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Web
A millionaire English lord dreams of founding a utopian community on a remote Pacific island....
Among the forty-odd men and women selected for the project are a pestologist named Camilla and the narrator. Within hours of the group's arrival on the sunny isle their radio has been destroyed. Within days several members of the group are dead. Dreams turn to nightmare....
Among the forty-odd men and women selected for the project are a pestologist named Camilla and the narrator. Within hours of the group's arrival on the sunny isle their radio has been destroyed. Within days several members of the group are dead. Dreams turn to nightmare....
141 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
27 people are currently reading
1487 people want to read
About the author
John Wyndham
378 books2,019 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 193 reviews
November 11, 2025
The events depicted in Web are written from the viewpoint of Arnold Delgrange, a man whose wife and daughter were recently killed in a motor collision. They revolve around a failed attempt to establish a utopian colony on the fictional island of Tanakuatua in the Pacific Ocean, remote from civilization. Tanakuatua is now uninhabited by humans, as its native inhabitants were evacuated from the island due to British nuclear testing and were relocated.
However, a small group of natives defied the evacuation order and placed a curse on any people who returned to the island. When Delgrange and his fellow pioneers reach the island, they soon discover it has been overrun by spiders that hunt in packs.
However, a small group of natives defied the evacuation order and placed a curse on any people who returned to the island. When Delgrange and his fellow pioneers reach the island, they soon discover it has been overrun by spiders that hunt in packs.
October 18, 2025
„Търсенето на стабилност е най-постоянното и най-безполезното търсене от всички.“
Група от учени отиват на плодороден, но необитаем остров. Те се заселват на това затънтено място не само за да развиват своята научна дейност, но и като част от утопичния проект на богат английски лорд за създаване на идеално общество. Но дори сред тях започват да се появяват разногласия... а пък на острова им се случва истински кошмар, тъй като са нападнати от огромен брой смъртоносни паяци...
За мен, „Паяжина“ е на едно ниво с „Кукувиците от Мидуич“ - не е от най-великите творби на Джон Уиндъм, но е добра фантастика, съдържаща много философски размисли!
„Всъщност, има вероятност вече да е надвишил очакванията и надеждите на Бога в някои отношения, защото, въпреки че способността на Господ да се самоунищожава е теологически спорна и подлежи на дебати, човекът безусловно е постигнал способността да се саморазрушава — себе си, както и света около него.“
„Хрумна ми, че сред нас има много малко хора, включили се в Проекта по положителни причини, което ме върна към мисълта, че единствено неудачниците са свободни.“
„Напълно разбирал, докато някои от хората му и до ден днешен така и не схванали, че пред каквито и провокации да ги изправя правосъдието, съвременният свят съдържал почти безперспективно бъдеще за романтичен вожд на воини. Легендарните герои били част от гордата им история, които все още трябвало да бъдат почитани, но не и пример за подражание.“
Група от учени отиват на плодороден, но необитаем остров. Те се заселват на това затънтено място не само за да развиват своята научна дейност, но и като част от утопичния проект на богат английски лорд за създаване на идеално общество. Но дори сред тях започват да се появяват разногласия... а пък на острова им се случва истински кошмар, тъй като са нападнати от огромен брой смъртоносни паяци...
За мен, „Паяжина“ е на едно ниво с „Кукувиците от Мидуич“ - не е от най-великите творби на Джон Уиндъм, но е добра фантастика, съдържаща много философски размисли!
„Всъщност, има вероятност вече да е надвишил очакванията и надеждите на Бога в някои отношения, защото, въпреки че способността на Господ да се самоунищожава е теологически спорна и подлежи на дебати, човекът безусловно е постигнал способността да се саморазрушава — себе си, както и света около него.“
„Хрумна ми, че сред нас има много малко хора, включили се в Проекта по положителни причини, което ме върна към мисълта, че единствено неудачниците са свободни.“
„Напълно разбирал, докато някои от хората му и до ден днешен така и не схванали, че пред каквито и провокации да ги изправя правосъдието, съвременният свят съдържал почти безперспективно бъдеще за романтичен вожд на воини. Легендарните герои били част от гордата им история, които все още трябвало да бъдат почитани, но не и пример за подражание.“
October 1, 2008
Create a new Utopian society, you say?
On a deadly tropical island you, say?
Hostile natives, you say?
Certain Doom, you say?
Count me in, I say!
On a deadly tropical island you, say?
Hostile natives, you say?
Certain Doom, you say?
Count me in, I say!
June 23, 2022
Dopo gli uccelli di Hitchcock e i topi di Herbert, con questo titolo entriamo in una nuova dimensione del brivido animale: lo sciame di ragni. In un'isola sperduta una nube radioattiva ha modificato geneticamente una specie di piccoli ragni autoctoni, rendendoli più intelligenti. Da solitari si sono trasformati in animali comunitari, attaccando in gruppo e sfruttando le correnti calde per planare sulle loro ragnatele, arrivando a catturare perfino gli uccelli.
Idea molto originale, anche se lo sviluppo non mi ha attirato più di tanto. Sicuramente alcune descrizioni hanno fatto il loro effetto, tanto che mi hanno ricordato alcuni vide sull'Australia che avevo visto qualche tempo fa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8PQ-...
Idea molto originale, anche se lo sviluppo non mi ha attirato più di tanto. Sicuramente alcune descrizioni hanno fatto il loro effetto, tanto che mi hanno ricordato alcuni vide sull'Australia che avevo visto qualche tempo fa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8PQ-...
March 30, 2020
I thought I'd already read all of Wyndham's novels, so discovering this posthumous publication was exciting. While it's no match for Wyndham in his prime, and the attempted critique of colonialism doesn't come off (to put it politely), it still has a lot of thrills and scares to offer, especially for a lifelong arachnophobe like me.
The thing I've always admired the most about Wyndham – apart from the sheer fecundity of his ideas – is his ability to describing shocking events in apparently dry prose without diminishing their power. He often reports things at second or third hand, in indirect speech, and he situates a lot of the action offstage, telling us about it after the fact in his curiously precise writing style. And yet somehow this indirect reportage technique renders the action even more terrifying. I have no idea how he makes it work, but he does it in some of his finest novels (especially The Kraken Wakes), and he does it here too. It's completely gripping.
The thing I've always admired the most about Wyndham – apart from the sheer fecundity of his ideas – is his ability to describing shocking events in apparently dry prose without diminishing their power. He often reports things at second or third hand, in indirect speech, and he situates a lot of the action offstage, telling us about it after the fact in his curiously precise writing style. And yet somehow this indirect reportage technique renders the action even more terrifying. I have no idea how he makes it work, but he does it in some of his finest novels (especially The Kraken Wakes), and he does it here too. It's completely gripping.
