Okay..had this one in Dutch and English..so this copy is to be released.

This is a story of the awakening and rise of power of intelligible forces beneath the surface of the sea. The almost imperceptible beginnings and the cruelly terrifying consequesnces of this new threat to the world are seen through the eyes of a radio scriptwriter and his wife.

Bookray!

readers:

mellion108 - Michigan USA - International
Caligula03 - California USA - international from October
BellaMack - Australia - Australia only

The book has arrived! Thanks so much for sharing this, 1972Galadriel. I love John Wyndham, so I look forward to reading this one.

Unfortunately, several bookrings/rays have arrived over the last 2 weeks (they travel in herds). I have 2 books that I have to read ahead of this one, but I'll read as quickly as possible and pass along to caligula03.

Happy reading!

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Paperback, 240 pages

I really enjoyed this! I'm slowly making my way through Wyndham's books, so this is a treat.

I was pleasantly surprised by the level of humor throughout this rather creepy story. Mike and Phyllis Watson have the witty exchanges reminiscent of Nick and Nora Charles (I almost expected Asta to come romping out of the wings).

I think the message that we "modern" humans put so much faith in our ability to conquer nature and that our own demise as a species cannot possibly happen is well played in this story. The "alien presence" itself is not as great a threat as our own unwillingness to open our eyes and see what is actually happening around us. I liked this quote by Bocker:

"You know, I think that if I believed in God, I should now be a very frightened man. Luckily, however, I am rather old-fashioned, so I don't, thank God." When asked why he should be so frightened, Bocker replies, "Because I should be a supersititious man—and superstitious men are always frightened when they are out of their depth with something new. I should be tempted to think that God proposed to teach me a leasson. That he was saying: 'H'm. You think you're so clever. Little gods yourselves with all your atom-splitting and microbe-conquering. You think you rule the world, and possibly heaven, too. Very well, you conceited little mites, there's a lot about life and nature that you don't know. I'll just show you one or two new things and see how your conceit stands up to them. I have had to do it before.'"

The presentation of government and political swaggering throughout the story is somehow both hilarious and frightening at the same time. I especially love how Wyndham characterizes the Russians (always ready to blame anything bad that happens on the warmongering Capitalists) and the Americans, who throw their weight around and break everything down to the bottom line. It's subtle, but it's now rather amusing to read all of this and put it into the context of the Cold War.

Anyway, I liked the story. I had to get accustomed to the rhythm of the writing, but once I got into it, I found that I didn't want to put the book down.

Thanks again for sharing this, 1972Galadriel! I finished the book just a bit too late to get it in the mail today. I'll try to mail it during the week to caligula03, but if not, I'll mail it by 30 Sept.

UPDATE:Shipped to caligula03 on 29 Sept.

And another thing.... (!)

I've been reading Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and watching various documentaries about global warming, the melting of the ice caps, etc. I think that what is going on in our environment now makes the events in this book a bit too uncomfortably real (ok, minus the alien invasion).

Book ray is here. Thanks.

Apprently the world ends with people living on tiny islands surrounded by hostile creatures; it's the same ending that Wyndham used in Day of the Triffids. The Kraken Wakes has a very similar narrative, that of a man recording the events that lead up to him living on an island surrounded by hostile creatures, in a book report fashion. There is very little in terms of character development or drama. The Watsons are so dispassionate through the entire book that I frankly didn't care what happened to him.

There are a few good scenes, like the initial landing of the fire balls (presumably pods from space), the attacks on the islands and the flooding of London. Unfortunately these scenes were hidden among long and boring laundry lists of mundane events.

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailing to BellaMack.

Arrived today, thanks very much , have quite a few bookrings but will get to this book asap.

Generally enjoyed the book but felt he rambled on a bit in parts. I often felt irritated by the seeming inability of governments to address the problem. Everybody seemed to just accept that people were murdered by an unknown enemy eg the comment that 100 people had been killed so far which was no more than the road toll in a few months lol. To me it was improbable that years would pass with no concerted action against the invaders.

Off to livrecache who has claimed it on book relay

Received as part of a motley collection gained over the past few weeks from BellaMack on the book relay.

Actually received on Friday, and read over the weekend while we fried in a heatwave, and I couldn't bear to go near a computer. Although his language seems quite dated now, and the characterisation is devoid of interest, Wyndham is very scarily prescient about the consequences of the ice at the poles thawing.

Thanks, as always, BellaMack. I hadn't realised this was such a well-travelled book. I must keep it moving!

Sending in the post to another bookcrosser.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending in the post to another bookcrosser to accompany a bookring book.

This came today as a RABCK with a bookring, yay!