Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Day of The Triffids by John Wyndham

28 reviews

slow-paced

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dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Diverse cast of characters: No

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dark reflective medium-paced

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dark reflective tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Everyone who knows me in real life knows I had beef with the chapter (chapter 2, I believe) that focused on a lot of wordy science and technology behind the triffids and their creation, but a lot of sci-fi novels seem to have parts like that so I’m not really upset at all. 

Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! There are definitely parts that read now as a bit dated in terms of views and actions, but nonetheless a very good read with characters that I didn’t expect to like very much but did after all. 

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dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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dark reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I wasn't aware at first but some American versions appear to be just localized, and some are localized AND abridged. As far as I can tell this isn't noted anywhere so make sure to do some research on your edition if you don't have one from the UK.

Um, well. The author did know that, like, blind people... exist, right? I understand that adjusting to sudden total loss of sight en masse would present unique difficulties but there is no acknowledgement that anyone might have gone from before the event to after with no real change to their abilities, or that blind communities exist, etc. Wyndham seems to treat the blind (and women as well!) as incompetent without a guiding hand. Our main character Billy
doesn't seem overly troubled by leaving them all for dead until he becomes personal friends with a few people who can't see,
which I suppose is realistic enough after all. I just found it kind of insulting and infantalizing that everyone in the novel essentially treats loss of sight as a fate worse than death.

I didn't find the political messaging in the novel very engaging. I think upheavals and apocalyptic settings can be an excellent way to shine a light on conventions and laws that aren't truly functioning for the benefit of society, or to create microcosms highlighting issues, but I found Billy's moral dilemmas to be pretty surface level. He never seemed to really question deeply, just make excuses for what he wanted to do anyway. Not unrealistic, again, but frustrating. And wow, it sure was a choice to
portray a breeding farm as romantic.
I appreciate that the end message can be read as
survival only being possible by groups working together as equals
but I would have appreciated seeing more of that on the page, personally. 

This was interesting in that it was an apocalypse via three vectors
(carnivorous plants, loss of sight, and pandemic),
but that unfortunately resulted in a good portion of the book being light on the triffids themselves. I was most engaged in the introductory hospital scene and then at the end once
Billy arrives at the farm onwards.
I expected to like this more but it weirdly reminded  me more of zombie horror (which isn't my preferred subgenre) --especially UK zombie media-- without zombies than plant horror.

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winter_b's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 7%

These first few pages hinted at this book being ableist so I didn't stick around to find out *how* ablesit.

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Loved the story. Feels like it’s applicable today with our careless commoditization of natural resources for the benefit of human consumption and the extreme rightists trying to control women’s reproductive freedoms. Frightening times!

Had to wonder how the book would’ve addressed women unable to bear children and how close we’d get to being forced into being Marthas and aunts, à la The Handmaid’s Tale.

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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