September 30, 2024
Хареса ми много , тази не толкова популярна книга на Уиндъм ни прехвърля не един захвърлен в нищото остров далеч от цивилизацията ,където паяжината носи смърт, решението изглежда просто но не чак толкова .Почти максимална оценка .
October 15, 2021
John Wyndham was one of the authors who got me started on my enjoyment of Sci-Fi. I think the 1st I ever read by him was The Day of the Triffids, loved it. And then The Chrysalids, also loved it. Over the years, besides rereading the first two, I enjoyed his others as well. He had a very understated way with telling his stories, but still created tension, interest, even fear. More recently, I've discovered he wrote other books, some early works published under pen names and two later books that were discovered and published by his estate. Web was published in 1979, 10 years after his death.
I'd have to say this falls more under the horror genre than Sci-Fi. A wealthy philanthropist wants t create a perfect society and buys an island in the Pacific where he wants to set up a colony. A group of men, women and children are selected and head to the island where they will establish a colony and see what they can create. The island originally was inhabited by a tribe of cannibals. Over the years, they were attacked by German troops trying to establish a Navy base during the War; taken over by the British commonwealth but left relatively on their own. In the '60s, there were nuclear tests nearby and due to risk of radioactive fallout, the island was purchased by the British government and the islanders moved to a new island for their safety. The medicine man lays a curse on the island.
Moving ahead, many years later, the radioactivity has been reduced to acceptable levels and the island is purchased by Lord Foxfield for his colony. The first half of the story deals with a brief history of the island and the voyage to it. The last half deals with the events that take place on the island and the discovery that the colonists are not alone. You can maybe guess who else lives there from the title??? Yes you're quite right, a group of cannibalistic web designers.. No, you're wrong.
I won't go into the story any more than that, but suffice it to say that it was definitely creepy and made my skin crawl as I got into it. That has something to do with my fear of..... well, read it. The story focuses on two main characters; the narrator Arnold Delgrange, a man who had lost his family in a car accident and wants to try something to wake up his life, and Camilla Cogent, a biologist. She was my favorite character, down-to-earth, smart, imperturbable, such a strong character. The story moves along nicely, in an under-stated way, and holds your attention. Some excellent discussions between Arnold and Camilla, about 'balance of nature', the role of man, etc. And a creepy, scary story. (4 stars)
I'd have to say this falls more under the horror genre than Sci-Fi. A wealthy philanthropist wants t create a perfect society and buys an island in the Pacific where he wants to set up a colony. A group of men, women and children are selected and head to the island where they will establish a colony and see what they can create. The island originally was inhabited by a tribe of cannibals. Over the years, they were attacked by German troops trying to establish a Navy base during the War; taken over by the British commonwealth but left relatively on their own. In the '60s, there were nuclear tests nearby and due to risk of radioactive fallout, the island was purchased by the British government and the islanders moved to a new island for their safety. The medicine man lays a curse on the island.
Moving ahead, many years later, the radioactivity has been reduced to acceptable levels and the island is purchased by Lord Foxfield for his colony. The first half of the story deals with a brief history of the island and the voyage to it. The last half deals with the events that take place on the island and the discovery that the colonists are not alone. You can maybe guess who else lives there from the title??? Yes you're quite right, a group of cannibalistic web designers.. No, you're wrong.
I won't go into the story any more than that, but suffice it to say that it was definitely creepy and made my skin crawl as I got into it. That has something to do with my fear of..... well, read it. The story focuses on two main characters; the narrator Arnold Delgrange, a man who had lost his family in a car accident and wants to try something to wake up his life, and Camilla Cogent, a biologist. She was my favorite character, down-to-earth, smart, imperturbable, such a strong character. The story moves along nicely, in an under-stated way, and holds your attention. Some excellent discussions between Arnold and Camilla, about 'balance of nature', the role of man, etc. And a creepy, scary story. (4 stars)
May 28, 2017
A John Wyndham book I had never read! I got so excited when I saw it.
In 'Web' Arnold Delgrange, a man whose wife and daughter were recently killed, tells the first person story of an attempt to establish a Utopian colony based on 'pure reason' rather than the ills that beset modern society (where 'modern' of course is England around the 1960's).
The colony is conceived and funded by a wealthy Englishman and the site they select for the experiment is the fictional island Tanakuatua in the Pacific Ocean, far from civilisation. Tanakuatua is now uninhabited by humans, as its native inhabitants were evacuated from the island due to British nuclear testing and were relocated. As the title suggests, things go wrong in an arachnid way and conforming with Wyndham's talent for 'end of society' scenarios. An additional twist is the reason for the problem with spiders; is it the nuclear testing? Is it the death curse of a medicine man?
Wyndham himself never published this book, it was released by his estate long after his death and to me it seems clear that it was not by his standards complete: Wyndham's books tend to have tight plots and consistently good writing that flows very well from start to finish. To me, Web read like an early draft. There are large sections that completely draw you in, such as the back history of the fictional island of Tanakuatua, but there are other bits that are choppy and have inconsistent pace.
Still very happy to have read it, but I feel that if the author had had the chance to edit it further it would have been a better book. The main character is consistent with the main characters of The Day of the Triffids , The Midwich Cuckoos or The Kraken Wakes. Which is to say, I suspect, that John's main characters are if not himself, then present images of him. In Web, the main character is older, as the author was when he wrote it while in Triffids he was a younger man.
It also seems to me as though this book has dated a bit harder than many of the early books. While they are all visibly set in the 50's - 60's the attitudes and behaviours of the characters in the early books never grated on me.In Web, the British imperialism attitude is a bit harder to swallow. At times I am pretty sure Wyndham is doing it intentionally (such as the descriptions of the administration of Pacific islands), but at other times I think not. Despite all this I did very much enjoy all aspects of this book...
Except!
The female lead character has completely annoying rants about nature. The attitude than humans can do nothing to upset the balance of nature is tough for a modern scientist to read. She is also opinionated and has strong thoughts and feelings about science. So strong, I feel they may reflect the author's views which would be unfortunate because they are abysmally dated, in many ways the worst part of the book.
Despite these quirks, it is a fascinating story that is well worth reading, it just requires a little leeway from the reader regarding the level of editing and the poorly dated elements.
Such a brilliant novelist!
In 'Web' Arnold Delgrange, a man whose wife and daughter were recently killed, tells the first person story of an attempt to establish a Utopian colony based on 'pure reason' rather than the ills that beset modern society (where 'modern' of course is England around the 1960's).
