Calum Grant

Triffids

I've just been listening to the Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. BBC 7 now has a listen-again feature that my radio can directly browse, and in fact there are so many audio books that I tend to listen to books almost as much as I read them (which isn't all that often).

I have read this book before and seen the TV series, and it's one of my favourite books. It's about a post-apocalyptic Britain where everyone has been blinded by a meteor storm, and the mobile flesh-eating plants (called Triffids) are having one giant picnic on the hapless humans. Great! The book is really about challenging our perceptions of humanity, and warning about the dangers of technology, plus a bit of horror to make it readable.

The tiny group of sighted survivors need to rebuild humanity, but are permanently fighting off the Triffids who keep trying to sting them to death.

Unfortunately I have spotted a major flaw in the book. Triffids came about because humans bred them for food - they are more nutritious and packed with vitamins than the best and most fortified fish-oils. So instead of spending all of their time learning to farm vegetables and running away from Triffids, why not just eat the bloody Triffids? I'm sure dried Triffid stumps would make excellent firewood, and Triffid stems would make a superb building material. Especially since the protagonist Bill Mason was a Triffid farmer in his previous life. Heh? Didn't think of that one did you John?

posted by Calum Grant @ 9:05 AM