Customer Reviews

Web (Penguin Readers, Level 3)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was John Wyndham's last novel, but it was one of the first I bought, fourteen years ago. I had already read "The Day of the Triffids" and "Chocky". This novel was published ten years after Wyndham's death in 1969.

The story is about an island called Tanakuatua, where a millionaire plans to build a community. The narrator, who lost his wife and daughter in a car accident, volunteers for a position as one of the "pioneers". Little do the settlers realize the island is inhabited by swarms of intelligent, deadly spiders. Radiation from nuclear tests gave the spiders' evolution a bit of a push.

I have a feeling Wyndham had quite a fascination with spiders. In one of his early short stories ("More Spinned Against") a man who collects spiders meets a rather grisly fate. In another of Wyndham's stories, "Wanderers of Time", the heroes are in a remote future where swarms of intelligent ants rule the world. It seems like a similar formula was used for "Web": the idea of humble creatures becoming intelligent rulers.

The premise is a bit reminiscent of "Them" (a giant ants movie), or "Swarm", a killer bees movie, but there is a certain degree of intelligence in the story.

I love pretty much everything John Wyndham writes. If you do too, this will be a good read for you. If not, then you may want to skip it. This title offers most of the pleasures of Wyndham- a clear, understated prose style with elements of humor shot throughout. As usual, you get the impression that Wyndham is writing himself into the story as the narrator, a modest, observant, unassuming type who reports what he sees with a minimum of embellishment. Though the plot is unoriginal, the action is very exciting at times and will pull you in. There is some filler, namely a long background of the spider infested island, made palatable by Wyndham's fine writing. It's refreshing to read a short book, at a time when most science fiction authors are apparently paid by the word. If this were written today, it would be 700 pages and part 1 of a trilogy of novels. But Wyndham doesn't need a lot of verbiage to get his points across.

Pretty good, but I won't go back to this time and again as I do other titles of his like "Day of the Triffids" and "Rebirth."

I very much wanted to like this book enough to give it five stars, but the truth is giving it four stars may be generous. The concept behind the novel is brilliant. Unfortunately, the delivery of the story is erratic. While some reviewers suggest only Wyndham fans would enjoy the book, I would tend to disagree. In a better developed form, this book could have enjoyed wider acclaim.

In a book about hostile spiders, Wyndham lays the setting for more than half of the book. Past the halfway point, the reader finally meets the spiders, who are introduced as a "brown patch". Having introduced the villain so late in the book, the conflict comes even later. Thus, the ending seems rushed. Having been subjected to nuclear experimentation, the island of Tanakuatua has only recently been declared safe for inhabitants. An idealist, who's dream of building a perfect society needs a site, purchases the island. Upon arrival, settlers begin disappearing and the natives reveal the source of the "taboo".

Wyndham may be better known for other works, but this brief work is enjoyable despite its flaws. The story demonstrates brilliance in political ideology as well as it understanding of biology. These traits make the book somewhat surprising to be labeled for young adults.

The version of "Web" that's most likely to come up on an Amazon search is a Penguin Readers "retelling," intended for children and people learning English. Don't order it if you're looking for John Wyndham's original novel -- you'll only end up puzzled and disappointed, as I was when I opened the package this morning.

(And ignore my rating. It's only there because Amazon insists on one.)

"Web" deals with the evolution of a new species of spiders on a desert island. Their contact with humanity is (of course) rather disastrous. Web isn't bad, but Wyndham has done the same theme much better in other books. One might ask for a little more in the originality-department.