The colony is conceived and funded by a wealthy Englishman and the site they select for the experiment is the fictional island Tanakuatua in the Pacific Ocean, far from civilisation. Tanakuatua is now uninhabited by humans, as its native inhabitants were evacuated from the island due to British nuclear testing and were relocated. As the title suggests, things go wrong in an arachnid way and conforming with Wyndham's talent for 'end of society' scenarios. An additional twist is the reason for the problem with spiders; is it the nuclear testing? Is it the death curse of a medicine man?
Wyndham himself never published this book, it was released by his estate long after his death and to me it seems clear that it was not by his standards complete: Wyndham's books tend to have tight plots and consistently good writing that flows very well from start to finish. To me, Web read like an early draft. There are large sections that completely draw you in, such as the back history of the fictional island of Tanakuatua, but there are other bits that are choppy and have inconsistent pace.
Still very happy to have read it, but I feel that if the author had had the chance to edit it further it would have been a better book. The main character is consistent with the main characters of The Day of the Triffids , The Midwich Cuckoos or The Kraken Wakes. Which is to say, I suspect, that John's main characters are if not himself, then present images of him. In Web, the main character is older, as the author was when he wrote it while in Triffids he was a younger man.
It also seems to me as though this book has dated a bit harder than many of the early books. While they are all visibly set in the 50's - 60's the attitudes and behaviours of the characters in the early books never grated on me.In Web, the British imperialism attitude is a bit harder to swallow. At times I am pretty sure Wyndham is doing it intentionally (such as the descriptions of the administration of Pacific islands), but at other times I think not. Despite all this I did very much enjoy all aspects of this book...
Except!
The female lead character has completely annoying rants about nature. The attitude than humans can do nothing to upset the balance of nature is tough for a modern scientist to read. She is also opinionated and has strong thoughts and feelings about science. So strong, I feel they may reflect the author's views which would be unfortunate because they are abysmally dated, in many ways the worst part of the book.
Despite these quirks, it is a fascinating story that is well worth reading, it just requires a little leeway from the reader regarding the level of editing and the poorly dated elements.
Such a brilliant novelist!
September 29, 2024
3.75*
Interesting. Although this is not a heavily gripping story it had me engaged from start to finish. I loved the premise of this story and learned quite about the subject matter. I won't divulge the ins and outs but the cover gives a nice clue.
This has a relaxed yet educational feel and I could say it has elements of other books I have read recently. On the beach by Shute being one of them. Slight but still. This also reminds me of 'At the mountains of madness' by Lovecraft. (Discovering an empty land) Or what is thought to be... This has great descriptions and world building. This could have been elaborated more within certain scenes to make it a little more thrilling in my opinion but maybe that's not what the aim was here.
If it did then I may have had trouble sleeping afterwards,so it's probably for the best!
Interesting. Although this is not a heavily gripping story it had me engaged from start to finish. I loved the premise of this story and learned quite about the subject matter. I won't divulge the ins and outs but the cover gives a nice clue.
This has a relaxed yet educational feel and I could say it has elements of other books I have read recently. On the beach by Shute being one of them. Slight but still. This also reminds me of 'At the mountains of madness' by Lovecraft. (Discovering an empty land) Or what is thought to be... This has great descriptions and world building. This could have been elaborated more within certain scenes to make it a little more thrilling in my opinion but maybe that's not what the aim was here.
If it did then I may have had trouble sleeping afterwards,so it's probably for the best!
August 18, 2025
Rating: 3.5 stars
'Web' was published in 1979, ten years after John Wyndham's death. From the unpolished state of the text, I don't think Wyndham had completely finished editing the story before his unfortunate demise. None the less, this is still an interesting concept and fun little misadventure. This novel is narrated by recently bereaved Arnold Delgrange, who becomes involved in an attempt to establish an isolated utopian colony on the island Tanakuatua, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. As soon as Delgrange, and his 40 intrepid companions (including a biologist) are dropped off on the island, things begin to go wrong. The highlight of this novel are the seemingly ordinary spiders that hunt co-operatively in packs... there is also a curse... and "oh shit!" ending.
'Web' was published in 1979, ten years after John Wyndham's death. From the unpolished state of the text, I don't think Wyndham had completely finished editing the story before his unfortunate demise. None the less, this is still an interesting concept and fun little misadventure. This novel is narrated by recently bereaved Arnold Delgrange, who becomes involved in an attempt to establish an isolated utopian colony on the island Tanakuatua, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. As soon as Delgrange, and his 40 intrepid companions (including a biologist) are dropped off on the island, things begin to go wrong. The highlight of this novel are the seemingly ordinary spiders that hunt co-operatively in packs... there is also a curse... and "oh shit!" ending.
November 1, 2022
Hordes of killer spiders? Summoned by a terrifying curse to bring an end to colonisers? In my Utopian commune?
It's more likely than you think.
5.5/10
Part of my big, yucky, Halloween review round up:
www.patreon.com/posts/74021554
It's more likely than you think.
5.5/10
Part of my big, yucky, Halloween review round up:
www.patreon.com/posts/74021554
November 23, 2020
Interesting, short and perhaps not one of his best. It seemed to me as being not fully formed, more of a plan for a bigger novel.
November 13, 2025
John Wyndham's final book, published quite some time after his death, moves on from science fiction (if his works were ever really science fiction) to broader topics: colonialism, philanthropy (or not) and utopia (or dystopia?) The attempt to set up a form of utopia on an apparently uninhabited island ends in disaster and (probably) some hushed-up compensation to conceal what had really been going on. The story seems to focus on spiders but a deeper layer of meaning leads us far from the dreadful creatures. Like all Wyndham's books (in my view) this is well written and fascinating to read.
August 8, 2022
Effectively creepy sci-fi novel featuring intelligent spiders. It could be hokey, but Wyndham's characterizations add depth to the story. Wyndham's classic sci-fi and fantasy seem to withstand the test of time.
July 9, 2022
🕷️🕸️
Each John Wyndham novel that I have listened to so far as appealed to me in a different way. This is the one that creeped me out the most because it put forward an idea that I have found hard to shake. Although not the only aspect of the novel, this one essentially has spiders that have evolved to be more effective predators. The pushback that one of the characters makes, that that isn't how it works, is countered with a more eloquent version of, 'Why not?'
Why not indeed. I spent a lot of time thinking about the various creatures in the world and how we would fare if they did indeed evolve or learn in such a way. It might take a long time, beyond a typical human lifetime, but perhaps it could happen. And if humans were stagnant or not paying attention, I could imagine this book playing out.
