The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
February 21st, 2007 by Nathan Shumate 
Penguin, 1955/1981
200 pp.
ISBN 0-14-00.1308-3
Buy it from Amazon.com
or eBay or Half.com
Too often, the first horse out the gate in what turns out to be a new literary (or cinematic) trend, or even a whole new genre, ends up looking like a weak example of the form in the long run. The reason why is fairly obvious: The first one acts as the prototype, sketching out the possibilities of the subject matter or genre; later entries stand on its shoulders as they refine and innovate. Even if for no other reason, the original ends up seeming tired and trite because it’s been imitated so many times by more contemporary examples. We’ve already seen it all, before we see how it was done the first time.
Exceptions to this problem are noteworthy. H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine,, usually hailed as the first time-travel story, is also usually acknowledged as one of the best damned time-travel stories ever. Its still packs a wallop that can’t be diluted by a century’s worth of derivative novels, or even by half-assed movie “adaptations.”
Though less often touted as a masterpiece, John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids is similarly praiseworthy. It is, quite possibly, the first novel dealing with the post-apocalyptic, post-mutation future. And even though the literary children of this novel range from the Planet of the Apes movies to the novel Hiero’s Journey to the X-Men franchise, the original is good enough that its charms are not diminished by the legions of literary, cinematic, and pop-cultural works that draw from the ideas it established.
In this world several thousand years after the “Tribulation,” the human race still survives. But its greatest self-perceived threat isn’t disease or the mysterious effects of the Badlands that exist past the Fringes of the habitable lands. No, the biggest threat comes from within, from plants, animals, and even people who are Offenses and Blasphemies, who offend against the God-given True Image of man by their differences. In this beleaguered country in what once was the province of Labrador, guarding against mutation has become a major part of the religion:
…and each leg shall be jointed twice and have one foot, and each foot five toes, and each toe shall end with a flat nail… And any creature that shall seem to be be human, but is not formed thus is not human. It is neither man nor woman. It is a blasphemy against the true Image of God, and hateful in the sight of God.
Our young protagonist, David, is the son of probably the fiercest defender of the norm in the area, and grows up with the platitudes of the faith staring him in the face: KEEP PURE THE STOCK OF THE LORD. THE DEVIL IS THE FATHER OF DEVIATION. WATCH THOU FOR THE MUTANT! But none of them make as great an impression on him as meeting Sophie, a girl his age who is completely normal… except the sixth toe on each foot that she has to keep hidden. Suddenly, mutation has a human face.
But as close to him as that brings the problem of deviation and abomination, it gets even closer when he realizes that he qualifies as an abomination himself. He and some children in the area have always had the ability to “think together,” sending thought-shapes over distances when not physically present. They realize early that their invisible mutation is just as dangerous to them as a malformed limb — moreso, as the normals would both hate them and fear them. And when David’s sister Petra is born with the thought-speech ability far in excess of any they already knew, it’s only a matter of tim before David, his sister, and his friends will be expose to the holy hatred of his father and the whole community.
Wyndham is a wonderfully transparent stylist, slipping in all of the necessary exposition lightly and naturally, with the voice of an intelligent but rural protagonist. It’s a sign of his subtlety that the word used as the title of the novel is never mentioned or even alluded to in its pages; the reader has to figure out its connotation on his own.
And while the book could easily be painted as blanket condemnation of conservatism, events toward the end of the book make clear that the true target of Wyndham’s disdain is more than the simple “pull to center” of a conversative community and society, but the mindless creedalism and fear-driven hatred which can inform the God-fearing normals, the cobbled-together communities on the Fringes, and even the next wave of humanity, those who have developed the same thought powers as David and his friends — those people one could easily label “progressive.” The impulse toward exclusivity and xenophobia isn’t limited to any single spot or pole on the continuum, whether couched in the language of religious creeds or forward-thinking enlightenment.
Wyndham was never in a position to be hailed as being as seminal as Wells in any of his novels, and The Chrysalids, shamefully, is only in print sporadically. But his books are nonetheless just as important to understanding the history ideas in science fiction literature. And despite their influence, they remain damned fine reads.
Nathan Shumate
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February 23rd, 2007 at 8:21 pm
The Chrysalids gets a pretty wide exposure around the school board I used to be involved in - it is compulsory reading during highschool, which gives it at least some of the readership it desrves.
Excellent review.
March 18th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
I just found this book at a used book store. I was a bit thrown off because the copy I found was not a US publish, it didn’t have a US price on it but it did have Canada, UK, and Australia pricing. The book is 200 pages long and the cover is a plain drawing of two chickens fighting, one of them has two heads.
I was taken a back since I was expecting something more akin to the crab person on the cover you have posted. Still, I was excited to find it (for a dollar no less).
March 18th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
The crab creature cover is more than a little misleading, since there are no mutations in the book nearly so severe.
October 1st, 2007 at 12:09 pm
I am in my last year of high school and my class has just started reading this book. I found it a little confusing at the begining but it’s getting better. We’ve only just started the book and are only on chapter 6 but I find it very interesting so far. I find the different views that people have towards the so called Blasephamies, is very interesting. I look forward to reading the rest of the novel.
November 25th, 2007 at 10:40 am
I am in my last year of high school and my class has just started reading this book. I found it a little confusing and pretty shit at the begining but it’s getting better. We’ve only just started the book and are only on chapter 6 its takes ages reading because the book is shit, but I find it very interesting so far. I find the different views that people have towards the so called Blasephamies, is very interesting im saying intresting a lot arent I. I look forward to reading the rest of the novel it’l probabaly be the shittest book ive read.
