The Kraken Wakes

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In these days of climate change I find the idea of uncontrollable sea level rise quite prescient. Another theme, which again has some traction today, is how the media reports, and how the public responds, to events. Some aspects irk, such as the unconscious superiority that imbues all the descriptions of non-British peoples. On the other hand the novel is also an interesting slice of life in the atomic cold war era. There really is much truth in Wyndham's observations of humans and politics, even tho his description of technology was dated even at the time of writing. This book is sci-fi, but it really is not about fancy technology at all. If anything, it is about the destruction of civilisation by an unknown force who ultimately causes a type of disaster that is very real to the present reader - the melting of the ice caps. There is some serious excitement in the well constructed story, divided into three parts, like novella, covering the three phases of the invasion - the descent from the skies (well in 1950s tradition), the invasions of the land and the rising of the tides.

The faith in boffins is very much of that curious period when boffins (basically the scientific community) were heroes of the hour, given a great deal of credit for beating the Nazis, and were regarded as dogged thinkers who would eventually come up with the solution to any problem. What? We don't like the idea of giving up our naval superiority? Oh, well. Let the escalations begin. And they go far beyond mere escalations. Some of the novel has the tone of War of the Worlds, while other parts feel like any number of global-warming disaster novels (or movies!). Perfect timing, astringent humour. . . one of the few authors whose compulsive readability is a compliment to the intelligence' Spectator I have been keenly fond of the filmed adaptation of “The Day of the Triffids” since its original theatrical release. Only years later did I realize it was based on a Wyndham novel; it is next on my “to read” list. I was even less aware of “The Kraken Wakes” until “Ted Brautigan” recommends the novel to “Bobby Garfield” in Stephen King’s “Hearts in Atlantis,” another wonderful King story. I admire Stephen King greatly and respect his opinion about books, so I decided to read the two Wyndham novels myself. To say that I was wonderfully surprised by the “The Kraken Wakes” is a gross understatement. Watch the skies!”: my selection of science fiction to read or watch or listen to… above all toenjoy!

I loved the Marine SF aspect of it, and this book has brought me more closer towards liking this sub-genre. H

We follow the story through the eyes of husband and wife journalist team as they observe events usually from a distance, but sometimes at the forefront as they unfold and civilization is gradually brought to its knees and begins to unravel. The emphasis for much of this book is on the media reaction the way public perception shifts accordingly.

In general usage, Kraken refers to a sea monster such as a large octopus or squid. In this story, there is something in the oceans of the world but it's not an octopus or a squid. It's something far worse from outer space that arrive on the earth in fireballs and head into the deep seas. Soon ships start disappearing along with their crews. Humanity drops atomic bombs into the oceans but these appear to have little effect. The floods have recently devastated parts of Britain. But what if the flood waters never subsided? What if an apparent meteor shower was actually the invasion fleet of an alien race, incubating in the ocean deeps until they were ready to begin their war of attrition against the human race? What if we were trapped on a drowning planet? The protagonists, two journalists balancing duty to country and humanity against getting the news out and being very responsible about it too, start off being much like the Myrna Loy and William Powell characters in 'The Thin Man', a general trope of mid-century popular movies. Interestingly, the armed forces are never treated in this way - there is still the respect accorded them (which remains to this day in British culture) for winning not only the last war but the next one and the one after that. Politicians are despised, the armed forces never. If you cannot open a .mobi file on your mobile device, please use .epub with an appropriate eReader.

After this the raids increase to a full onslaught on coasts around the world with hundreds of “sea-tanks” causing thousands of deaths. However the machines (if that is truly what they are) are vulnerable to explosive shells, and eventually they are held at bay by a combination of mines, weaponry and an alert public: He was actually a child, in terms of science fiction, of the American pulps where he targeted his short stories so what we see is a marriage of American and British styles reintroducing science fiction as a relatively serious expression of British concerns traced through the decade.

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The Kraken Wakes' is at the beginning of that trajectory and is worth reading for getting the 'feel' of the time from an accomplished writer who had had wide experience of life. The Kraken Wakes' has stood the test of time even though it is very much of its time - including the satire on the Cold War politics of the early 1950s, on industrial relations, on the media, its pre-Suez belief in the British Empire as a viable superpower and the gender relations.

This is yet another reread of The Kraken Wakes, and yet again I am surprised by how utterly modern the themes of the book are despite the fact it was written (and is set in) the early 1950s. John Wyndham's The Kraken Wakes: A Sci-Fi Classic for Modern Times — Blog — The Kraken Wakes". www.thekrakenwakes.com . Retrieved 2 August 2022.Perhaps the most surprising thing about this book for me is that there was no actual Kraken in it. At least the version I read. I read the blurb about fireballs falling into the oceans, ships disappearing and a world-wide catastrophe (John Wyndham loves those, he'd no doubt be writing a story about 2012 if he were still writing now) and thought: okay so extraterrestrial threat and a Kraken rising up and destroying civilisation, yes? Well actually the Kraken in the title was a metaphor for other things rising up out of the ocean. However despite this disappointment it was still a brilliant read that reminded me of a mix between Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and (curiously) The White Mountains.