I'm not someone who is terrified of spiders, (although some Australian ones do seem like they would be alarming) but the thought of them banding together and learning to hunt in a pack did make me queasy.
What impresses me most about John Wyndham's writing is how plausible he makes these things seem. His ideas are great and he develops them well.
I listened to the Audible version, and liked Keith Wickham's narration.
Each John Wyndham novel that I have listened to so far as appealed to me in a different way. This is the one that creeped me out the most because it put forward an idea that I have found hard to shake. Although not the only aspect of the novel, this one essentially has spiders that have evolved to be more effective predators. The pushback that one of the characters makes, that that isn't how it works, is countered with a more eloquent version of, 'Why not?'
Why not indeed. I spent a lot of time thinking about the various creatures in the world and how we would fare if they did indeed evolve or learn in such a way. It might take a long time, beyond a typical human lifetime, but perhaps it could happen. And if humans were stagnant or not paying attention, I could imagine this book playing out.
I'm not someone who is terrified of spiders, (although some Australian ones do seem like they would be alarming) but the thought of them banding together and learning to hunt in a pack did make me queasy.
What impresses me most about John Wyndham's writing is how plausible he makes these things seem. His ideas are great and he develops them well.
I listened to the Audible version, and liked Keith Wickham's narration.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2022
Before ticking off all of the popular and well known Wyndham novels, I am taking a look into some slightly more obscure works - partly out of curiosity and also to gain a better understanding of the author.
Web was published posthumously and quite often this can mean a lack of polish or a feeling of being complete and finished - Web was no exception and there were occasional glimmers of brilliance but it was very obvious that this wasn't the intended finished article.
Web begins with an interesting premise about a utopian colony on a remote Pacific island and we are introduced to our protagonist Arnold, who's family have been killed in a motoring accident - a plot device that has no bearing or little point to the overall plot or character arc other than a convenient excuse to be free for an expedition. No doubt this may have been expanded on if Wyndham had the opportunity to have fully finished.
There were also some problems with inclusion of dark skinned cannibal natives in loin cloths wearing bones through their noses which although a product of the era of writing, might be considered offensive to some readers now.
It was not all bad, there were some good ideas concerning evolution and impact of external environmental factors (nuclear testing) and the ecological and evolutionary science included was probably closer to sci-fact than sci-fi. There was good build up and tension and anyone with a fear of spiders would be freaked out..
In conclusion, this had lots of good ideas that if expanded on and edited, could have made another well known classic Wyndham novel but in this case I was glad that it was at least published rather than remain unseen forever.
Web was published posthumously and quite often this can mean a lack of polish or a feeling of being complete and finished - Web was no exception and there were occasional glimmers of brilliance but it was very obvious that this wasn't the intended finished article.
Web begins with an interesting premise about a utopian colony on a remote Pacific island and we are introduced to our protagonist Arnold, who's family have been killed in a motoring accident - a plot device that has no bearing or little point to the overall plot or character arc other than a convenient excuse to be free for an expedition. No doubt this may have been expanded on if Wyndham had the opportunity to have fully finished.
There were also some problems with inclusion of dark skinned cannibal natives in loin cloths wearing bones through their noses which although a product of the era of writing, might be considered offensive to some readers now.
It was not all bad, there were some good ideas concerning evolution and impact of external environmental factors (nuclear testing) and the ecological and evolutionary science included was probably closer to sci-fact than sci-fi. There was good build up and tension and anyone with a fear of spiders would be freaked out..
In conclusion, this had lots of good ideas that if expanded on and edited, could have made another well known classic Wyndham novel but in this case I was glad that it was at least published rather than remain unseen forever.
June 10, 2022
An eccentric lord purchases Tanakuatua, a deserted island located in the Pacific, and sets about recruiting people to join him to create some sort of Utopia. Among those who take up the offer are the book's narrator, Arnold, and a scientist called Camilla who studies insects and pests. When they arrive on the island, a party are sent out to explore, and when they fail to return, it falls to Arnold and Camilla to see if they can find out what happened to those missing. What they find on the island shocks them – It seems that the new inhabitants are not alone on Tanakuatua after all – there is a malevolent presence on the island, and they're not happy at the group's arrival. Not happy at all…
I don't do sci-fi as a rule, but I do like John Wyndham, having read The Day of the Triffids at school a long time ago. I reread it more recently, and then started working my way through his others. This short book – just over 100 pages long - is one of his lesser-known works and was published posthumously. It took a while to get going, but I very much enjoyed it.
I don't do sci-fi as a rule, but I do like John Wyndham, having read The Day of the Triffids at school a long time ago. I reread it more recently, and then started working my way through his others. This short book – just over 100 pages long - is one of his lesser-known works and was published posthumously. It took a while to get going, but I very much enjoyed it.
November 16, 2023
Another good bit of science fiction from John Wyndham here. As is often the case with these books it can be a little bit dated but not enough to detract from the story. I like the way his stories all start out perfectly normal, mundane even, and then they take a sci-fi twist and I think it is that regular beginning which makes the whole thing seem more believable.
This story took a while to get going, there was lots of scene setting and background to the story, so much so I was starting to forget it was fiction, it read like real life history. When we do get to the point it is good though. It is a slow burning horror, particularly if, like me, you are an arachnophobe and it even made its way into my dreams (or nightmares) which is probably a good sign of the writing, if not my sanity.
Throughout the story there were some really interesting and intelligent comments on nature and our planet as a whole and I appreciated that it wasn’t just a scare fest, it also gave you something horrific to really think about long after you have stopped reading.
This was a little slow but other than that my only complaint with this is that it should have been longer, we get started and then it ends. I wanted more.
A very decent 4 stars from me and I am onto the next John Wyndham book already!
This story took a while to get going, there was lots of scene setting and background to the story, so much so I was starting to forget it was fiction, it read like real life history. When we do get to the point it is good though. It is a slow burning horror, particularly if, like me, you are an arachnophobe and it even made its way into my dreams (or nightmares) which is probably a good sign of the writing, if not my sanity.
Throughout the story there were some really interesting and intelligent comments on nature and our planet as a whole and I appreciated that it wasn’t just a scare fest, it also gave you something horrific to really think about long after you have stopped reading.
This was a little slow but other than that my only complaint with this is that it should have been longer, we get started and then it ends. I wanted more.
A very decent 4 stars from me and I am onto the next John Wyndham book already!
August 2, 2022
And all because it's John Wyndham.
