finally, 58 children are born in the village. Only 5 are human. The rest have yellow eyes and a fearsome psychic power that can compel people to do their bidding.
This mass rape of a town's females by aliens is a form of invasion, a weaponized rape, a way to trick another species into welcoming invaders (their own children!) with open arms instead of guns and weapons as the aliens are poised for domination of the planet. As the Children become older and older, more and more dangerous, more and more murderous, and stand to inherit the entire planet, can anything be done to stop them?
...
I really enjoyed this retro sci-fi book. It was very interesting. Of course, you have what is now seen as "old-fashioned" discourse on the differences between men and women, such as:
"Man's arrogance is boastful," he observed, "woman's is something in the fiber. We do occasionally contemplate the once lordly dinosaurs and wonder when and how our little day will reach its end. But not she. Her eternity is an article of faith. Great wars and disasters can ebb and flow, races rise and fall, empires wither with suffering and death, but these are superficialities: she, woman, is perpetual, essential; she will go on forever. She doesn't believe in the dinosaurs: she doesn't really believe the world ever existed until she was upon it. Men may build and destroy and play with all their toys; they are uncomfortable nuisances, ephemeral conveniences, mere scamperers-about, while women, in mystical umbilical connection with the great tree of life itself, KNOWS that she is indispensable. One wonders whether the female dinosaur in her day was blessed with the same comfortable certainty."
If you can ignore this hogwash, or at least smile and be amused, you will get through this book fine. I found it amusing.
We also have a change of pace in which the bleeding-heart liberals of the books - the ones who see the Children as having a right to live - are in the wrong; and the conservatives who want to bomb all of the Children out of existence are in the right. It is put forth that England's "decadent, democratic" society is the perfect breeding ground for alien spawn because they are too diplomatic and liberal to sanction the hard choices that need to be made - killing the Children quickly and effectively - in a way that, let's say, Soviet Russia wouldn't hesitate to do.
Are the Children made in the image of God? Debates are held in the book as to whether - if God is all powerful and controlling the whole universe - with all its suns and planets - if God has created these aliens in God's own image and it is simply time for humans (who always thought they were God's Chosen Ones) to step down as head honcho of the universe.
Tl;dr - I found this book's religious and philosophical and political debates fascinating. Even thought the whole basis of this book is mass rape, this issue isn't really addressed except for a few off-hand comments from the women about how used they feel and how they feel 'like animals' after having been raped this way, but it's barely a plot-point. Completely glossed over, I feel, because Wyndham was a man who (probably) was never raped and can't understand this aspect of life. He just ignores this issue altogether.
The writing is good - Wyndham is surprisingly funny and does a fair job of characterization - Gordon Zellaby is a particularly strongly written character, although he isn't our protagonist.
A fine bit of retro-sci-fi fun.
Take a look at these creepy covers:
and my personal favorite:
November 2, 2018
Now I have read this book (I did try and add the link but it wouldn't work, hey ho) a number of times and it is one of my faves. This however was not someone reading or narrating the book, now I did know that, but it was another listen whilst garden audiobook.
So the book is a 5 star read, no doubt about that. This was a BBC dramatisation of an abridged version of the book, hmmm. That said it was an enjoyable listen, with the amazing Bill Nighy in the starring role, always a winner for me
Sooo, I will definitely re-read the book (5th time ?) as the abridged version is just not as good, but this was a strong 4 stars overall, despite the abridged version.
So the book is a 5 star read, no doubt about that. This was a BBC dramatisation of an abridged version of the book, hmmm. That said it was an enjoyable listen, with the amazing Bill Nighy in the starring role, always a winner for me
Sooo, I will definitely re-read the book (5th time ?) as the abridged version is just not as good, but this was a strong 4 stars overall, despite the abridged version.
March 8, 2020
I am not a voracious reader of sci-fi although after reading this book, maybe I should give it another go. A GR friend recommended this book. I got it from the library in hardcover and it was in its 8th printing (originally published in 1957, 8th printing 1967). The Evening News (I believe it is now defunct) had this to say about the novel: “Mr. John Wyndham is a master of the difficult art of “science fiction”. In the Midwich Cuckoos he has written I think his best book (JimZ: this was his 7th novel at the time)…persuasive style makes it entirely and infernally plausible. How Midwich reacted to the Cuckoos–there’s a clue to the theme–makes a taut, intensely exciting tale.’ Margaret Atwood called the novel Wyndham's “chef d'oeuvre”.
