The Chrysalids

By: John Wyndham

Narrated by: Noah Reid

Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

David Strorm's father doesn't approve of Angus Morton's unusually large horses, calling them blasphemies against nature. Little does he realise that his own son, his niece Rosalind and their friends have their own secret aberration that would label them as mutants. But as David and Rosalind grow older it becomes more difficult to conceal their differences from the village elders. Soon they face a choice: wait for eventual discovery or flee to the terrifying and mutable Badland....

About the author: John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Benyon Harris was born in 1903, the son of a barrister. He tried a number of careers including farming, law, commercial art and advertising, and started writing short stories, intended for sale, in 1925. From 1930 to 1939 he wrote stories of various kinds under different names, almost exclusively for American publications, while also writing detective novels. During the war he was in the Civil Service and then the Army. In 1946 he went back to writing stories for publication in the USA and decided to try a modified form of science fiction, a form he called 'logical fantasy'.

©1955 John Wyndham (P)2021 Audible, Ltd

Performance was amazing

Noah Reid did such an amazing job with this book. I’ve listened to many audio books and his reading is incomparable. His voice, his tone, and the different characters are flawless.

second time just as good

This was one of my favorites and really enjoyed the audio book some 30 years later

All around brilliant

I cannot believe this wasn’t required reading through my HS years, and that I hadn’t heard of it until now. This is such a masterful piece of writing by John Wyndham. Further praise to Noah Reid’s brilliant interpretation of characters, his inflection giving way to each person within the story without being a distraction. His smooth voice easily guided this story though my mind, painting a vivid picture for me to ponder for some time to come.
Highly recommend & hope to hear Noah do more projects like this!

It is awfully exciting

This time, Petra darling.

I wouldn’t have picked this off of a shelf or chosen it out of a virtual library … mainly because I am a simpleton when it comes to choosing literature at this moment in my life. But, lured here by unofficial PR of Noah’s fandom, I am so glad to be here. What a beautiful story.

tldr: came here for the reader, stayed for the words.

Netflix, wake up!

When I first read this book, the title of the paperback was “Rebirth” — maybe an old American edition. That was in c. 1983. I’ve read it many times since. The only real regret and frustration I feel is how Wyndham treated Sophie, and what happened to her and her family. This is not a spoiler because there’s nothing to spoil.

The story is a What If? the survivors of near nuclear extinction either were religious or turned to religion as a result. It’s very convincing. I appreciate the absence of fantasy. There is no magic, but there is mutation. All this takes in a dystopian Waknuk, a farming community in southwestern Labrador, Canada. The narrator gives a terrific performance, with every character having a singular voice.

John Wyndham was a brilliant writer. His prose in this book is matter-of-fact, but sprinkled with some lovely descriptions and observations. I wish it would be adapted as a miniseries. Frankly, I wonder that it hasn’t been, already.

He wrote two other very famous books, both having been made into films: The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos. If you understand how the cuckoo raises its young, you’ll understand the title and the premise. However, Hollywood must think us all idiots, so their title for the 1960 film is Village of the Damned. Despite that title, it stars George Sanders and is better than the usual Hollywood fare. So why hasn’t someone adapted The Chrysalids? Beats me.

Inevitable

I vision of the future that feels almost unavoidably real. The story and the characters never quiet distinguish themselves from the themes and concept that the author is trying to explore but it's definitely still worth a listen.

The narrator is solid but doesn't fully take advantage of the first person perspective to really explore the character. Interestingly this matches my only beef with the novel itself. Both author and narrator do a great job getting the philosophy across without really creating flushed out people.

Story was Amazing

I love this story from start to finish. I love how it progressed and we followed the development, struggles and events endured by the protagonist and the other characters from beginning to end. I think this story is way ahead of its time. very impressive. I also really loved how the narrator was able to individually craft out each character distinctively with his voice.

Perfect story perfectly told

Perfect story perfectly told, a new favourite! I’m not usually big in fiction but this was recommended to me by a friend and it was just a delight to listen to. Makes one pause and reflect on what “perfection” really is and just how humanity treats those who deviate from whatever “normal” is.

Why had I never heard of this book

This should be mandatory reading in high school. Great performance to compliment a great piece of post apocalyptic literature.

wonderful

The novel was an intriguing mix of the Giver, and so many ideas I can scarcely interpret. listen, and enjoy.