Wyndham was an amazing writer, clear, concise, precise, and very very English. This was unpublished in his lifetime and perhaps for good reason. It does feel like a short story stretched out a little too far, or an idea, while a good one, that did not warrant a full novel and he had to pad it out a little.
The last couple of chapters make up for the long-windedness of the first few chapters, and it ends well, but with very little drama. Of course, as an author his best ideas were yet to come, and that makes all the difference. I'm glad I read it though, because, well, because it's John Wyndham.
August 30, 2019
I am not exactly sure when John Wyndham wrote Web, but the book was released ten years after his death. This may explain its brevity compared with most of his other novels, and perhaps some of the flaws in the writing.
The narrator is Arnold Delgrange, a man who has lost his wife and daughter in a car crash, a poignant if clichéd fate. It is a curious opening for the novel, and has little to do with the action. It may explain why Delgrange gets involved in the expedition, and why he has a friendly but entirely platonic relationship with the young and opinionated pestologist, Camilla Cogent, who reminds him of his dead daughter.
Delgrange is lured into assisting with the setting up of a utopian colony on the remote Pacific island of Tanakuatua, The settlers have high hopes of making great intellectual breakthroughs away from the distractions of our society – their leader calls them ‘men like gods’.
However the project is doomed by extraordinary factors outside their control. The indigenous natives were removed from the island due to a nearby nuclear test. While they refuse to move back there, they still consider it their own island, and want revenge on the arrogant white settlers.
Worse still the island has become overrun by deadly spiders. These spiders have developed a new form of intelligence, and are working together against all predators. They have stripped all forms of life from much of the island. Now they are looking for new food sources.
Some are going air-borne and may spread beyond the island. Others have their eight eyes on the nearby colonists, and the natives are only too keen to help their Little Sisters to devour the colony.
Almost all of John Wyndham’s novels deal with the frightening reality of evolution. There is not much room for god in this world – only the dangerous religious fanaticism of the natives, and the woolly views of white people. Faced with a new threat, Wyndham often suggests, the human race could become just one more species heading for extinction.
Wyndham’s choice of spiders as the agent of our possible destruction is an effective one. People are often frightened of spiders, and there is something unsympathetic and inhuman about them. Spiders are also capable of amazing feats. What other silk-spinning creature has used this talent to set traps for prey, travel long lines or become air-borne? Camilla, the resident expert on creatures, even speculates that intelligent spiders working together could build nets to catch fish.
Some of Wyndham’s views are questionable. He talks as if evolution is somehow a choice rather than an unconscious factor forced upon species. I doubt that evolution has passed spiders by for as long as Wyndham seems to imagine.
Wyndham is probably right to be sceptical about notions such as the ‘balance of nature’, a comforting term humans use to imagine that the world is not chaos. Nonetheless he is wrong to use this argument to play down the dangers of human intervention in the natural ‘order’. We do still have some responsibility to preserve and conserve what we see, rather than destroy it at the rate at which we do.
In general, Wyndham’s political opinions are distinctly mushy. He expresses occasionally opinions, but they are vague and unfocused, leaving me with no real idea of what he stands for. Take the utopian colony that fails so spectacularly. Wyndham hedges his bets by having his hero still express some sadness about the luckless failure:
“Ah well, it will be tried again, I suppose. Men have been setting out these thousands of years and more in search of freedom…Yes they will try again – and next time I hope the Fates will be with them, not against them…”
Despite this statement, Wyndham has little time for the colonists in practice. Delgrange, for all his romanticism, is forced to acknowledge that most of the people there are not really the cream of society, but its castaways. The aptly-named Camilla Cogent (the voice of Wyndham in the book) has little time for her fellow-colonists, and little belief in their efficacy.
Yet the failure is not caused by the ineptness of the colonists, but by sheer bad luck, something which undermines Wyndham’s amused disapproval of the expedition. In any case, it seems more as if the problem is the hubris of the settlers, rather than anything they have done wrong. They see themselves as ‘men like gods’ but are destroyed by a much smaller creature.
Still what exactly does the colony stand for politically? You will be struggling to work it out from Wyndham’s book which offers no specifics, even though it is narrated by one of the campaign’s most prominent recruiters. It is founded by an aristocrat, so perhaps it is a conservative expedition. Delgrange talks about an intellectual elite replacing democracy. Maybe it is Fascism or an authoritarian structure.
However there is little leadership or willingness to take the reins. So a hippy commune? Anarchism? Libertarianism? Socialism? Extreme liberalism? Your guess is as good as mine. It is almost as if Wyndham doesn’t care, and considers that any political movement that is off the map is wrong.
The basic idea of the book is a terrifying one, but as Brian Aldiss has said of Wyndham, the writer deals in ‘cosy catastrophe’. The story has a narrator, so we know that not everyone will die. When Delgrange and Camilla discover the horrifying fate of the colonists, the scene is glossed over, with all unpleasantness removed. Wyndham is not capable of making the reader’s blood chill with horrifying descriptions in the way of Lovecraft or Poe.
There are other weaknesses in the book too. The reasons given for the sudden evolutionary leap forward in spider behaviour are the kind of ones that I would expect to see in the worst of 1950s sci-fi movies. Actually they are identical to those given in From Hell It Came, a particularly cheesy film of the period.
Put simply there are two reasons given. One is the result of the nuclear testing nearby. Yes, our old sci-fi standby radiation is the culprit. The other reason given is that the island is perhaps cursed by the natives.
These reasons are typical in Wyndham stories in that they offer a moral reason which says that mankind has brought the destruction on himself through his own actions. The idea of a native curse plays on an old notion that can be found in the old mummy movies. It is the idea that western abuse of the traditions and culture of other nations will somehow come back to haunt us.
Indeed angry natives deliberately help the spiders to spread into the colony and sabotage any last chance of the settlers from surviving the attack. Personally I was disappointed by this, as it served to reduce the power of the idea of a spider threat. If the intelligent spiders still need human help to overcome a few colonists, then perhaps they are not such a great danger after all.
There is also something offensive in Wyndham’s portrayal of the natives. They are superstitious, irrational, childish, violent, and (of course) cannibals. However badly they have been treated by white people, we are not invited to really care much about it.
There are some stylistic infelicities too. The text is repetitive at times. When the settlers first arrive at the island, Camilla expresses concern at the surprising shortage of birdlife on the island. Such a notion proves chilling, but it loses some impact when Wyndham makes Camilla repeat it twice more. Similarly her notion of spiders catching fish appears twice.
Admittedly this was an unpublished book, and Wyndham might have found time to remove some of these infelicities of style had he chosen to release it. Maybe he was unhappy with it, and that was why he never made the book public.
