Chocky

Product Information

Alien telepathy. I mean, hello! Since light is the speed limit, the only reasonably efficient method of exploration has got to be SOMETHING ELSE. Especially if you want to send real spaceships to other intelligent races, you need to make sure you're welcome. :) In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle reads a classic story of alien possession by the master of British science fiction Reality is relative. Devils, evil spirits, witches and so on become real enough to the people who believe in them. Just as God is to people who believe in Him. When people live their lives by their beliefs objective reality is almost irrelavant

Chocky by John Wyndham | Goodreads

So: what is there to recommend in this novel? Well, allowing for its age, it is remarkably readable. It flows very well. And whilst it can be accused of being too middle-class, too parochial, too patricidal – “Little England” territory – there are reasons for this, I think.You should be employing your resources, while you still have them, to tap and develop the use of a source of power which is not finite…." Reality is relative... When people live their lives by their beliefs objective reality is almost irrelevant.” I loved this - it did not go in the direction I expected at all. There was a creepiness to it, but it was also surprisingly sweet, with a lovely if unbalanced friendship, and a family who care about their child and do their best to support him through an odd situation. That is not what I got, though. And I have to reflect on the fact that my expectations were so stereotypical. Why would I expect a highly intelligent, curious extraterrestrial explorer to be as evil and stupid as humans have proven to be, over and over again? Why would I expect it to be even worse? Why would I feel threatened by the unknown, even before I see any signs of danger?

Chocky - Penguin Books UK

Science fiction always tells you more about the present than the future. John Wyndham’s classroom favourite might be set in some desolate landscape still to come, but it is rooted in the concerns of the mid-1950s. Published in 1955, it’s a novel driven by the twin anxieties of the cold war and the atomic bomb…Fifty years on, when our enemy has changed and our fear of nuclear catastrophe has subsided, his analysis of our tribal instinct is as pertinent as ever.”The series was also broadcast and popular in Czechoslovakia where it was dubbed in both Czech and Slovak languages. It was also dubbed in French and broadcast in Canada in the late 1980s and early 1990s; in Spanish and broadcast in Spain in the late 1980s. It was hugely popular in Bulgaria in the second half of 1980s. Also in Cuba. All episodes of Season 1 and Season 2 were shown numerous times. intelligent life is the only thing that gives meaning to the universe. It is a holy thing, to be fostered and treasured.…" As is common with authors writing in and of the period, the women are decorative and domestic, but largely sidelined in a friendly way. Younger sister Polly is plausibly annoying, but not given many redeeming qualities. However, in in the collection Consider Her Ways and Others (see my review HERE), a couple of the stories have a strong female/feminist slant. John Wyndham is a British author whose work I've been meaning to read for ages, as his works are considered classics. This one was first published in 1968, and holds up really well today. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Damien Lynch, who does a very good job, bringing every character to life and managing the children’s voices well – not something every narrator can pull off. His unhurried approach suits the tone of the book and allows the listener time to absorb the themes.