Aliens land in an isolated British village and impregnate all of the women. Nine months later strange children with glowing eyes and intense intelligence "Midwich Cuckoos, " emerge to undertake the conquest of the world.
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Good confidence-builders for reluctant readers, this series provides a quick way into a range of classics. The Bookseller Back to School Supplement
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Buyer Beware,
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This review is from: The Midwich Cuckoos (Fast Track Classics) (Paperback)
I should have looked more closely, but I bought this book because it was the only version available new directly from Amazon. I should have noticed that it is a dumbed-down abridgment. It may be good for Middle School children, but it is a shadow of the original classic work by John Wyndham.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a very british brand of sci-fi: subtle, off-stage action, heavy with implications,
By Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Midwich Cuckoos (Fast Track Classics) (Paperback)
Viewers of the excellent early film version of this may feel disappointed: the pace is slow, there is lots of dialogue, and the characters are hard to grasp. What's more, the children are more of a threatening presence - they cannot even be told apart reliably - than the active individuals of the film. But if the reader sticks with it, there are great rewards to be found.
First, the principal story is about the village, Midwich, which is as normal a place in the English countryside as one can imagine. There is an extraordinary series of events, first a blackout of all residents in a well defined perimeter, and then the realization that all women of child-bearing age are simultaneously pregnant, about 60 women. The full first third of the novel portrays how residents attempt to deal with the pregnancies, how they establish a kind of solidarity between themselves, that will later prove brittle and prone to violence. It is here that the complex characters are estalished in a brilliant way that is imortant later. Second, there is the enigma of the children, whose attributes are nothing short of extraordinary, in that they appear to have two massminds, one for girls and the other for boys. They are all able to impell the villagers to behave in certain ways, as in disallowing them to leave Midwich in a time of crisis. As they all appear to be clones, no individuals emerge. What is so wonderful is that so little is explained - virtually all of the action takes place off-stage, including what the children are planning beyond their survival. They remain a splendid mystery with cunningly placed details for the reader to piece together; many interpretations are possible, if the reader enjoys that kind of exercise of the imagination. Interestingly, it is never clear whether or not they can read minds, which is only implied obliquely, and there are limits to what they can see. Third, the reader never gets a clearly defined meaning for it all, beyond the fact that they are alien and constitute a threat, perhaps to humanity as a whole. Instead, the main characters speculate on it and discuss it, with some very unusual ideas floating about. This too can be great fun, but again, it is piecing together hints. I was left with a sense of mystery at the complexity of the universe, which is such a delight to a middle-aged mind! Finally, there is the action that a village leader decides to take. While there is very little actual violence, it is always a threat of dread to all the villagers. For all appearences out of character, the leader proves decisive and even prescient. But again, unlike the movie, very little of the final struggle is spelled out. This is a splendid vehicle for the lively imagination. It is also very British, which will put many American readers off, as we explect clear and fast-paced action, unequivocal explanations, and a wrap-up (with the possibiltiy of a sequel). What you get is a large social drama with subtle characters, the recognition of a new "threat of the jungle" that is never defined and whose meaning remains a delicious mystery. Warmly recommended.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Classic of its Kind!,
By Kisminette (France et USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Midwich Cuckoos (Fast Track Classics) (Paperback)
People who expect a horror story à la Stephen King (whom I don't read, by the way, I'm not into the horror genre), simply because the movie based on it, "Village of the Damned" and its remakes are classified as horror movies, are in for a disappointment. I understand how some of them might find it boring, though I find it anything but. This is more "soft" science fiction, more specifically sociology fiction, and as such it is a classic which I've read over and over again. It is by no means a children's book, though the main characters are children. It is well thought-out and thought-provoking.
Like another Wyndham book, "Rebirth" (retitled "The Chrysalids" in the newer version, with a rather ugly and totally inappropriate cover picture), another of my favorites, it's mainly about how an exogenous ("alien" if you prefer) group can (or not) integrate into our society. Zenna Henderson in her "People" series tackles the same theme, though her stories are a lot more upbeat and give a much kinder view of human nature - but then Henderson's "People" are not a threat to human society the way the Midwich Cuckoos are. Everyone now knows the premise: for 24 hours, a little village in England (and other small communities all around the world, including in what was then the Soviet Union - a fact that is left out in the movies) is isolated and inaccessible. Then 9 months later, every child-bearing age woman is pregnant, a few with really their and their husbands' children, but most with these blond, golden-eyed babies who have the power of compulsion over them and other adults. (The title comes from the parallel with cuckoos, birds that lay their eggs in other birds' nests.) It slowly develops that those children are a real danger to the human race as we know it, and the problem is how to deal with them. Different societies react differently. In primitive societies they are left out to die of exposure. In some cases they don't survive for other reasons. The Russians have a scorched earth reaction that can never fly in England, where it's up to one man to deal with the problem, which he does with great courage and lucidity. He knows exactly what he's doing and why, and his farewell note to his wife is heart-rending. It's true that the narrative is dry in parts, and the character of the narrator is sometimes maddeningly off-hand about the problem, totally unaware of its seriousness. Here Wyndham is pushing credibility (or his narrator's stupidity) a bit, but I think he was trying to make a point. But if you take this book for what it is, not a horror story but a philosophical view of how to deal with "otherness", about survival of a society and a civilization, about protection of the old order in the face of invasion or mutation, then you'll agree with me that this is a classic. And if you like it, I recommend you also read Rebirth/The Chrysalids. Writing this has made me want to read it yet again!
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