However even Wyndham’s finished books are often a little careless in style. They are often verbose where they should be terse, and they shy away from showing us anything really awful, even while the subject matter prepares us for this.
Nonetheless with all its flaws, Web is an enjoyable read, and it certainly does not insult the intelligence. The theories and ideas are interesting. There is the germ of a better book in here, but what remains is still a very good one.
The narrator is Arnold Delgrange, a man who has lost his wife and daughter in a car crash, a poignant if clichéd fate. It is a curious opening for the novel, and has little to do with the action. It may explain why Delgrange gets involved in the expedition, and why he has a friendly but entirely platonic relationship with the young and opinionated pestologist, Camilla Cogent, who reminds him of his dead daughter.
Delgrange is lured into assisting with the setting up of a utopian colony on the remote Pacific island of Tanakuatua, The settlers have high hopes of making great intellectual breakthroughs away from the distractions of our society – their leader calls them ‘men like gods’.
However the project is doomed by extraordinary factors outside their control. The indigenous natives were removed from the island due to a nearby nuclear test. While they refuse to move back there, they still consider it their own island, and want revenge on the arrogant white settlers.
Worse still the island has become overrun by deadly spiders. These spiders have developed a new form of intelligence, and are working together against all predators. They have stripped all forms of life from much of the island. Now they are looking for new food sources.
Some are going air-borne and may spread beyond the island. Others have their eight eyes on the nearby colonists, and the natives are only too keen to help their Little Sisters to devour the colony.
Almost all of John Wyndham’s novels deal with the frightening reality of evolution. There is not much room for god in this world – only the dangerous religious fanaticism of the natives, and the woolly views of white people. Faced with a new threat, Wyndham often suggests, the human race could become just one more species heading for extinction.
Wyndham’s choice of spiders as the agent of our possible destruction is an effective one. People are often frightened of spiders, and there is something unsympathetic and inhuman about them. Spiders are also capable of amazing feats. What other silk-spinning creature has used this talent to set traps for prey, travel long lines or become air-borne? Camilla, the resident expert on creatures, even speculates that intelligent spiders working together could build nets to catch fish.
Some of Wyndham’s views are questionable. He talks as if evolution is somehow a choice rather than an unconscious factor forced upon species. I doubt that evolution has passed spiders by for as long as Wyndham seems to imagine.
Wyndham is probably right to be sceptical about notions such as the ‘balance of nature’, a comforting term humans use to imagine that the world is not chaos. Nonetheless he is wrong to use this argument to play down the dangers of human intervention in the natural ‘order’. We do still have some responsibility to preserve and conserve what we see, rather than destroy it at the rate at which we do.
In general, Wyndham’s political opinions are distinctly mushy. He expresses occasionally opinions, but they are vague and unfocused, leaving me with no real idea of what he stands for. Take the utopian colony that fails so spectacularly. Wyndham hedges his bets by having his hero still express some sadness about the luckless failure:
“Ah well, it will be tried again, I suppose. Men have been setting out these thousands of years and more in search of freedom…Yes they will try again – and next time I hope the Fates will be with them, not against them…”
Despite this statement, Wyndham has little time for the colonists in practice. Delgrange, for all his romanticism, is forced to acknowledge that most of the people there are not really the cream of society, but its castaways. The aptly-named Camilla Cogent (the voice of Wyndham in the book) has little time for her fellow-colonists, and little belief in their efficacy.
Yet the failure is not caused by the ineptness of the colonists, but by sheer bad luck, something which undermines Wyndham’s amused disapproval of the expedition. In any case, it seems more as if the problem is the hubris of the settlers, rather than anything they have done wrong. They see themselves as ‘men like gods’ but are destroyed by a much smaller creature.
Still what exactly does the colony stand for politically? You will be struggling to work it out from Wyndham’s book which offers no specifics, even though it is narrated by one of the campaign’s most prominent recruiters. It is founded by an aristocrat, so perhaps it is a conservative expedition. Delgrange talks about an intellectual elite replacing democracy. Maybe it is Fascism or an authoritarian structure.
However there is little leadership or willingness to take the reins. So a hippy commune? Anarchism? Libertarianism? Socialism? Extreme liberalism? Your guess is as good as mine. It is almost as if Wyndham doesn’t care, and considers that any political movement that is off the map is wrong.
The basic idea of the book is a terrifying one, but as Brian Aldiss has said of Wyndham, the writer deals in ‘cosy catastrophe’. The story has a narrator, so we know that not everyone will die. When Delgrange and Camilla discover the horrifying fate of the colonists, the scene is glossed over, with all unpleasantness removed. Wyndham is not capable of making the reader’s blood chill with horrifying descriptions in the way of Lovecraft or Poe.
There are other weaknesses in the book too. The reasons given for the sudden evolutionary leap forward in spider behaviour are the kind of ones that I would expect to see in the worst of 1950s sci-fi movies. Actually they are identical to those given in From Hell It Came, a particularly cheesy film of the period.
Put simply there are two reasons given. One is the result of the nuclear testing nearby. Yes, our old sci-fi standby radiation is the culprit. The other reason given is that the island is perhaps cursed by the natives.
These reasons are typical in Wyndham stories in that they offer a moral reason which says that mankind has brought the destruction on himself through his own actions. The idea of a native curse plays on an old notion that can be found in the old mummy movies. It is the idea that western abuse of the traditions and culture of other nations will somehow come back to haunt us.
Indeed angry natives deliberately help the spiders to spread into the colony and sabotage any last chance of the settlers from surviving the attack. Personally I was disappointed by this, as it served to reduce the power of the idea of a spider threat. If the intelligent spiders still need human help to overcome a few colonists, then perhaps they are not such a great danger after all.
There is also something offensive in Wyndham’s portrayal of the natives. They are superstitious, irrational, childish, violent, and (of course) cannibals. However badly they have been treated by white people, we are not invited to really care much about it.
There are some stylistic infelicities too. The text is repetitive at times. When the settlers first arrive at the island, Camilla expresses concern at the surprising shortage of birdlife on the island. Such a notion proves chilling, but it loses some impact when Wyndham makes Camilla repeat it twice more. Similarly her notion of spiders catching fish appears twice.
Admittedly this was an unpublished book, and Wyndham might have found time to remove some of these infelicities of style had he chosen to release it. Maybe he was unhappy with it, and that was why he never made the book public.
However even Wyndham’s finished books are often a little careless in style. They are often verbose where they should be terse, and they shy away from showing us anything really awful, even while the subject matter prepares us for this.
