Reading 1001 discussion

read 2014
Review: This is a story a science fiction story. A family; mother, father, adopted son and daughter who live in England. One day, the father notices his son having a sort of debate with noone. He is just turned 12 but all of a sudden seems to have an invisible friend like his sister did when she was small. The father and mother both deal with this situation in their own ways but also are obviously very loving and supportive of their son. The theme is that of aliens or extraterrestrials and their interaction with others. Another theme included a critique of wasteful use of finite energy sources with inefficient engines. “Most of your power is being used to build machines to consume power faster and faster, while your sources of power remain finite.” The author also briefly touched on the dangers. The government and/or big business wanting to take advantage of a small boy and an alien to the point that they kidnapped him and did medical procedures without the knowledge or permission of his parents. Its simple little story both entertaining and fun. It was written in the early years of environmental concerns and big brother government.

First words: It was in the spring of the year that Matthew reached twelve that I first became aware of Chocky.

Last words: They had made a nice job of it. It looked just as if it had always been inscribed: Awarded to Chocky for a valorous deed.

Rating: I liked this story, it was easy to read but simple almost written more on a child’s level. I liked it 4 stars worth but really it is probably a 3 star book and really doesn’t belong on the 1001 list.

I read Chocky by John Wyndham for a Diversity Challenge but I thought I would add my thoughts to the review area.
Chocky was a very entertaining read and was a unique science-fiction tale as it played with the concept of having an open mind about aspects of the world that you simply can not verify.
I am over 40 so this was supposed to be my reading about a young character but really it was about a family in which the young character was visited or rather inhabited by either a separate entity or the boy's own active imagination. What made the book such a delight was the 11 year old boy was such a normal boy and the parents acted in a very constrained and rather normal way to extreme circumstances. It has a decidedly old fashioned patriarchal family structure which was mostly something I would groan and ignore. The author was old when he wrote the book and it was his last book to be published before he passed away. I think Wyndham did an excellent job of capturing some memory or hidden cache of youthful open mindedness in both the 11 year old and the father in the book. It is really a wonder that this youth is what Wyndham needed to bring to life before he died.

I agree with Kristel that it isn't an amazing book worthy of the list but it was an enjoyable read.