"All the reality of a vividly realised nightmare." The Times
"When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere."
"Triffids" are tall plants capable of aggressive and seemingly intelligent behaviour. They are able to move about on their three "legs", appear to communicate with each other, and possess a deadly whip-like poisonous sting that enables them to kill and feed on the rotting carcasses of their victims.
The Day of the Triffids begins with Bill Masen in hospital, his eyes bandaged after having been splashed with droplets of triffid venom in a lab accident. During his convalescence he is told of the unexpected and beautiful green meteor shower that the entire world is watching. He awakes the next morning to a silent hospital and learns that the light from the unusual display has rendered any who watched it completely blind.
After unbandaging his eyes, he wanders through an anarchic London full of almost entirely sightless inhabitants, and witnesses civilization collapsing around him.
He meets some other sighted survivors and they decide to leave London and start a colony in the countryside...
The Day of the Triffids, Wyndham's first significant novel, has been permanently in print since its publication in 1951, and remains one of his most widely-read and highly acclaimed works.
To read a short biography of John Wyndham, click on the link below:
http://ds.dial.pipex.com/l.j.hurst/jwyndham.htm
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