Nonetheless with all its flaws, Web is an enjoyable read, and it certainly does not insult the intelligence. The theories and ideas are interesting. There is the germ of a better book in here, but what remains is still a very good one.
September 2, 2023
If found this a delightful surprise from John Wyndham, published posthumously in 1979. It tells the story of a group of idealists who attempt to establish a utopian colony on a remote tropical island. It is a cautionary tale about the dangers of human hubris and the importance of respecting nature.
The novella is well-written and suspenseful, and it features some interesting ideas about nature, humanity and progress. However, what I found most striking about the book was its positive portrayal of female characters. As a general rule, Wyndham tends to write his female characters in a way that suggests that he's only read about them in books!
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 1/2
The novella is well-written and suspenseful, and it features some interesting ideas about nature, humanity and progress. However, what I found most striking about the book was its positive portrayal of female characters. As a general rule, Wyndham tends to write his female characters in a way that suggests that he's only read about them in books!
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 1/2
May 12, 2013
Ok I will admit I was a little disappointed over this one, Day of the Triffids, the Kraken Wakes are two of my favourite books but this one well not so impressed. The book cover spiel states this was Wyndhams last book and was in fact published after his death, and to be honest it shows it. The political and historical settings for this book (which gives rise to much of the reasons for the events) takes up the first 40 pages of a 140 page book. The storyline feels rushed and is over far too quickly and considering how long it took to set up the scene almost feels like it is not complete. For a collector this book no doubt holds a place in their Wnydham collection but there are better works of his out there than this. That said the descriptions of the little critters how they operate and what they do is well described but if anything it just highlights would could be done with this book and for what ever reasons was left out.
October 20, 2016
I’m terrified of spiders so I almost decided that wouldn't read this, but I’m glad I did because I was pleasantly surprised! It’s not a creepy, scary, spiders crawling out of nowhere story at all, I should have known not to expect that of a John Wyndham story.
It reminds me a little of H G Wells The Island of Doctor Moreau, but Web is a much more believable tale. I admit I don’t know much about spiders or biology but Wyndham had me convinced of the science side of the story.
A short read at not much over 100 pages so it’s fast paced and interesting. A good read for lunch breaks or commutes!
It reminds me a little of H G Wells The Island of Doctor Moreau, but Web is a much more believable tale. I admit I don’t know much about spiders or biology but Wyndham had me convinced of the science side of the story.
A short read at not much over 100 pages so it’s fast paced and interesting. A good read for lunch breaks or commutes!
October 10, 2022
A boring unintresting story.
This sounded like a good story and with the previous book I read of his The Day of the Triffids I thought I was in for a good read.
However, 70% of this book is about the history of the island and the people going to live on it. Then when the spiders attack its very brief and most of the deaths aren't seen.
All the characters are annoying and seem to have no ability to see past their own views. By this I mean "there's spiders attacking" someone says, "nonsense" says someone else. And that's most conversations about anything.
Read if you... Na don't bother.
This sounded like a good story and with the previous book I read of his The Day of the Triffids I thought I was in for a good read.
However, 70% of this book is about the history of the island and the people going to live on it. Then when the spiders attack its very brief and most of the deaths aren't seen.
All the characters are annoying and seem to have no ability to see past their own views. By this I mean "there's spiders attacking" someone says, "nonsense" says someone else. And that's most conversations about anything.
Read if you... Na don't bother.
April 21, 2018
Pubblicato postumo, questo fu l'ultimo romanzo di Wyndham.
I primi due capitoli introduttivi scorrono bene ma senza particolari colpi di scena e senza far presagire nulla di ciò che verrà.
Poi inizia la parte tremenda per un aracnofobo.
Io non lo sono particolarmente, o meglio, non lo ero. Adesso mi è rimasto addosso un senso d'inquietudine notevole.
Ma la parte veramente terribile è nel comportamento severo, duro, spietato, degli isolani, portatori di una cultura decisamente diversa dalla nostra. Qui si nasconde il vero orrore, in una spietatezza di pensiero di alcuni uomini decisi a impedire il cambiamento o a punire chi il cambiamento lo ha portato, fosse anche l'umanità intera.
I primi due capitoli introduttivi scorrono bene ma senza particolari colpi di scena e senza far presagire nulla di ciò che verrà.
Poi inizia la parte tremenda per un aracnofobo.
Io non lo sono particolarmente, o meglio, non lo ero. Adesso mi è rimasto addosso un senso d'inquietudine notevole.
Ma la parte veramente terribile è nel comportamento severo, duro, spietato, degli isolani, portatori di una cultura decisamente diversa dalla nostra. Qui si nasconde il vero orrore, in una spietatezza di pensiero di alcuni uomini decisi a impedire il cambiamento o a punire chi il cambiamento lo ha portato, fosse anche l'umanità intera.
March 21, 2023
Apart from watching colonisers flee this was very mid
May 8, 2019
This slim book was sitting in a basket marked FREE outside a local thrift store, with a bunch of other random titles. It also seems to have lived as a high school library book in its former life, and has now become another book I've read and thoroughly enjoyed.
When a millionaire English lord buys a remote Pacific island with the hopes of forming a new, utopian society, an assorted group of people is chosen to set sail and get things started.
But the island of Tanakuatua might not be as uninhabited as first assumed, and any plans to start a new kind of society quickly becomes impossible when they discover the eight-legged population...
With a name like Web, of course this was going to be about spiders. Dangerous spiders. A multitude of them. Yeah, if you have arachnophobia this is probably not the best book for you to read.
Anyway, the story isn't too long but it's a nice and detailed one. The narrator, Arnold Delgrange, has recently gone through a family tragedy, so he decides to sign up for this interesting expedition. It gives him something to do, and he has the chance to meet other people.
I really enjoyed the way he tells the story. Arnold (social historian) has a strong and interesting voice that drew me in and kept me reading. Every detail he reveals is relevant to the overall plot and is dripping with a sense of doom. Of course you know right away that something bad happens.
I mean, it's just like a couple of rich white guys to buy an uninhabited island they believe THEY can turn into some fantastical utopian society. Without considering there could be natives. Never once checking to see what animals or creepy-crawlies are about. Simply turn up with equipment to clear land, build on it and take ownership. 😒
It was interesting to read about the underlining social commentary that is (unfortunately) still relevant today.
Another character I really liked was Camilla Cogent (biologist), who is first described as "a lonely figure—there, but not with us" and soon becomes one of the smartest people in the group. There's a reason why she always seems lost in thought. I loved the observations she makes when they arrive on the dreaded island.