The dust jacket had no synopsis about what the book was about, and I had forgotten the context under which the GR friend had recommended it, so I went into it as a naïve reader. That’s important to say because when I first started reading it and gathering early events I was shocked. Shocked at the originality and I would say audacity of the premise, given this was the UK and that it was written in 1957: all women of childbearing age whether married or not got pregnant on the same day (September 26) of the same year at the same time in the same little English village. Whoa!!! Some women said it could not be possible that it was happening to them as they had not had sexual relations with a man. Whoa!!! Turns out eventually they were considered as “host mothers”. Something had impregnated them and God only knows what “it” was and when they were born how “they”/”them”/”its” would turn out. Well, they were born (something like 31 males and 30 females) and let’s just say they eventually turned out to be children, thank God. In fact in the book they were referred to as the Children (with a capital C). Wait, their irises in their eyes were the color of gold. And when one was taught something to one of the girls, all other girls learned it simultaneously even though those girls were not in the same room. But if the boys were not in the same room, they did not simultaneously learn it. But if one boy was taught, all boys learned… There is something not right with these children. And they are not sweet little innocents. And this book became a movie and its name was “Village of the Damned” (releases in 1960 and 1995). I will not give away any more spoilers except to say the last sentence in the book was not: “and everybody lived happily ever after.” 😊 😊
My one criticism of the book is that in the latter half of the book, the clues as to what the Children were all about and why they behaved like they did was related to us in conversation between Richard Gayford, whose occupation is unclear in the novel, and a leading elder citizen of the village, a boring old fart named Gordon Zellaby. A good deal of some chapters are taken up by Mr. Zellaby expounding on this, that, and the other thing about the Children. The redeeming aspect of the novel is when the Children actually do something, as the events are astounding. I would give this book 3.5 stars rather than 3 because of the plot line and at least to me, its startling originality, and its closeness to reality (i.e., it was not far-fetched).
Here are is a review from The Guardian but– SPOILER ALERT–do not read it in the event you want to eventually read the novel as the reviewer gives away the plot and ending:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/boo...
Here is something relevant to the title of the book and its content: About 56 of the Old World species and 3 of the New World cuckoo species (pheasant, pavonine, and striped) are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds.
Fun fact: the 1995 movie was located in the fictional locale of Midwich, California and it featured Christopher Reeve in his last movie role before he was paralyzed, and included Kirstie Alley (she played the owner of Cheers, the bar where “everybody knows your name”) as a government official, a character not present in the original novel.
The dust jacket had no synopsis about what the book was about, and I had forgotten the context under which the GR friend had recommended it, so I went into it as a naïve reader. That’s important to say because when I first started reading it and gathering early events I was shocked. Shocked at the originality and I would say audacity of the premise, given this was the UK and that it was written in 1957: all women of childbearing age whether married or not got pregnant on the same day (September 26) of the same year at the same time in the same little English village. Whoa!!! Some women said it could not be possible that it was happening to them as they had not had sexual relations with a man. Whoa!!! Turns out eventually they were considered as “host mothers”. Something had impregnated them and God only knows what “it” was and when they were born how “they”/”them”/”its” would turn out. Well, they were born (something like 31 males and 30 females) and let’s just say they eventually turned out to be children, thank God. In fact in the book they were referred to as the Children (with a capital C). Wait, their irises in their eyes were the color of gold. And when one was taught something to one of the girls, all other girls learned it simultaneously even though those girls were not in the same room. But if the boys were not in the same room, they did not simultaneously learn it. But if one boy was taught, all boys learned… There is something not right with these children. And they are not sweet little innocents. And this book became a movie and its name was “Village of the Damned” (releases in 1960 and 1995). I will not give away any more spoilers except to say the last sentence in the book was not: “and everybody lived happily ever after.” 😊 😊
My one criticism of the book is that in the latter half of the book, the clues as to what the Children were all about and why they behaved like they did was related to us in conversation between Richard Gayford, whose occupation is unclear in the novel, and a leading elder citizen of the village, a boring old fart named Gordon Zellaby. A good deal of some chapters are taken up by Mr. Zellaby expounding on this, that, and the other thing about the Children. The redeeming aspect of the novel is when the Children actually do something, as the events are astounding. I would give this book 3.5 stars rather than 3 because of the plot line and at least to me, its startling originality, and its closeness to reality (i.e., it was not far-fetched).
Here are is a review from The Guardian but– SPOILER ALERT–do not read it in the event you want to eventually read the novel as the reviewer gives away the plot and ending:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/boo...
Here is something relevant to the title of the book and its content: About 56 of the Old World species and 3 of the New World cuckoo species (pheasant, pavonine, and striped) are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds.
Fun fact: the 1995 movie was located in the fictional locale of Midwich, California and it featured Christopher Reeve in his last movie role before he was paralyzed, and included Kirstie Alley (she played the owner of Cheers, the bar where “everybody knows your name”) as a government official, a character not present in the original novel.
November 18, 2021
This English 1957 SF novel begins with total incomprehension, moves forward into dawning awareness filled with creeping dread, then sullen acceptance changing to psychological horror and ends up with full-on fear and loathing leading to inevitable catastrophe. What’s not to like?
You probably know the set up but anyway – this teensy English village is struck one evening with a sleeping sickness. Everybody conks out for 24 hours. It’s sudden so there are a few accidents. When they all wake up nothing seems to be amiss but as weeks go by it turns out that every fertile woman in the village is now pregnant. What a pickle.