November 25th, 2007 at 10:43 am
That book should be burnt thats how bad it is. It is so badly written it’s not funny. The themes are good but Wyndham has made the book absoloutely boring! I dont suggest anyone go and buy it or even read. absoloute wast of time.
November 25th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
I’m going to go out on a limb and conclude that John, the barely-literate high school student who uses words like “shittest,” isn’t exactly a dependable critic of good literature. Sorry there weren’t more explosions to hold your interest, John.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
I am in the ninth grade and our class has just finished reading this novel. For those of you who say the book is boring and stupid shame on you. You don’t appreciate a good piece of classic literature when you see one. It really bothers me when someone judges a book by the first chapter, or page for that matter. Nathan Shumate, please take it into consideration that all high school students aren’t immature like John there, and that some of us really enjoy reading and understanding The Chrysalids. :]
December 1st, 2007 at 10:45 pm
I am a Grade 10 student working through this book, The ChrI find this book very enlightening and insightful. Not many authors can capture the world so perfectly through a young person’s eyes. There are many worthwhile views presented in the book, and this book is definitely worth reading; despite what the above critics have said badly about the book. They are wrong.
December 2nd, 2007 at 12:35 am
I had no idea that so many schools used this book as a text. It’s certainly a better introduction to well-written science fiction than 1984 or Brave New World, which perpetrate the idea that “good science fiction is contemporary political allegory first and foremost, and extrapolative only as a distant second.”
January 4th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Nathan, how would you say David personally grows in through out the novel using three points and possibly three quotes from the book? I would like to know your opinion and what you have to say about this topic.
January 4th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
No, I will not do your homework for you.
January 4th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Its not my homework. I am in university. I just read the book and I enjoyed. I just had some trouble understanding it and considering you were the one who wrote the description of the novel, so I wanted to know your opinion on how David personally grows. When
I was in high school I was always independent with my homework. I just asked you because I wanted to have an adult conversation about the novel to help me understand it more and see some else’s opinion on the same book. I am actually thinking about starting a book group!:D
January 4th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
I would also like to give you my feedback on the book and what i thought.
January 4th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Are you going to answer me?
January 4th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I’m certainly not going to answer essay questions on a book I read almost a year ago and pull my paperback off the shelf to find quotes, no.
January 4th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
I said possibly use quotes from the book, but thats fine. You could just said off the spot three pionts on how you think David personally grows throughout the book. I am not asking you to write an essay to answer my question.
January 10th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
That’s so cute that you think we don’t know you’re attempting to have someone else do your homework.
To Nathan: We also read this back in high school. Five years later, I went out and bought a copy. It’s made its rounds at my work a few times and everyone has absolutely loved it.
Cheers on the great review! I couldn’t have put it better myself.
January 22nd, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Wow. This book completely sucked ass, I’m not joking. For those of you who liked it… Well I can say better about people at my school have no friends.
And to Anne Marie whoever, the book was not good at all and yes we do appreciate classics, just not shit ones.
Please respond.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:31 pm
I approved the comment from Noah above just to demonstrate that utter dearth of judgment is alive and well in western civilization. In case there was any question.
February 11th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
LOL! omg i cannot believe you Noah. I am presently in a 9th grade(or 10th): I am not to familiar with the U.S school system because I am from Trinidad (A Caribbean country)and I really love the Chrysalids. I even read the book before we started it in class and found it VERY interesting. I must admit though that it was an extremely boring novel at first but then things started to really pick up and i was glued to the book until i finished it. I even finished it in 2 days! This book is really great, despite what SOME people may say *cough* NOAH*cough* and I enjoyed your review on it a lot. GREAT JOB!
Btw: nice bit with the homework thing..hahahaha.I cannot believe you actually thought you could get away with that. lol
February 11th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Oh and I don’t really like this cover. i was a bit scared at first…I don’t think that there is any of the Fringes people mentioned in the book that much deviated??..Is there??…well maybe there is but a book is a book and I had a totally different picture of the Fringes people in my mind! I guess that is the point of an imagination! Well it is nice to see a view from another’s eyes. Besides, this cover is A LOT more interesting than my book…it really gets you thinkin.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
I am in 10th grade in the USA, Michigan. I will tell you that “Rebirth”, [Chrysalids], is a good little novel. I like that in the end the humanist woman from New Zealand is just as brutal as fundamentalist Mr Strorm. I think that the book is good because everyone in our class got really motivated and loud about the book.
I think that is good thing that Wyndham is trying to get across.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
The book is awesome. quite a few loose ends, not as much character development as one would like, but great theme, approach and overall a gr8 read. This cover SUCKS though. there are no giant bugmen.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
FYI…*spoiler*
id like to add that ‘the chrysalids’ refers to the ppl of Waknuk. a chrysalid is the form a larva takes before fully evolving into a butterfly/ moth. think abt it.
June 11th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
One theme that seems to come up repeatedly is that appearances are bupkes when determining what is or is not “deviant”. As some have noted, there are no “bugmen” in the story; the Fringes people look mostly normal, particularly the fellow in command of the Fringes colony who turns out to be David’s uncle. David, Rosalind, Petra, and all the other telepaths look outwardly “normal” (and that in itself increases their danger!) On the other hand, the incident about the tailless cat which David’s father destroys before learning that it was a specimen of a recognized breed sounds the note that things which appear deviant may not be in fact. This theme of “deceiving appearances” then leads naturally to the question of what deviance actually is. But JW leaves David (and us) with that one unresolved.
(I should be safe posting this, since it’s now June and nobody should be cribbing this for homework. Your lookout if you do! HA!)