The Midwich Cuckoos | 
pickA spaceship briefly lands in Midwich, England, and weeks later all women of childbearing age are pregnant. The children, born together, soon reveal inhuman abilities. Wyndham‘s writing is elegant and controlled, offering a strikingly modern view of women, a critique of patriarchal blind spots, and a chilling reflection on Cold War fears and humanity‘s instinct to turn first contact into conflict #bookclub
pickWyndham ensures the narrative is distanced from the events of the story: Much of this story about pregnancy and child-rearing is discussed almost entirely by men, & significant events take place off page. That, coupled with a main character being a philosopher, ought to make this dull. It can be “talky” and dry, but it is intellectually compelling. It was a natural choice for this year‘s #childhorror theme, though perhaps more sci fi than horror.
Thank you, @LocalTxLibrarian for my #hhs #hauntedhollowswap package! So much cute-spooky goodness! I'm seriously contemplating a midday bath, just so I can use one my bath bombs and the books are great choices. Also, that tumbler is so huge that I didn't even come close to fitting in my original picture 😂.
Thank you @wanderinglynn for another great year of hallow-swapping.
I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join in if you want!
#ABookADay2023
so-soInteresting but with slow plot devepment. I wonder about this passage, I don't take it as a compliment... Should I?
pickI have so much respect for this author and his original ideas.
Everything I've read by him has been entertaining and he never fails to draw me in.
The Midwich Cuckoo's is an excellent story. It's beautifully written, has excellent characterisation and it's just a phenomenal original plot.
What more could you ask for?
pickIn this story about a village whose female inhabitants all get impregnated at the same time is creepy and disturbing. Wyndham also explores ethical and philosophical issues that this scenario raises.
I also watched Village of the Damned, the 1960 adaptation of this book. There were some differences from the book, but overall, it captured the ideas and suspense quite well.
#Scarathlon2022 #TeamMonsterMash @StayCurious
pickVery much of its time and place (Britain, late 1950s) and none of the characters bar one are developed to any degree, but the central conceit remains fascinating.
Wyndham pokes gentle fun at the varying reactions of the villagers to the sudden spate of pregnancies, before exploring issues of ethics and species-survival. Dated, perhaps, but an enjoyable read.
pickSuch a strange and disturbing story.
In the town of Midwich, a ‘dayout‘ happens where everyone falls unconscious, when they wake, all the women of childbearing age are pregnant.
The Children are strange, they all appear alike, they can communicate telepathically and they appear as one rather than separate entities.
Where did they come from and what do they want?
Creepy, atmospheric, and well written. Another good one from Wyndham.
pickI liked this more than I thought I would. Check out the covers from around the world, they are creepy!
pickThe common cuckoo is a brood parasite relying on others to raise their young.
After finishing this I was intrigued to know more about the cuckoo bird,after watching a clip it‘s quite shocking!The mother infiltrates a little song birds nest, lays an egg amongst the others. Unbeknown to the cute little songbird she starts to raise the cuckoo as her own.Usually the cuckoo hatches first & will kick the biological eggs out!
Must watch the film now!
pickI‘ll have a book hangover for a while after this!
pickThe village of Midwich mysteriously falls asleep for a day and a night - every living thing. A couple of months later all the women of childbearing age in the village find they are pregnant even if they are still virgins. But what are they going to give birth to?
Not quite as scary as when I read it as a young teenager, but still very atmospheric.
pick3.5/5💋. It was good and interesting at times. A small sleepy village is put to sleep where upon waking all the child bearing women are found to be mysteriously pregnant. Like the cuckoo these children continue their parasitic activity on this small sleepy town. This 1957 novel inspired the 1960 film and the remake in 1995 🥰
I'm quite obsessed with this cover. It's kind of ugly beautiful.
pickThe Midwich Cuckoos follows much the same script as other Wyndham books I've read: weird things happening to ordinary people. In this one, an entire small English town falls unconscious for a day and wakes up to find all the women of child-bearing age to be pregnant. A total of sixty-one children are born and they are not your typical children. The good folks of Midwich have to decide how to handle their predicament.
The Day of the Triffids and The Chrysalids are two of my favorite books so I thought it was time to check out some more John Wyndham.
pickThis was the first book for the #endoftheworldbookclub this month and it was so good! I loved the narration style and the idea behind the story. There were a couple of plot things that I wasn't in love with but it was a lot of fun!
(Fun in a dystopic scary sort of alien way)
Our leading rebel for some time was Tilly... Oh, you must have seen Tilly Foresham - jodhpurs, roll-neck, hacking jacket, dragged hither and thither by the whim of fate in the form of three golden retrievers... She protested indignantly for some time that she would not mind much if she happened to like babies; but as she much preferred puppies, the whole thing was particularly hard on her.
Look at what else came today! A great day for book mail!
#endoftheworldbookclub
Sometimes you really notice how an author's gender impacts a book. I can't help but think that a female author would handle a situation like the one here differently.
Still, I'm enjoying this- even though I have a ton of questions and wish there was some more focus on the characters' emotions.
'Midwich, as we used to say, is the place where nothing happens.' My favourite Alien book! #aliensexist #90sinjuly #1001books
Part 1 of #latestbookhaul. Stopped at my favourite discount bookstore a few days ago and these strangely beautiful covers were calling to me. I can't take my eyes off the cover for Triffids especially. I've always wanted to check out Wyndham and these were the two available. Only just learned that Village of the Damned is based on The Midwich Cuckoos. #JuneBookBugs @RealLifeReading
Yep this is happening right now... almost midnight! When I was kid I freaking loved this movie! Completely forgot it was based on a book until now! And just like that I need to find this book!
#villageofthedamned
#notmykid
pickI really like Wyndham. This was no exception. And with that book 2 is done with lots of snack breaks. On to Underground Railroad.
#readathon
pickI suspect Douglas Adams may have gotten some of his ideas from Wyndham. But whereas Adams is funny, Wyndham is serious, in a creepy science fiction way. If you know what is unique about cuckoos (the birds) you know where this story is headed--but not where it actually goes. How's that for cryptic?
Second sporting event of the day and it's not even 10am. My kid has a bad toe and us on the bench, is it wrong to be reading?
So I was thinking I really didn't have any ugly covers. And then I sat down with an espresso and my latest library book. Creepy baby! #uglycovers #uglycover #somethingforsept #septphotochallenge