John Wyndham has got himself a really squeamish idea here, the very thing to make people in the 1950s squirm and flinch from – mass pregnancies and no fathers? Because it is apparent that even virgins are now pregnant! Ewww! He lets his uncomfortable idea take the story where it might go, pretty much, but because this is 1957 there is NO MENTION of abortion whatsoever in the whole book. If he had written it only ten years later he wouldn’t have been able to avoid that prickly subject – some of the 60 or so women, knowing they had been made pregnant by something other than a human man, would have surely wished to terminate whatever lifeform was growing in their body. But not in 1957, it wasn’t an option. Should I say it wasn’t an option mentionable in a polite novel.
The other thing John Wyndham avoided LIKE THE PLAGUE was any talk of young teenagers becoming pregnant. There were, it seems no girls under the age of 18 in this village.
The grotesque situation is managed and commented on by the three or four wise birds of Midwich, all of whom are male, all of whom talk in a strangulated hoity toity manner where nothing should be mentioned directly if there is a longwinded circumlocution available – here’s our narrator :
Hitherto the spirit of Midwich had been not ill-attuned with that of the burgeoning season all around. It would be too much to say that it now went out of tune, but there was a certain muting of its strings.
Oh yes and the lower classes speak (when they are allowed a line or two) in a hilarious Cockerny:
Cor! That there Miss Ogle ain’t ‘alf goin’ to cop ‘erself a basinful of ‘Er Majesty’s displeasure over this little lot!
Because having babies happens to women and not men, the learned men get to comment on women and they say profound stuff like
If we remember that the majority of feminine tasks are deadly dull, and leave the mind so empty that the most trifling seed that falls there can grow into a riotous tangle, we shall not be surprised by an outlook on life which has the disproportion and the illogical inconsequence of a nightmare, where values are symbolic rather than literal.
In spite of all this slagging off, I really enjoyed this novel. I liked the idea (alien invasion by stealth) and the strange tension created by all these difficult ideas – surrogacy, parents not loving their children, reality being too bizarre for people to grasp – in the end it was cosy and nasty at the same time, a great combination.
You probably know the set up but anyway – this teensy English village is struck one evening with a sleeping sickness. Everybody conks out for 24 hours. It’s sudden so there are a few accidents. When they all wake up nothing seems to be amiss but as weeks go by it turns out that every fertile woman in the village is now pregnant. What a pickle.
John Wyndham has got himself a really squeamish idea here, the very thing to make people in the 1950s squirm and flinch from – mass pregnancies and no fathers? Because it is apparent that even virgins are now pregnant! Ewww! He lets his uncomfortable idea take the story where it might go, pretty much, but because this is 1957 there is NO MENTION of abortion whatsoever in the whole book. If he had written it only ten years later he wouldn’t have been able to avoid that prickly subject – some of the 60 or so women, knowing they had been made pregnant by something other than a human man, would have surely wished to terminate whatever lifeform was growing in their body. But not in 1957, it wasn’t an option. Should I say it wasn’t an option mentionable in a polite novel.
The other thing John Wyndham avoided LIKE THE PLAGUE was any talk of young teenagers becoming pregnant. There were, it seems no girls under the age of 18 in this village.
The grotesque situation is managed and commented on by the three or four wise birds of Midwich, all of whom are male, all of whom talk in a strangulated hoity toity manner where nothing should be mentioned directly if there is a longwinded circumlocution available – here’s our narrator :
Hitherto the spirit of Midwich had been not ill-attuned with that of the burgeoning season all around. It would be too much to say that it now went out of tune, but there was a certain muting of its strings.
Oh yes and the lower classes speak (when they are allowed a line or two) in a hilarious Cockerny:
Cor! That there Miss Ogle ain’t ‘alf goin’ to cop ‘erself a basinful of ‘Er Majesty’s displeasure over this little lot!
Because having babies happens to women and not men, the learned men get to comment on women and they say profound stuff like
If we remember that the majority of feminine tasks are deadly dull, and leave the mind so empty that the most trifling seed that falls there can grow into a riotous tangle, we shall not be surprised by an outlook on life which has the disproportion and the illogical inconsequence of a nightmare, where values are symbolic rather than literal.
In spite of all this slagging off, I really enjoyed this novel. I liked the idea (alien invasion by stealth) and the strange tension created by all these difficult ideas – surrogacy, parents not loving their children, reality being too bizarre for people to grasp – in the end it was cosy and nasty at the same time, a great combination.
June 13, 2009
As I read this book, it began to strike me how Wyndham's world view contrasted with that of Tolkien's. Whereas Tolkien harked back to a pre-industrial time of innocence wishing we might get back closer to nature, Wyndham reminds us that we only invented civilisation as a way of distancing ourselves from the harshness and brutality of nature. There is nothing cosy and secure about mother nature.
Wyndham also tells us that tolerance of difference is a luxury of those who are secure in themselves. We don't feel so inclined to live and let live when we feel threatened.
Gradually the serene and civil veneer of the previously peaceful village of Midwich is peeled back as it becomes apparent to the villagers that they must fight for their survival against a strange invader they do not understand.
Wyndham also tells us that tolerance of difference is a luxury of those who are secure in themselves. We don't feel so inclined to live and let live when we feel threatened.