I enjoyed this little adventure tale about a group of people silly enough to think they can create and shape a new world order without first researching who lives on the island they're so keen to invade. It was fun!
Oh, and this edition even has full-page illustrations.
When a millionaire English lord buys a remote Pacific island with the hopes of forming a new, utopian society, an assorted group of people is chosen to set sail and get things started.
But the island of Tanakuatua might not be as uninhabited as first assumed, and any plans to start a new kind of society quickly becomes impossible when they discover the eight-legged population...
With a name like Web, of course this was going to be about spiders. Dangerous spiders. A multitude of them. Yeah, if you have arachnophobia this is probably not the best book for you to read.
Anyway, the story isn't too long but it's a nice and detailed one. The narrator, Arnold Delgrange, has recently gone through a family tragedy, so he decides to sign up for this interesting expedition. It gives him something to do, and he has the chance to meet other people.
I really enjoyed the way he tells the story. Arnold (social historian) has a strong and interesting voice that drew me in and kept me reading. Every detail he reveals is relevant to the overall plot and is dripping with a sense of doom. Of course you know right away that something bad happens.
I mean, it's just like a couple of rich white guys to buy an uninhabited island they believe THEY can turn into some fantastical utopian society. Without considering there could be natives. Never once checking to see what animals or creepy-crawlies are about. Simply turn up with equipment to clear land, build on it and take ownership. 😒
It was interesting to read about the underlining social commentary that is (unfortunately) still relevant today.
Another character I really liked was Camilla Cogent (biologist), who is first described as "a lonely figure—there, but not with us" and soon becomes one of the smartest people in the group. There's a reason why she always seems lost in thought. I loved the observations she makes when they arrive on the dreaded island.
I enjoyed this little adventure tale about a group of people silly enough to think they can create and shape a new world order without first researching who lives on the island they're so keen to invade. It was fun!
Oh, and this edition even has full-page illustrations.
April 11, 2022
I love the work of John Wyndham so I was thrilled to find this book. There’s a lot to like about it: it grounds itself with a realistic and believable backstory, the characters are drawn as likeable and with realistic motivations, and the plot is thin but stocked with some great moments.
It’s just a little too thin. It would be a great short story/novella but as a novel it doesn’t have enough going for it. I imagine that if it had been completed during Wyndham’s life a lot of the latter part would have been fleshed out more because there’s really nothing wrong with the first half at all, there’s just not enough going on in the second half compared with what the story promises. There were a lot of dilemmas and developments that felt to me to be far too easily overcome or dealt with justify its existence as a novel.
What’s there is a great read, though. And leaving someone wanting more is a pretty good result in and of itself, so it’s definitely worth a look.
It’s just a little too thin. It would be a great short story/novella but as a novel it doesn’t have enough going for it. I imagine that if it had been completed during Wyndham’s life a lot of the latter part would have been fleshed out more because there’s really nothing wrong with the first half at all, there’s just not enough going on in the second half compared with what the story promises. There were a lot of dilemmas and developments that felt to me to be far too easily overcome or dealt with justify its existence as a novel.
What’s there is a great read, though. And leaving someone wanting more is a pretty good result in and of itself, so it’s definitely worth a look.
January 6, 2017
Hints of what I love Wyndham for, but ultimately disappointing. Wyndham is one of my favourite authors, and this book contains some great ideas and grand themes as should be expected of him. The writing is engaging, pulling the reader along with the story. The problem is that when you reach the end it feels very unbalanced, as if you have spent most of the book on an introduction and only a small portion of it on the real story. The book was published a decade after the author's death, and I was left wondering whether it was something he didn't consider finished and was planning on going back to. I won't be doing so.
June 17, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed this horror novel, the last in Wyndham's ouvre, published by his estate ten years after his death. Many posthumous novels are disappointing, pale shadows of an author's better work that couldn't be published during the author's lifetime, usually with good if varying reasons. I was happy to discover that is not the case here. This novel can stand along side any of Wyndham's others with pride.
The narrator of this novel loses his family due to a car accident and finds himself depressed and at loose ends. He is the perfect person to sign on to be a colonist for a newly started utopian experiment set on a remote, largely uncharted Pacific island. The only problem for the society is that this island has a history the colonists in their hubris didn't bother to discover. Until it was too late. And not even then.
John Wyndham sets us readers up better than he did the colonists. He gives us all the island's background in a long chapter two that no doubt annoys most readers because it seems like a digression. The point is, it's really not. It's a crucial chapter for understanding why the island is the way it is and what makes it uninhabitable. That typical readers would consider the chapter a digression means they would fall into the same trap as the colonists, which is, I believe, Wyndham's point, though I'm uncertain how intentionally he made it. Those readers thus would suffer (deservedly so) the same fate as the colonists.
Set-up completed by the end of chapter two, the remainder of the book is one of the most chilling horrors I have ever read. This book fascinates me. I love the way Wyndham brought things to a quick conclusion. It might seem anti-climactic to some readers and rather rushed, but it worked for me. Western civilization in its naive hubris never (even by the end of the book) understands the danger it is in. Only scientists (one a natural scientist, the other a social scientist) trained to look at unpleasant truths, and see them for what they are, comprehend the stakes. But they can't get the populace to listen, thus the threat persists. Where in our present day society might we see a parallel? Brilliant!
The narrator of this novel loses his family due to a car accident and finds himself depressed and at loose ends. He is the perfect person to sign on to be a colonist for a newly started utopian experiment set on a remote, largely uncharted Pacific island. The only problem for the society is that this island has a history the colonists in their hubris didn't bother to discover. Until it was too late. And not even then.
John Wyndham sets us readers up better than he did the colonists. He gives us all the island's background in a long chapter two that no doubt annoys most readers because it seems like a digression. The point is, it's really not. It's a crucial chapter for understanding why the island is the way it is and what makes it uninhabitable. That typical readers would consider the chapter a digression means they would fall into the same trap as the colonists, which is, I believe, Wyndham's point, though I'm uncertain how intentionally he made it. Those readers thus would suffer (deservedly so) the same fate as the colonists.
Set-up completed by the end of chapter two, the remainder of the book is one of the most chilling horrors I have ever read. This book fascinates me. I love the way Wyndham brought things to a quick conclusion. It might seem anti-climactic to some readers and rather rushed, but it worked for me. Western civilization in its naive hubris never (even by the end of the book) understands the danger it is in. Only scientists (one a natural scientist, the other a social scientist) trained to look at unpleasant truths, and see them for what they are, comprehend the stakes. But they can't get the populace to listen, thus the threat persists. Where in our present day society might we see a parallel? Brilliant!
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