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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
outstanding science fiction written to the highest standard,
By
This review is from: The Midwich Cuckoos (Library Binding)
Wydham takes a look at a very interesting question: what happens with the entire human race is threatened, but our social conventions, politics, and institutions prevent us from saving ourselves? The odd title is a reference to the way cuckoo birds place their eggs in the nests of other birds who mistake the eggs for their own - but even after they hatch the surrogate mothers are compelled by their natures to take care of the babies. In Midwich, at a time when England regarded itself as the most civilized political community the world had ever known (hey, it probably still thinks that way!), the locals find themselves unable to mistreat a brood of alien, mind-controlling children, even though the fate of the world is at steak. Lot's of good narrative and entertaining philosophical conversations among the characters made this a truly great book, in the tradition of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" or Orwell's "1984".
28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A group of children with one mind,
This review is from: The Midwich Cuckoos (Library Binding)
Midwich was an ordinary village. Until the Dayout. Everyone in the village was sleeping. Anyone who ventured into the outskirts of the village would mysteriously black out. The next day things were back to normal. But every woman of suitable age was pregnant..."The Midwich Cuckoos" is a metaphorical title for a book about collective intelligence. The alien children born in the village are identical. Golden eyed, unemotional, endowed with mental powers and superior intelligence. Over the years the Children become a bigger problem. They commit a murder and contol the minds of others. They are cold, ruthless and calculating. This book has been described as disturbing. When it was first published the idea of children committing murderer was probably quite shocking. These days it seems normal. This is an interesting book but I prefer the apocalyptic scenarios in "The Day of the Triffids" and "The Chrysalids".
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fighting With Both Hands Tied Behind Your Back...,
By Randall D. Dunning "RD" (Garland, TX United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Midwich Cuckoos (Paperback)
One reviewer caught what makes this book noteworthy: What happens when a culture is under attack and the culture's mores and folkways prevent them from adequately defending themselves? What happens when a society's virtues are exploited as strategic and tactical weaknesses by a cruel, cunning, and ruthless enemy? This is the basic question posed by the Midwich Cuckoos.
This is a classic tale of an unthinkable form of asymmetric warfare where an alien enemy exploits the baseline human instinct of nurture as the fulcrum upon which they place the lever of their one military advantage: the telepathic collective intelligence of an army of children. Those who enjoy the horror genre of science fiction will be somewhat disappointed as is reflected by several other reviewers. John Wyndham is not Stephan King so those looking for a skin-crawling, pulse pounding scare will not find it in the pages of Cuckoos. Those who like a more subtle and cerebral read will find this work both disquieting and thought provoking. I would classify this as more of a psychological drama than a sci-fi horror thriller.
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