Gradually the serene and civil veneer of the previously peaceful village of Midwich is peeled back as it becomes apparent to the villagers that they must fight for their survival against a strange invader they do not understand.
March 11, 2012
* 1/2 stars
I'm actually shocked by how utterly and completely this book frustrated and bored the hell out of me, how crushingly disappointed I am by the whole affair. I mean, this is John Wyndham for Chrissake -- author of The Chrysalids and The Day of the Triffids (both of which are all levels of awesome).
This? This just pisses me off. It's made me want to make my Jules face -- yeah, I got one ... what of it?
I mean, you have GOT to be fucking kidding me. How does such a fantastic idea in the hands of a gifted writer turn into such tepid, meandering ruminations on ethics, philosophy, the human condition and God himself. Rather than action or character development we are treated to long rambling speeches that go nowhere by characters we could care less about which add nothing to the story's drama nor our enjoyment of it.
The only reason this book didn't get slapped with one star is because it contains an awesome premise -- a staggering golden nugget of an idea alluded to in its clever title -- that has gone on to embed itself in popular culture influencing many authors and filmmakers since its original publication in 1957. The Children of Midwich are phenomenally creepy, the ramifications of their existence fraught with peril presenting a terrible, terrifying dilemma. I can dig that. British filmmakers dug that very thing and turned it into the unnerving and unforgettable classic Village of the Damned (1960).
Do yourself a favor -- skip the book, watch the movie. Now how many times in a life do you get to say that?
I'm actually shocked by how utterly and completely this book frustrated and bored the hell out of me, how crushingly disappointed I am by the whole affair. I mean, this is John Wyndham for Chrissake -- author of The Chrysalids and The Day of the Triffids (both of which are all levels of awesome).
This? This just pisses me off. It's made me want to make my Jules face -- yeah, I got one ... what of it?
I mean, you have GOT to be fucking kidding me. How does such a fantastic idea in the hands of a gifted writer turn into such tepid, meandering ruminations on ethics, philosophy, the human condition and God himself. Rather than action or character development we are treated to long rambling speeches that go nowhere by characters we could care less about which add nothing to the story's drama nor our enjoyment of it.
The only reason this book didn't get slapped with one star is because it contains an awesome premise -- a staggering golden nugget of an idea alluded to in its clever title -- that has gone on to embed itself in popular culture influencing many authors and filmmakers since its original publication in 1957. The Children of Midwich are phenomenally creepy, the ramifications of their existence fraught with peril presenting a terrible, terrifying dilemma. I can dig that. British filmmakers dug that very thing and turned it into the unnerving and unforgettable classic Village of the Damned (1960).
Do yourself a favor -- skip the book, watch the movie. Now how many times in a life do you get to say that?
January 9, 2022
I read almost all of John Wyndham’s novels back when I was a teenager. At the time my two favourites were this one and The Chrysalids. Audio versions of all his novels seem to be included with my Audible membership and I decided to indulge myself. I’ve switched my edition of the book to the audio version.
A number of Wyndham’s novels involved an existential struggle between humanity and a newly appeared threat, usually alien invaders. This one is on a small scale in the sense that all the action takes place in a single village in 1950s England, but that doesn’t detract from the level of threat the aliens pose to humanity.
The novel makes a deliberate choice in setting the invasion in a rural English village, the more so as the main characters are all from the middle-class inhabitants. The men are the sort of characters who doff their hats at the ladies and address each other using terms like “my dear fellow.” We are told several times that Midwich is a place where nothing normally happens. It’s a well-ordered, restrained kind of place, perhaps even complacent in its peacefulness, and this complacency forms an important part of the novel’s message.
Even allowing for the setting, my credulity was a little stretched by the villagers’ generally low-key reaction to something as sensational as xenogenesis. One of the young women has a fiancé who is an Army Officer stationed in the North of Scotland. She writes to tell him she is pregnant but doesn’t know how it happened, and he apparently accepts this explanation. Hmmm!
This isn’t a novel with lots of edge-of the seat action, but the threat is there from the beginning and gradually builds as the novel progresses. I think most readers would find it exciting enough, particularly if you didn’t already know the outcome, as I did. The philosophising is a bit laboured at times, and the discussions about the roles of men and women a little dated, but you have to expect the latter in a novel published in 1957. I think the concept is great and it is decently executed. Listening to it again after more than 40 years, it remains one of my favourite sci-fi novels.
A number of Wyndham’s novels involved an existential struggle between humanity and a newly appeared threat, usually alien invaders. This one is on a small scale in the sense that all the action takes place in a single village in 1950s England, but that doesn’t detract from the level of threat the aliens pose to humanity.
The novel makes a deliberate choice in setting the invasion in a rural English village, the more so as the main characters are all from the middle-class inhabitants. The men are the sort of characters who doff their hats at the ladies and address each other using terms like “my dear fellow.” We are told several times that Midwich is a place where nothing normally happens. It’s a well-ordered, restrained kind of place, perhaps even complacent in its peacefulness, and this complacency forms an important part of the novel’s message.
