John Wyndham
Encyclopedia
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English
science fiction
writer who usually used the pen name
John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes. Many of his works were set in post-apocalyptic landscapes.
in Warwickshire
, England
, the son of George Beynon Harris, a barrister
, and Gertrude Parkes, the daughter of a Birmingham
ironmaster
.
His early childhood was spent in Edgbaston
in Birmingham, but when he was eight years old his parents separated and he and his brother, the writer Vivian Beynon Harris
, spent the rest of their childhood at a number of English preparatory
and boarding schools, including Blundell's School
in Devon during the First World War. His longest and final stay was at Bedales School
in Hampshire
(1918–1921) which he left at the age of 18, where he blossomed and was happy.
After leaving school, Wyndham tried several careers including farming, law, commercial art
and advertising, but mostly relied on an allowance from his family. He eventually turned to writing for money in 1925, and by 1931 was selling short stories and serial fiction to American science fiction pulp magazines, most under the pen names of 'John Beynon' or 'John Beynon Harris', although he also wrote some detective stories.
in the Ministry of Information, then joined the army, serving as a Corporal cipher
operator in the Royal Corps of Signals
. He participated in the Normandy landings, although was not involved in the first days of the landings.
. His prewar writing career was not mentioned in the book's publicity, and people were allowed to assume that it was a first novel from a previously unknown writer.
The book proved to be an enormous success and established Wyndham as an important exponent of science fiction. He went on to write and publish six more novels under the name John Wyndham, all of which appeared in his lifetime. In 1963 he married Grace Wilson, whom he had known for more than 20 years; the couple remained married until he died. He moved out of the Penn Club in London, and lived near Petersfield, Hampshire
, just outside the grounds of Bedales School
.
He died aged 65 at his home in Petersfield, survived by his wife and brother. Subsequently, some of his unsold work was published and his earlier work re-published.
The first four of the novels published in his lifetime as by John Wyndham are widely regarded as the peak of his achievement. The Day of the Triffids remains his best known, but some of his readers consider that The Chrysalids was really his best.
He also penned several short stories, ranging from hard science fiction to whimsical fantasy. Of these, Consider Her Ways
and Random Quest
have both been filmed.
, another British science fiction writer, has disparagingly labelled some of them as "cosy catastrophes", especially his novel The Day of the Triffids
. The critic L. J. Hurst dismissed Aldiss's accusations, pointing out that in Triffids the main character witnesses several murders, suicides, and misadventures, and is frequently in mortal danger himself.
This approach by Wyndham (itself more than a little reminiscent of that taken by H. G. Wells
in The War of the Worlds
) was a reaction against what he described as the "galactic gangsters in space opera" style of much science fiction up to then. In his longer tales he is more concerned with character development than many science fiction writers.
Wyndham's science fiction may be considered trendsetting in its insistence that interplanetary catastrophes do not just happen to "other people" (e.g. those best-equipped to face them) and would in fact be extremely difficult for our delicate and highly interconnected civilisation to deal with.
Similarly ahead of its time is the emphasis that Wyndham put on disruptions to the biosphere as a whole, as when the aliens in The Kraken Wakes
begin to engineer our planet for their own purposes without asking us first. He consistently views man as part of the biosphere, and nature as "red in tooth and claw" (as Tennyson put it).
Perhaps a reflection of his ideas are the similar, usually middle-class characters that he employs throughout his main novels. For example, in Midwich Cuckoos, Day of the Triffids and The Kraken Wakes, the main characters are a sensible man and woman. The similarities of these characters between the novels are great; a self-made educated man, a successful woman who is headstrong yet quite dependent on the man at times.
These are a reflection of Wyndham's self-described style—that of "logical fantasy". In Triffids, Kraken, and Midwich Cuckoos, the characters and settings are all very reasonable, sensible, and in some sense, properly English. This is the theme at the heart of these works: take the "sensible" and rational society we have now, and introduce one (or in the case of Triffids, two) extraordinary factors. The works then take a very analytical approach to our reactions to these situations. The results are always grim, as we rational beings, most notably in Kraken, at every step attempt to rationalise extraordinary situations into our present day view of our planet. In this sense Wyndham exposes our rationality as purely protective, and, in the end, detrimental. Only when no hope is left can we actually face facts - this is just when hope presents itself as one last flicker of the human potential.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
writer who usually used the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes. Many of his works were set in post-apocalyptic landscapes.
