Customer Reviews

When the Wind Blows

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This review is for ISBN 057311496X which I bought thinking that it was the illustrated version. This book is a play adapted from the original, although you would have no way of knowing from the online description. There are many different editions of this wonderful book so be careful that you order the right one.

this is a well disguised scary story - it starts out all nice and gentle, and the BAM before you realize your reading about nuclear fall out. it's very very scary, and depressing.

Timely to say the least ...

we are being told to protect our homes with Plastic drop cloths and duct tape... they were told to use wooden doors... read it and start thinking.

all that being said
it's beautifully illustrated - and well worth tracking down a copy.

When the Wind Blows is a classic of modern literature. It's one of the all-time best books I've ever read and it's tragic that it's been allowed to fall out of print. Get a used copy. Track it down. Look for it misfiled in the children's section...it's an illustrated book but it definitely isn't kiddie fare. When the Wind Blows is wonderful, just wonderful.

Raymond Briggs here presents us with a disarmingly gentle, warm, humorous graphic novel, about a regular blue collar couple trying to understand, and to prepare for, the ultimate catastrophe.

This touching little book came out in the early 80s, when there was a sharp spike in international public awareness of the dangers of nuclear warfare. Due largely to Ronald Reagan's hawkish presidency, people were much more fearful of this looming prospect -- and, of course, rightly so. Reading this reminds me of 1981, when I was in eighth grade, and tensions over Poland were so severe that I recall becoming a regular fixture at our local library, reading and reading, trying helplessly to understand all the forces which, it seemed, were conspiring to destroy us all.

The really touching thing, about the couple portrayed in this book, is that they are normal people. Almost completely uninformed about the world, their mental picture of the world is shaped by a haze of half-remembered patriotic propaganda that is decades out of date, and was heavily distorted to begin with. Their efforts to prepare for a nuclear attack are so pathetic that you would laugh, if you weren't already busy crying.

Those weapons are still out there. This book is important. Everyone should read it. If you half-suspect that you yourself might be slightly un-informed about nuclear war issues, I would like to recommend that you seek out "The New Nuclear Danger," by Dr. Helen Caldicott. It just came out in 2002, and includes a fantastic bibliography which could help you understand nuclear winter, medical effects of fallout, and current weapon stockpiles. There is also a great collection of relevant websites, which we should all be a lot more familiar with.... if you'd like to communicate you concern to your kids with another illustrated book, aimed at a younger audience, I would like to recommend "Hiroshima No Pika," by Toshi Maruki.

You may also like to seek out "Threads," a tremendous docudrama on nuclear war done in consultation with Carl Sagan, in 1984. "Threads" is out of print, except in the UK, but you can find it on the largest online auction houses if you put the terms "threads" and "nuclear" in the search field.

So, if you know anyone who actually went out and bought duct tape in February, 2003, I would like to recommend that you sit down with them, and spend an hour leafing through this horrifying book. Two miserable thumbs way, way, way up.

A masterpiece! A delicious combination of pitch-black humour and a tale worth, hmmm... thinking of, so to speak. Leaves the reader with an uncanny feeling. Leaves an exceptional impression when read while listening to the film score (a film has been made, although, naturally, is not available :)) recorded by Mr Rog Waters. Three cheers for Jim and Hilda!

I first came across this book in 1994 when I was in Uni, when I discovered it in a friend's house. After I read it, I was so struck by the story that I knew I needed to get my own copy but never found it in any bookstore anywhere. For the past 16 years, I've been trying to find this book- that's how strongly 'When the Wind Blows' affected me. I finally found it on Amazon and after reading it again, am still struck by the beauty of the illustrations and the horror of war and how it affects ordinary people. When I turned the last page, I felt the same sadness and emptiness for the couple as I felt the first time I read it. The strength of this book is that it's written in comic strip form- the images will stick in your mind far longer than any words can. Therein lies the beauty of Raymond Briggs' classic- not only does the comic form simplify the telling of the story, it pushes home the point that these are ordinary, simple, village people, but because illustrations are used, it becomes a far more powerful story. I'm keeping this one and NOT letting it out of my sight! If I ever have children, this is one book I'll make sure they read when they're old enough to understand.

This is one of the most moving books I've ever read on the subject of nuclear warfare, and the story is told in comic book format. Simply but beautifully illustrated, the story is touching, funny, and horrifying at the same time. It humanizes a very inhuman concept.

At a time when we all need to know more, and to know it not just through our intellect but through our emotional and personal dimensions as well, how can it be that this book is out of print?
Raymond Briggs has a deft and provocative hand, a poignant and powerful voice. An artist of his calibre should be able to challenge us and he needs a publisher who will continue to nurture ALL that he has to offer to children, to adults, to the world.

An ederly couple in england, immediately following a nuclear attack.

Sweet and horrible.

Makes for horribly wonderful reading.

Animated.

It is worth tracking down, even if it is out of print.

A touching story of a retired couple who had lived through the blitz, and think WW3 will be the same "for king and country", "give Jerry a thrashing" followed by victory parades and street parties type of war. They receive a very rude awakening.

Have a box of Kleenex handy. Not "The Snowman", not for younger children.

Read the book, and see the film.