#153 in Classics
The Day of the Triffids
- 272
- Pages
- about 5 h
- Reading time
- Film 1962 +2
- On screen
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Our view
“The Day of the Triffids” is a disaster novel more interested in human complacency than in its killer plants. Wyndham blinds nearly everyone, lets an aggressive species loose on the survivors and reports the collapse in a calm, practical voice that makes it all the more unsettling. Short, dark and tense, it suits readers who like their end of the world thought through rather than merely spectacular.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Day of the Triffids is a 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. After most people in the world are blinded by an apparent meteor shower, an aggressive species of plant starts killing people. Although Wyndham had already published other novels using other pen name combinations drawn from his real name, this was his first novel published as "John Wyndham".
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen 3 times — from 1962 to 2009.
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.8 across 463 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 76% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Classics average of 7.7. That is how 7.8 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.0 | 42 | 9% |
| Hardcover | 7.8 | 421 | 91% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Day of the Triffids?
It has 272 pages — shorter than 83% of the ranked books in Classics.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Classics — and a score of 7.8, the closest to this book.