Early life
Wyndham was born in the village of KnowleKnowle
Knowle is a large village a few miles southeast of the town of Solihull, UK. Knowle lies within the historic county boundaries of Warwickshire, and since 1974 it has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull within the West Midlands...
in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the son of George Beynon Harris, a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, and Gertrude Parkes, the daughter of a Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
ironmaster
Ironmaster
An ironmaster is the manager – and usually owner – of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain....
.
His early childhood was spent in Edgbaston
Edgbaston
Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
in Birmingham, but when he was eight years old his parents separated and he and his brother, the writer Vivian Beynon Harris
Vivian Beynon Harris
Vivian Beynon Harris was an English writer.He is mainly known as the brother of the well-known science fiction writer John Wyndham, but he did have four novels published himself...
, spent the rest of their childhood at a number of English preparatory
Preparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
and boarding schools, including Blundell's School
Blundell's School
Blundell's School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school located in the town of Tiverton in the county of Devon, England. The school was founded in 1604 by the will of Peter Blundell, one of the richest men in England at the time, and relocated to its present location on the...
in Devon during the First World War. His longest and final stay was at Bedales School
Bedales School
Bedales School is a co-educational independent school situated in Hampshire, in the south east of England. Founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventional Victorian schools, today the school is one of the most expensive in the UK, charging £9,985 per term for a...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
(1918–1921) which he left at the age of 18, where he blossomed and was happy.
After leaving school, Wyndham tried several careers including farming, law, commercial art
Commercial art
Commercial art is historically a subsector of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. The term has become increasingly anachronistic in favor of more contemporary terms such as graphic design and advertising art.Commercial art traditionally...
and advertising, but mostly relied on an allowance from his family. He eventually turned to writing for money in 1925, and by 1931 was selling short stories and serial fiction to American science fiction pulp magazines, most under the pen names of 'John Beynon' or 'John Beynon Harris', although he also wrote some detective stories.
World War II
During the Second World War Wyndham first served as a censorCensorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
in the Ministry of Information, then joined the army, serving as a Corporal cipher
Cipher
In cryptography, a cipher is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption — a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is encipherment. In non-technical usage, a “cipher” is the same thing as a “code”; however, the concepts...
operator in the Royal Corps of Signals
Royal Corps of Signals
The Royal Corps of Signals is one of the combat support arms of the British Army...
. He participated in the Normandy landings, although was not involved in the first days of the landings.
Postwar
After the war Wyndham returned to writing, inspired by the success of his brother who had had four novels published. He altered his writing style and by 1951, using the John Wyndham pen name for the first time, wrote the novel The Day of the TriffidsThe Day of the Triffids
The Day of the Triffids is a post-apocalyptic novel published in 1951 by the English science fiction author John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, under the pen-name John Wyndham. Although Wyndham had already published other novels using other pen-name combinations drawn from his lengthy real...
. His prewar writing career was not mentioned in the book's publicity, and people were allowed to assume that it was a first novel from a previously unknown writer.
The book proved to be an enormous success and established Wyndham as an important exponent of science fiction. He went on to write and publish six more novels under the name John Wyndham, all of which appeared in his lifetime. In 1963 he married Grace Wilson, whom he had known for more than 20 years; the couple remained married until he died. He moved out of the Penn Club in London, and lived near Petersfield, Hampshire
Petersfield, Hampshire
Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth, on the A3 road. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct Line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth and London. The town is situated on the...
, just outside the grounds of Bedales School
Bedales School
Bedales School is a co-educational independent school situated in Hampshire, in the south east of England. Founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventional Victorian schools, today the school is one of the most expensive in the UK, charging £9,985 per term for a...
.
He died aged 65 at his home in Petersfield, survived by his wife and brother. Subsequently, some of his unsold work was published and his earlier work re-published.
Early novels published under other pen names
- Foul Play SuspectedFoul Play SuspectedFoul Play Suspected is a 1935 novel by British science fiction writer John Wyndham . It was a detective story, published by Newnes under the non de plume of John Beynon....
(1935) (as John Beynon) - The Secret PeopleThe Secret PeopleThe Secret People is a science fiction novel by John Wyndham. It is set in 1964, and features a British couple who find themselves held captive by an ancient race of pygmies dwelling beneath the Sahara desert...
(1935) (as John Beynon) - Planet Plane (1936) (as John Beynon; also known as The Space Machine and Stowaway to Mars)
Novels published in his lifetime as by John Wyndham
- The Day of the TriffidsThe Day of the TriffidsThe Day of the Triffids is a post-apocalyptic novel published in 1951 by the English science fiction author John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, under the pen-name John Wyndham. Although Wyndham had already published other novels using other pen-name combinations drawn from his lengthy real...
