Customer Reviews

The Paranoid Fifties (The Day of the Triffids, I Am Legend, Time Out of Joint)

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This a Quality Paperback Book Club collection of three novels that stand well on their own.

First is The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham, the story of an unbelievable menace - plants from outer space. This story works best in print, where you can imagine the scope of the problem after vast numbers of people go blind and the seemingly harmless plants start creeping around.

Second is the horrific I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson, one of the most horrifying vampire stories ever written and according to the cover Stephen King called it 'an inspiration'. I believe it. There's something about the point of view of the last man alive in a world where everyone else has become a vampire - a man who understands all too well what has been happening because he has been doggedly figuring out the scientific details, but the social and emotional details are even more horrifying.

The third and final novel in this collection is Time Out of Joint by Philip K. Dick. Well before The Truman Show we have the story of a fifties town that has been built and maintained to provide an environment for one man. Victor Nielson has one special talent that he can continue to use even though he has retreated to a delusional state from his life in the late 20th century, and the government is doing everything it can to help him to do it.

One thing that has kept these stories strong is that they're not about specific gadgets, they're about thematic situations that we worry about even though the details change. What if something seemingly harmless comes along and starts destroying the world? What if everything changes and we're the only one left having to deal with and fight the change? What if we're busy doing something vitally important but we're not sure that it's the right thing to do?

Recommended.