The Triffids

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The Triffids (English original title: The Day of the Triffids ) is a science fiction novel by the English author John Wyndham from 1951. The novel is considered a classic of SF literature. The first German translation, which has been used since then, was done by Hubert Greifeneder . It was first published in 1955 by Süddeutscher Verlag , Munich. The 1960 paperback edition was also the first volume in the renowned Heyne Science Fiction series . The publishing house Heinrich und Hahn , Frankfurt am Main, published a new edition in 2006 which was revised by Inge Seelig .

content

The oil industry uses plants, the so-called triffids, from which oil can be extracted with high efficiency. However, the Triffids can run around with their roots if they are not leashed, and they can attack and even kill people through a poisonous sting. The plants were grown in the Soviet Union. A scientist tried to smuggle them into the western world, but an accident caused them to spread worldwide.

The plot begins when William (Bill) Masen wakes up in the hospital after an eye operation. He is a biologist and Triffid expert who was injured by a Triffid. Since no personnel appear, he has to remove the bandage himself.

From the news, he knows that there was a meteor shower that night. Almost all people have looked at the bright green lights and have later become blind. A doctor who realizes his situation commits suicide in front of Masen's eyes. Many patients suspect that it is still night and therefore cannot see anything. Masen has to witness how the whole of London has sunk into chaos. After a short time he meets the writer Josella Playton, who is held as a prisoner by a blind man. After they are freed, they discover that Josella's family has been attacked and killed by the Triffids who roam free.

After a while they discover a ray of light and realize that a group - mostly sighted - has gathered in the university. A man named Coker argues with them, demanding that the sighted take care of all the blind until help comes. After Bill Masen and Playton join this group, Coker is trapped that night and Masen and several others are captured.

Masen is handcuffed to two blind people and has to look after them and other blind people in a part of London. During supply trips, there is a conflict with another group, and soon afterwards many of Masen's group get sick and die. When Mason sleeps, many blind people think he has left them and leave alone. He takes care of the last remaining blind woman who is already sick and dies soon after. Then he sets off to look for Josella in Westminster, where she also looks after a group of blind people. But her group also seems to have died of the disease. An elderly blind woman met Josella a while ago, but she cannot tell Mason where she went. Then Mason meets again with Coker, who has since given up hope of rescue and realizes that the group at the university was right. At the university they discover a clue that the group there has moved on to Tynsham Mannor.

At the said place they only meet part of the group. The opposition, which rejected many ideas for a new civilization, stayed there. Coker and Masen move on to look for Josella. You must find that the Triffids in many places killed the blind, but also the few sighted people. Some people join Coker and Masen and, with the help of a helicopter, start searching for other people. Some join them, others prefer to stay there because they hope that the Americans will rescue them.

The group around Coker and Masen want to go back to Tynsham, but the night before they leave, Mason remembers a conversation with Josella, in which she said they could move in with friends of hers. So Masen separates from the rest and travels on alone to find Josella. They plan to come to Tynsham later.

On the way he meets Susan, a young sighted girl whose brother was recently killed by a Triffid. He buries the little boy and rides on with the girl.

In fact, they find Josella, who has found shelter with her friends. In addition to the befriended couple, another blind friend lives there, so Josella is the only one in this small group who can see. Soon after, her friend had a child, and Josella soon became pregnant from Masen. Despite not having a proper wedding, Masen and Josella consider each other married and in the years to come they set up a farm and guards against the Triffids. During a visit to Tynsham, Masen discovered that the mysterious disease had broken out there and apparently everyone had died.

The Triffids become more and more of a threat over the years. They are attracted to sounds and seem to be able to communicate with one another.

During an excursion, Masen explains to Josella his theory that satellites with pathogens on board were hit during the meteor shower and that blindness and the epidemic are actually the fault of the people. Shortly afterwards they discover a helicopter, which flies past them.

Back on the farm you will find the helicopter there. Susan had started a fire to draw the pilot's attention through the smoke. He belongs to the group that initially gathered at the university. After separating from the Tynsham group, they moved on. Soon the idea came up to clean an island of Triffids and then move there. With the help of the helicopter, many other groups were found - which, like the farm, are surrounded by Triffids - and the people evacuated there. Coker was also found like this and has lived there for a while. One hopes that Bill Masen can use his knowledge to lead a research group and find a way to defeat the Triffids and one day be able to colonize the mainland again.

The farm group around Bill Masen wants to stay there for a while and only join the archipelago later because they are not ready to give up their home.

But a little later another vehicle arrives at the farm. The armed men declare that they belong to a new political order that uses the blind as serfs and is preparing for war against other groups and nations. Josella and Bill are supposed to take in 17 other blind friends in addition to the three blind friends and let them work for them, as one sighted person is supposed to take care of 10 blind people. Susan, however, is supposed to come to headquarters and later lead a group of blind people herself. Bill Mason pretends to be interested and negotiates assurances that Susan will be fine there. Guests receive a lot of alcohol. During the night they make the visitors' vehicles unusable and the farm group flees. The pursuers are attacked by Triffids and Bill's group joins the islanders.

Remarks

How many early science fiction - B-movies was also "The Day of the Triffids" in the title song " Science Fiction / Double Feature " of " The Rocky Horror Show " by Richard O'Brien called " And I really got hot when i saw Janette Scott fight a Triffid that spits poison and kills ".

Adaptations

A radio play version of Giles Cooper was staged in 1968 by Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in the translation by Hein Brühl with Hansjörg Felmy in the role of Bill Masen as a six-part SF radio play (director: Heinz-Dieter Köhler ).

In addition, the book has been filmed three times so far:

literature

Reviews

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://hoerspiele.dra.de/vollinfo.php?dukey=1445967&vi=1&SID
  2. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055894/
  3. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081850/