Even allowing for the setting, my credulity was a little stretched by the villagers’ generally low-key reaction to something as sensational as xenogenesis. One of the young women has a fiancé who is an Army Officer stationed in the North of Scotland. She writes to tell him she is pregnant but doesn’t know how it happened, and he apparently accepts this explanation. Hmmm!
This isn’t a novel with lots of edge-of the seat action, but the threat is there from the beginning and gradually builds as the novel progresses. I think most readers would find it exciting enough, particularly if you didn’t already know the outcome, as I did. The philosophising is a bit laboured at times, and the discussions about the roles of men and women a little dated, but you have to expect the latter in a novel published in 1957. I think the concept is great and it is decently executed. Listening to it again after more than 40 years, it remains one of my favourite sci-fi novels.
November 30, 2022
The Midwich Cuckoo's is an excellent story which is beautifully written, has excellent characterisation and it's just a stunning original plot.
A village in the UK loses a day and awakens to find all the ladies of childbearing age to be pregnant. What has been deposited? And how best to deal with it? These are the questions which take up most of the story.
I have so much respect for this author and his original ideas.
Everything I've read by him has been entertaining and he never fails to draw me in.
This was adapted into a movie back in 1964 under the title 'Children of the Damned' that one with all the creepy blonde children with the gold eyes. *-*
A village in the UK loses a day and awakens to find all the ladies of childbearing age to be pregnant. What has been deposited? And how best to deal with it? These are the questions which take up most of the story.
I have so much respect for this author and his original ideas.
Everything I've read by him has been entertaining and he never fails to draw me in.
This was adapted into a movie back in 1964 under the title 'Children of the Damned' that one with all the creepy blonde children with the gold eyes. *-*
July 2, 2024
This is a very weird book...well written, and I think I would read it again (though maybe only on Halloween), but very, very weird. I don't think the BBC Adaption - which is the only addaption I've seen - quite prepares you for it.
August 30, 2014
This short book on a surreptitious alien invasion continues to resonate in my imagination weeks after reading it. The pleasure of the read for me was in the quiet unfolding of events pieced together by a neutral, largely uninvolved narrator. As with Hitchcock movies, the truly disturbing events are either off-camera or seen in a reflection of someone’s experience. I think its anti-cinematic tone of a radio play may be why the book was considered enough of an innovation in the form of the novel to warrant inclusion on the Boxhall list of “1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.”
The book blurb gives away the overall plot. All residents of an already sleepy suburb in England are put to sleep within a mysterious circle of influence and later wake up unharmed, but soon they learn that all women are pregnant. The slow dawning on ordinary people that something fiendish is going on was nicely done. As in “E.T.” the military try to get involved, but it’s up to regular middle class folk to deal with the obscure threat within their midst. Because of the distant male perspective of the narrator and the main character, the scientist Gordon Zellaby, we don’t get much of a window on the personal reactions of the women. Just anecdotes to suggest that some consider this a miraculous immaculate conception and others a horrifyingly personal invasion. The rest of the book deals with how the village comes to terms with raising the resultant children, who appear normal except for their golden hair and strange eyes and stand out with precocious development. As with the story of the frog in the pot being heated, the community is slow to realize they are in danger from special powers the children possess. Like cuckoo chicks ready to take over the nest.
I long avoided the book because the movie version, “Village of the Damned”, seemed just another horror thriller with a stupid premise. But the author’s “Day of the Triffids” showed me how different his reflective narrative can be from an action oriented movie. Others have pointed out the analogies between the plot and the prevailing Cold War paranoia of the 50’s over Communist corruption from within. The primal resilience of the British middle class is the hero in that light. Another angle is on the biological imperative to survive in the face of evolutionary competition. It’s all well and good to recognize the “naturalness” of the scenario, but the liberal outlook of “live and let live” runs smack up against compelling moral arguments for genocide. In the history of science fiction, this tale has an important place in the transition between the jingoistic space operas of the “Age of Wonder” and emergence of darker visions of horror and inter-species war that render a more pessimistic view of the power of science and human superiority. If you care for a few hours of thoughtful and disturbing entertainment, there are free e-book versions of this book on the internet.
The book blurb gives away the overall plot. All residents of an already sleepy suburb in England are put to sleep within a mysterious circle of influence and later wake up unharmed, but soon they learn that all women are pregnant. The slow dawning on ordinary people that something fiendish is going on was nicely done. As in “E.T.” the military try to get involved, but it’s up to regular middle class folk to deal with the obscure threat within their midst. Because of the distant male perspective of the narrator and the main character, the scientist Gordon Zellaby, we don’t get much of a window on the personal reactions of the women. Just anecdotes to suggest that some consider this a miraculous immaculate conception and others a horrifyingly personal invasion. The rest of the book deals with how the village comes to terms with raising the resultant children, who appear normal except for their golden hair and strange eyes and stand out with precocious development. As with the story of the frog in the pot being heated, the community is slow to realize they are in danger from special powers the children possess. Like cuckoo chicks ready to take over the nest.