(1951) (also known as Revolt of the Triffids) - The Kraken WakesThe Kraken WakesThe Kraken Wakes is an apocalyptic science fiction novel by John Wyndham, originally published by Michael Joseph in the UK in 1953 and first published in the US in the same year by Ballantine Books under the title Out of the Deeps as a mass market paperback...
(1953) (published in the US as Out of the Deep) - The ChrysalidsThe ChrysalidsThe Chrysalids is a science fiction novel by John Wyndham, first published in 1955 by Michael Joseph. It is the least typical of Wyndham's major novels, but regarded by some people as his best...
(1955) (published in the US as Re-Birth) - The Midwich CuckoosThe Midwich CuckoosThe Midwich Cuckoos is a science fiction novel written by English author John Wyndham, published in 1957. It has been filmed twice as Village of the Damned in 1960 and 1995.-Plot summary:...
(1957) (filmed twice as Village of the DamnedVillage of the DamnedVillage of the Damned may refer to:* Village of the Damned * Village of the Damned , the 1995 remake* The Midwich Cuckoos, the John Wyndham novel on which the movies are based...
) - The Outward UrgeThe Outward UrgeThe Outward Urge is a science fiction novel by John Wyndham . It was originally published with four chapters in 1959...
(1959) - Trouble with LichenTrouble with LichenTrouble with Lichen is a science fiction novel by John Wyndham.-Plot summary:The plot concerns a young woman biochemist who discovers that a chemical extracted from an unusual strain of lichen can be used to retard the ageing process, enabling people to live to around 200–300 years...
(1960) - ChockyChockyThis article is about the novel; see also the TV series Chocky Chocky is a science fiction novel by John Wyndham, first published in 1968 by Michael Joseph. The BBC produced a radio adaption by John Tydeman in 1967...
(1968)
Short story collections
- JizzleJizzleJizzle is a collection of science-fiction short stories by John Wyndham, published in 1954.The collection contains:-Stories:*Jizzle*Technical Slip*A Present from Brunswick*Chinese Puzzle*Esmeralda*How Do I Do?*Una...
(1954) - The Seeds of TimeThe Seeds of TimeThe Seeds of Time is a collection of science fiction short stories by John Wyndham, published in 1956 by Michael Joseph.The collection contains:* a foreword by John Wyndham* "Chronoclasm", a time-travelling romantic comedy....
(1956) - Tales of Gooseflesh and LaughterTales of Gooseflesh and LaughterTales of Gooseflesh and Laughter is a collection of science fiction short stories by John Wyndham, published in 1956 by Ballantine Books.The collection contains:* "Chinese Puzzle"* "Una"* "The Wheel"* "Jizzle"* "Heaven Scent"* "Compassion Circuit"...
(1956) (features stories from the two earlier collections) - Consider Her WaysConsider Her WaysConsider Her Ways is a 1956 science fiction novella by John Wyndham. It was published as part of a 1961 collection with some short stories called Consider Her Ways and Others .-Plot:...
and Others (1961) - The Infinite MomentThe Infinite MomentThe Infinite Moment is a science fiction short story collection by John Wyndham, published in Ballantine Books in 1961.The collection contains:* "Consider Her Ways"* "Odd"* "How Do I Do"* "Stitch In Time"* "Random Quest"* "Time Out"...
(1961) (US edition of Consider Her Ways, with two stories dropped, two others added)
Posthumous collections
- Sleepers of MarsSleepers of MarsSleepers of Mars is a collection of early short stories by John Wyndham, published after his death, in 1973 by Coronet Books.The collection includes:...
(1973) a collection of five stories originally published in magazines in the 1930s: Sleepers of Mars, Worlds to Barter, Invisible Monster, The Man from Earth & The Third Vibrator. - The Best of John WyndhamThe Best of John WyndhamThe Best of John Wyndham is a paperback collection of science fiction short stories by John Wyndham, published after his death by Sphere Books, first in 1973. Michael Joseph Limited has published the book as a hardcover under the title The Man from Beyond and Other Stories in 1975...
(1973) - Wanderers of TimeWanderers of TimeWanderers Of Time is a science fiction short story collection by John Wyndham writing as John Beynon, published in Coronet Books in 1973.The collection contains:* "Before the Triffids" * "Wanderers of Time"...
