Background Information
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John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, an arguably most important English science friction writer, was born on July 10, 1903, at Petersfield, Hampshire, England (Interet Movie Database 1). John is more recognized as his pen name, John Wyndham. "The Chrysalids," and "The Day of the Triffids," are two scientific novels which he known for. His skillful creations of post-apocalyptic landscapes setting, and vivid descriptions of human nature still amuse many young readers today. John Wyndham died on March 11, 1969 at his home town, Petersfield (The Guardian 1). |
Petersfield, Hampshire, England
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Early Life
John Wyndham was born in a middle class family in a village Called "Dorridge." John Wyndham's father was a barrister and his mother was the daughter of a local iron-master Unfortunately, when John Wyndham was eight years old, his parents divorced. John Wyndham and his brother, Vivian Beynon Harris, also an English writer, must attend boarding schools and English preparatory (The Guardian 1). John Wyndham attended school until the age of 18, which built foundation for his literary career. After graduating from Bedales Private School, John Wyndham attempted some unsuccessful occupations such as farming, law, and advertising (Internet Movie Database 1). Finally, John Wyndham started to publish written works to earn money in 1925.
Early Literature
John Wyndham, age of 54
John Wyndham began to publish more and more literary works starting from 1931. In John Wyndham's early literary career, he published many short stories and serial fiction, and some detective stories through American science fiction magazines using his pen name (University of Liverpool 1). During this period, John Wyndham published stories such as “Wonder Stories" in 1931, "The Lost Machine" in 1932 and his first novel, "The Secret People" in 1935 (The Internet Speculative Fiction Data Base 2). These early works not only allow him to gain more experiences and maturity in writing but also helped him to discover his interests in writing science friction literature (University of Liverpool 1). John Wyndham was able to use his experience and interest to build a successful literature career.
Interruption of World War II
The Ministry of Information
In 1939, the Second World War was ignited and all British including John Wyndham were focused to win the war. John Wyndham temporary abandoned literature and served in the Ministry of Information in London as a censor. Later, John Wyndham was recruited by the Royal Corps of Signals as a cipher operator (The Guardian 2). John Wyndham was even a part of the Normandy Landing! John Wyndham's war time experience greatly impacted his life and literature as he proves it using literature such as "The Chrysalids," a story based on his imagination of a post-nuclear bombed North America.
Post-War Literature
After the war, John Wyndham returned back to literature and started to write more works. During this period he wrote many outstanding science friction novels. It is considered that from 1950-1960 is the peak of his career where he published the most works and most popular works. The two most successful novels are considered to be "The Chrysalids," and "The Day of the Triffids."
 The Chrysalids, 1955
"The Chrysalids," a science fiction novel, is published in 1955. It is about a group of children's struggle against the stubborn sense of Christianity in a rural community called, "Waknuk."
This novel is distinguishable different from John Wyndham's usual science friction novel where in this novel the story take place in a future society (The John Wyndham Archive 12). Rather than John Wyndham's normal early twentieth century background. 
The Chrysalids' World Map
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 The Day of the Triffids, 1951
"The Day of the Triffids" is a post apocalyptic novel published in 1951. This story is about a type of aggressive plant attempting to destroy man-kind and take over Earth (Internet Movie Database 1). This is John Wyndham's most popular novel. It is made into one film, three radio drama series and two television series. The multiple reproduction of this novel is enough to prove its popularity.
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Other Works
1935-1968Foul Play Suspected, 1935
The Secret People, 1935 Planet Plane, 1936 The Day of the Triffids, 1951 The Kraken Wakes, 1953 Jizzle, 1954 The Chrysalids, 1955 The Seeds of Time, 1956 The Midwich Cuckoos(The village of the damned), 1957 The Outward Urge, 1959 Trouble with Lichen, 1960 Consider Her Ways and Others, 1961 Chocky, 1968 |
Posthumously PublishedSleepers of Mars, 1973
The Best of John Wyndham, 1973 Wanderers of Time, 1973 Exiles on Asperus, 1979 Web, 1979 No Place Like Earth, 2003 Plan for Chaos, 2009 |
Works Cited