I long avoided the book because the movie version, “Village of the Damned”, seemed just another horror thriller with a stupid premise. But the author’s “Day of the Triffids” showed me how different his reflective narrative can be from an action oriented movie. Others have pointed out the analogies between the plot and the prevailing Cold War paranoia of the 50’s over Communist corruption from within. The primal resilience of the British middle class is the hero in that light. Another angle is on the biological imperative to survive in the face of evolutionary competition. It’s all well and good to recognize the “naturalness” of the scenario, but the liberal outlook of “live and let live” runs smack up against compelling moral arguments for genocide. In the history of science fiction, this tale has an important place in the transition between the jingoistic space operas of the “Age of Wonder” and emergence of darker visions of horror and inter-species war that render a more pessimistic view of the power of science and human superiority. If you care for a few hours of thoughtful and disturbing entertainment, there are free e-book versions of this book on the internet.
December 5, 2021
A strange silver object appears and everyone in Midwich loses consciousness for a whole day. Everything seems to have returned to normal until they discover that every woman in the small village is pregnant. I remember being fascinated by the idea when I was a kid and loved the related “Village of the Damned’ movie. The book, however, was quite dull with virtually nothing happening in the first third, and little emphasis placed on suspense throughout. It Is at it best late on when the situation leads to a philosophical discussion about what action to take. Worth reading just for the ideas.
December 16, 2009
Ah, my other favorite John Wyndham classic and another prime example of the blurred lines between sf and horror in the first half of the 20th century.
You all are familiar with the concept even if you don't know where it comes from. Creepy kids are born in an isolated England town to unsuspecting mothers and proceed to terrorize it with their hivemind and telepathic abilities. Classic stuff and pillaged innumerable time in both print and film. How do you defeat enemies who know your every thought?
You all are familiar with the concept even if you don't know where it comes from. Creepy kids are born in an isolated England town to unsuspecting mothers and proceed to terrorize it with their hivemind and telepathic abilities. Classic stuff and pillaged innumerable time in both print and film. How do you defeat enemies who know your every thought?
March 9, 2021
Well I guess timeouts or naughty steps wouldn't be that effective in the town of Midwich.
I am sufficiently traumatised by that super creepy scifi mystery. Like, arm hairs standing on end creepy! The tension was palpable as these glowy eyed terrors turned their evil gazes on villagers that displeased them. Thoroughly recommend this. I am enjoying reading these classic OG scifi novels that have inspired books and movies and, in my opinion, have stood the test of time remarkably well.
I am sufficiently traumatised by that super creepy scifi mystery. Like, arm hairs standing on end creepy! The tension was palpable as these glowy eyed terrors turned their evil gazes on villagers that displeased them. Thoroughly recommend this. I am enjoying reading these classic OG scifi novels that have inspired books and movies and, in my opinion, have stood the test of time remarkably well.
February 16, 2017
The sleepiest of all sleepy English country villages is the scene of a most unusual event: on a lovely autumn night, everyone in Midwich passes out, to wake up seemingly unharmed the next morning. But it soon comes to their attention that every fertile woman who was in the village during this strange episode is now pregnant. When those babies are born nine months later, it is obvious that they are not normal, or even human… They all have dark blond hair and golden eyes, grow twice as fast as ordinary children and their minds seem to be intricately connected, almost in a sort of hive-mind...
The clever title refers to a behavior distinctive to the cuckoo, known as brood parasitism: basically, the bird will lay its egg in another bird's nest to be looked after until it hatches, and the resulting chick is then often fed by the host bird until it is big enough to evict its foster mother, and sometimes even the youngs of the host species. See where Wyndham is going with this?!
I love books of tha era, that blend sci-fi and horror so masterfully. This is my first John Wyndham novel (but definitely not my last!) and I loved how he builds up an atmosphere of strange menace oh so slowly. At the beginning, a great deal of time is spent explaining how quiet, quaint and utterly uneventful life is in Midwich. As it is set in the 1950's, a lot is made of the Cold War paranoia, typically British attitudes of stoicism and propriety and people's attitude towards unwanted pregnancies. Some of the attitudes displayed by the characters could have been exasperatingly old-fashioned, but I was pleasantly surprised to see them made fun of (for example, when the - male - village doctor attributes some disturbing behaviors to the mothers' hysteria, his wife is quick to contradict him in his reassuring and condesending rationalisation).
The streak of dark humour that runs through the book gave the story an almost fairy-tale-like whimsy while tackling a lot of philosophical issues, which made it a much more enjoyable (not to mention lighter) read than I had expected. But make no mistake, this isn't comedic: the tension and strangeness of the little town's situation builds up slowly and becomes disturbing quite suddenly.
How do we react to threat, especially when said threat comes from something our every instinct tells us not to harm? Is the collective worth more than the individual well-being, should our moral barometer overrule our biological instincts? I loved that the other locations where the same phenomenon of host-mothers took place reacted so differently from Midwich in dealing with the situation, which illustrated an interesting and broad scope of possibilities.
I would have liked more of the story to really involve the perspective of one of the surrogate mothers: their story is always conveyed to the reader second or even third-hand. The experience of being a living incubator for an alien offspring would have been a fascinating thing to explore more deeply. The story might also feel a little dated to modern readers: aliens among us are not a new trope, but when Wyndham penned this book, it hadn't been used to death yet, and must have been very fresh and frightening to his readers.