(1973) a collection of five stories originally published in magazines in the 1930s: Wanderers of Time, Derelict of Space, Child of Power, The Last Lunarians & The Puff-ball Menace (a.k.a. Spheres of Hell). - Exiles on AsperusExiles on AsperusExiles on Asperus is a collection of science fiction short stories by John Wyndham, writing as John Benyon, published in 1979 after his death by Coronet Books.The collection contains:*Exiles on Asperus...
(1979) - No Place like EarthNo Place like EarthNo Place like Earth is a collection of science fiction short stories by John Wyndham, published in July 2003 by Darkside Press.The collection contains the following short stories:...
(2003)
Biography and criticism
- "John Wyndham: No Place Like Earth", programme on BBC Radio 4, 11.30 am, 12 November 2010
The first four of the novels published in his lifetime as by John Wyndham are widely regarded as the peak of his achievement. The Day of the Triffids remains his best known, but some of his readers consider that The Chrysalids was really his best.
He also penned several short stories, ranging from hard science fiction to whimsical fantasy. Of these, Consider Her Ways
Consider Her Ways
Consider Her Ways is a 1956 science fiction novella by John Wyndham. It was published as part of a 1961 collection with some short stories called Consider Her Ways and Others .-Plot:...
and Random Quest
Random Quest
Random Quest is a science fiction short story, which is also a love story, by John Wyndham. It was included in his 1961 collection Consider Her Ways and Others...
have both been filmed.
Style
Most of Wyndham's novels have a contemporary 1950s English setting. Brian AldissBrian Aldiss
Brian Wilson Aldiss, OBE is an English author of both general fiction and science fiction. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss. Greatly influenced by science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, Aldiss is a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society...
, another British science fiction writer, has disparagingly labelled some of them as "cosy catastrophes", especially his novel The Day of the Triffids
The Day of the Triffids
The Day of the Triffids is a post-apocalyptic novel published in 1951 by the English science fiction author John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, under the pen-name John Wyndham. Although Wyndham had already published other novels using other pen-name combinations drawn from his lengthy real...
. The critic L. J. Hurst dismissed Aldiss's accusations, pointing out that in Triffids the main character witnesses several murders, suicides, and misadventures, and is frequently in mortal danger himself.
This approach by Wyndham (itself more than a little reminiscent of that taken by H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
in The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
) was a reaction against what he described as the "galactic gangsters in space opera" style of much science fiction up to then. In his longer tales he is more concerned with character development than many science fiction writers.
Wyndham's science fiction may be considered trendsetting in its insistence that interplanetary catastrophes do not just happen to "other people" (e.g. those best-equipped to face them) and would in fact be extremely difficult for our delicate and highly interconnected civilisation to deal with.
Similarly ahead of its time is the emphasis that Wyndham put on disruptions to the biosphere as a whole, as when the aliens in The Kraken Wakes
The Kraken Wakes
The Kraken Wakes is an apocalyptic science fiction novel by John Wyndham, originally published by Michael Joseph in the UK in 1953 and first published in the US in the same year by Ballantine Books under the title Out of the Deeps as a mass market paperback...
begin to engineer our planet for their own purposes without asking us first. He consistently views man as part of the biosphere, and nature as "red in tooth and claw" (as Tennyson put it).
Perhaps a reflection of his ideas are the similar, usually middle-class characters that he employs throughout his main novels. For example, in Midwich Cuckoos, Day of the Triffids and The Kraken Wakes, the main characters are a sensible man and woman. The similarities of these characters between the novels are great; a self-made educated man, a successful woman who is headstrong yet quite dependent on the man at times.
These are a reflection of Wyndham's self-described style—that of "logical fantasy". In Triffids, Kraken, and Midwich Cuckoos, the characters and settings are all very reasonable, sensible, and in some sense, properly English. This is the theme at the heart of these works: take the "sensible" and rational society we have now, and introduce one (or in the case of Triffids, two) extraordinary factors. The works then take a very analytical approach to our reactions to these situations. The results are always grim, as we rational beings, most notably in Kraken, at every step attempt to rationalise extraordinary situations into our present day view of our planet. In this sense Wyndham exposes our rationality as purely protective, and, in the end, detrimental. Only when no hope is left can we actually face facts - this is just when hope presents itself as one last flicker of the human potential.
External links
- The John Wyndham Archive at the University of Liverpool
- Guardian article on John Wyndham
- "Portrait of Wyndham and Wells" by Christopher Priest
- "Vivisection": Schoolboy "John Wyndham's" First Publication?
- Archive BBC TV interview of John Wyndham in 1960 Requires Realplayer
- John Wyndham bibliography of first editions