Recommended for vintage sci-fi fans!
(I read a few reviews where people mention the women being raped by aliens, but I can't actually find anywhere in the book when it is stated that women suffered forced sexual encounters. For all we know, the aliens artificially insiminated the women of Midwich in the same clinical way a fertility doctor would. There really is no sexual violence of any kind in this book.)
The clever title refers to a behavior distinctive to the cuckoo, known as brood parasitism: basically, the bird will lay its egg in another bird's nest to be looked after until it hatches, and the resulting chick is then often fed by the host bird until it is big enough to evict its foster mother, and sometimes even the youngs of the host species. See where Wyndham is going with this?!
I love books of tha era, that blend sci-fi and horror so masterfully. This is my first John Wyndham novel (but definitely not my last!) and I loved how he builds up an atmosphere of strange menace oh so slowly. At the beginning, a great deal of time is spent explaining how quiet, quaint and utterly uneventful life is in Midwich. As it is set in the 1950's, a lot is made of the Cold War paranoia, typically British attitudes of stoicism and propriety and people's attitude towards unwanted pregnancies. Some of the attitudes displayed by the characters could have been exasperatingly old-fashioned, but I was pleasantly surprised to see them made fun of (for example, when the - male - village doctor attributes some disturbing behaviors to the mothers' hysteria, his wife is quick to contradict him in his reassuring and condesending rationalisation).
The streak of dark humour that runs through the book gave the story an almost fairy-tale-like whimsy while tackling a lot of philosophical issues, which made it a much more enjoyable (not to mention lighter) read than I had expected. But make no mistake, this isn't comedic: the tension and strangeness of the little town's situation builds up slowly and becomes disturbing quite suddenly.
How do we react to threat, especially when said threat comes from something our every instinct tells us not to harm? Is the collective worth more than the individual well-being, should our moral barometer overrule our biological instincts? I loved that the other locations where the same phenomenon of host-mothers took place reacted so differently from Midwich in dealing with the situation, which illustrated an interesting and broad scope of possibilities.
I would have liked more of the story to really involve the perspective of one of the surrogate mothers: their story is always conveyed to the reader second or even third-hand. The experience of being a living incubator for an alien offspring would have been a fascinating thing to explore more deeply. The story might also feel a little dated to modern readers: aliens among us are not a new trope, but when Wyndham penned this book, it hadn't been used to death yet, and must have been very fresh and frightening to his readers.
Recommended for vintage sci-fi fans!
(I read a few reviews where people mention the women being raped by aliens, but I can't actually find anywhere in the book when it is stated that women suffered forced sexual encounters. For all we know, the aliens artificially insiminated the women of Midwich in the same clinical way a fertility doctor would. There really is no sexual violence of any kind in this book.)
July 28, 2024
A premise that promises so much, and a great set up in sleepy little England, with moral dilemmas and intrigue. The only drawback are passages of moralising and philosophical debate that slow the pace down - Zellenby is presented as a bore by the narrator, but we have to read large tracts of his musings. In such a short novel, there was room for more scope to a global story. Still, Wyndham never disappoints and his stories and ideas still seem fresh and insightful about the human condition.
April 12, 2018
So I m continuing my adventures with reading all of the books by John Wyndham that I can get my hands on, and after this third one I plan to get them all because once again I ended up giving this a 4.5*s out of 5*s. I really think I've finally found the exact sort of older SF I enjoy, cosy, interesting and also fun.
This story follows the sleepy village of Midwich where not a lot really happens. It's very quiet until one day there is a mysterious occurrence known as 'Dayout' where everyone within the village falls unconscious for a whole day and then wakes up mostly unharmed. Life goes on for a while but eventually the women of the village discover there is something not quite right and they realise that *every* young woman is carrying a child simultaneously (even those un-wed, shock horror). No one can really explain things, and so we follow what goes on next through the eyes of one of the villagers who was unaffected.
What I like about this one is it really has a sense of unease throughout. The people of this village have to try and band together and support each other through such a big unknown it's hardly even something they can comprehend. They are all reliant on one another for support because the outside world doesn't know what's really happened, and they are worried about what these children may bring.
The story goes on to talk about what its like to have aliens or unknowables in your midst, there's a lot of unexplainable parts of their lives now, and they need to figure out how to keep on living like normal in their new normality. We get to see some of the struggles some of the villagers face, and we also see how things can escalate quickly and become unsettled.
I really liked the concept and I think this was another strong example of Wyndham showing how good he is at drawing you in to the story and making you wonder just what is happening. I love that these books are all standalone and such easy reads, and I think they work really well as kind of sci fi mysteries. 4.5*s from me.
This story follows the sleepy village of Midwich where not a lot really happens. It's very quiet until one day there is a mysterious occurrence known as 'Dayout' where everyone within the village falls unconscious for a whole day and then wakes up mostly unharmed. Life goes on for a while but eventually the women of the village discover there is something not quite right and they realise that *every* young woman is carrying a child simultaneously (even those un-wed, shock horror). No one can really explain things, and so we follow what goes on next through the eyes of one of the villagers who was unaffected.
What I like about this one is it really has a sense of unease throughout. The people of this village have to try and band together and support each other through such a big unknown it's hardly even something they can comprehend. They are all reliant on one another for support because the outside world doesn't know what's really happened, and they are worried about what these children may bring.
The story goes on to talk about what its like to have aliens or unknowables in your midst, there's a lot of unexplainable parts of their lives now, and they need to figure out how to keep on living like normal in their new normality. We get to see some of the struggles some of the villagers face, and we also see how things can escalate quickly and become unsettled.
I really liked the concept and I think this was another strong example of Wyndham showing how good he is at drawing you in to the story and making you wonder just what is happening. I love that these books are all standalone and such easy reads, and I think they work really well as kind of sci fi mysteries. 4.5*s from me.
October 31, 2022
The women of Midwich all fell pregnant together but the children they birthed were distinctly inhuman. All were blond-haired, golden-eyed, and with the feel of the uncanny surrounding them. Since their arrival, the town, and all its inhabitants thought they knew about the world, has been altered.
Wyndham is an author who has long lingered on my shelves unread. I decided to alter this, this October, and it proved the perfect month in which to do so. His books, especially this one in particular, all reside within the sci-fi genre but retain a pervading eerie atmosphere throughout the course of it. This is heightened by the fear of the unknown forever being present and the truth behind the events occurring being hard fought for.
Wyndham is an author who has long lingered on my shelves unread. I decided to alter this, this October, and it proved the perfect month in which to do so. His books, especially this one in particular, all reside within the sci-fi genre but retain a pervading eerie atmosphere throughout the course of it. This is heightened by the fear of the unknown forever being present and the truth behind the events occurring being hard fought for.
June 15, 2022
There's a good selection of John Wyndham books in the Audible Plus catalogue right now, and I have been having a nice time working my through them.
This was a great one to start with, as it's read by Stephen Fry who is probably my favourite person to listen to.
The story itself was excellent, very interesting idea that was executed well.
This was a great one to start with, as it's read by Stephen Fry who is probably my favourite person to listen to.
The story itself was excellent, very interesting idea that was executed well.
August 20, 2023
No ha estado mal, si es cierto que hay mas parte de teoría filosófica sobre como comportarse frente a una nueva especie superior que podría dar al traste con la especie humana y demás ideas, de lo que pensaba.
El ritmo del libro es lento, no hay acción apenas y vemos como es el discurrir en el pueblo de Midwich con ese extraño alumbramiento masivo.
Valoración: 6/10
Sinopsis: Durante veinticuatro horas, el apacible pueblecito de Midwich, perdido en la campiña inglesa, se ve inmerso en un hecho insólito: una invisible cúpula de fuerza lo aísla del resto del mundo, y todos sus habitantes pierden la noción de lo ocurrido en aquel lapso de tiempo. Pero esto será sólo el principio. Pasado el fenómeno, otro hecho no menos insólito viene a turbar de nuevo la paz: todas la mujeres del pueblo descubren repentinamente que están encinta… y nueve meses más tarde dan a luz unos extraños niños de ojos dorados. ¿Quiénes son, cómo han llegado a nacer, cuál es su origen, qué peligro pueden representar? Muy pronto empiezan a descubrirse sus extraños poderes, que culminarán, nueve años más tarde, en uno de los más terribles enfrentamientos, y darán origen a un problema moral de difícil, casi imposible solución.
Porque, al igual que cuclillos anidando en nido ajeno, los Niños, esos sorprendentes muchachos de mente comunitaria, queridos y temidos a la vez, representan el mayor peligro con el que ha tenido que enfrentarse nunca la raza humana.
El ritmo del libro es lento, no hay acción apenas y vemos como es el discurrir en el pueblo de Midwich con ese extraño alumbramiento masivo.
Valoración: 6/10
Sinopsis: Durante veinticuatro horas, el apacible pueblecito de Midwich, perdido en la campiña inglesa, se ve inmerso en un hecho insólito: una invisible cúpula de fuerza lo aísla del resto del mundo, y todos sus habitantes pierden la noción de lo ocurrido en aquel lapso de tiempo. Pero esto será sólo el principio. Pasado el fenómeno, otro hecho no menos insólito viene a turbar de nuevo la paz: todas la mujeres del pueblo descubren repentinamente que están encinta… y nueve meses más tarde dan a luz unos extraños niños de ojos dorados. ¿Quiénes son, cómo han llegado a nacer, cuál es su origen, qué peligro pueden representar? Muy pronto empiezan a descubrirse sus extraños poderes, que culminarán, nueve años más tarde, en uno de los más terribles enfrentamientos, y darán origen a un problema moral de difícil, casi imposible solución.
Porque, al igual que cuclillos anidando en nido ajeno, los Niños, esos sorprendentes muchachos de mente comunitaria, queridos y temidos a la vez, representan el mayor peligro con el que ha tenido que enfrentarse nunca la raza humana.
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