Chocky

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An Innocent Taste of an SF Yesterday - Rated
Young Matthew Gore is an ordinary suburban boy who begins to hold long conversations with a mysterious presence that no-one else can perceive. His worried parents watch fearfully and try to help the boy, as he begins to produce extraordinary artworks and think in binary. His capacity for physics suddenly becomes boundless and he has knowledge which eminent scientists would find quite amazing. This novel is a record of the ambiguously sexed Chocky's impact on the lives of the Gore family.

Chocky is not a work that fits with our go-faster-stripe marked times. Had it been written today, Chocky could have well been a menacing presence, most likely would have been misconstrued as attempting to conquer the mind of this one child and perhaps next, the world entire. But no, he/she is not a malevolent force, more reminiscent of a petulant, demanding child than remorseless conqueror. And therein, lies this novel's strength, for Chocky is like an innocent taste of yesterday. A reminding flavour of simpler times, somehow ageless like honey; even though it was written quite some years ago and could easily have aged badly. Worth investigating and definitely recommended.

Not the best John Wyndham, but still very enjoyable. - Rated
John Wyndham is one of my very favourite authors, and I would say that his "The Chrysalids" is my second favourite book of all that I've read (my favourite is Nevil Shute's "A Town Like Alice", I can read it over and over; and if you haven't read these two books now, go out and do so immediately!). I've also read his "Day of the Triffids" (also excellent), "The Kraken Wakes" (rather too like the "Triffids" in its premise, but also very good) and "The Midwich Cuckoos" (which inspired the film "The Village of the Damned" and was a strong story and a good read).

Chocky somehow seems less substantial than these others. Although I may be totally wrong about this, it almost gives the impression that it may have started life as a short story and later been a little expanded to make it into a short novel, or perhaps it may have been one of his very early attempts at a science-fiction novel, re-worked in later life.

Given that all novels are a product of their time and must be taken within the social and cultural context in which they are written, some attitudes which would now be considered unacceptable need to be overlooked. However, all of Wyndham's other books that I have read have contained major female characters with relatively strong personalities and minds of their own. The books seem to have a real flavour of the forties or early fifties (which was exactly right in the other books that I have mentioned, because that's exactly when they were written), and therefore some things have to be looked at in this light, and understood. However, in Chocky, there is far more overt sexism and women generally seem fairly two-dimensional - for all it was first published in the late sixties. Matthew, who is the young boy who hears the voice "Chocky" talking to him, is adopted, and his mother, Mary, (I've just had to go back and check the name, which tells you just how much notice I took of the character) seems to go from lamenting her lack of a child, to blaming him for the fact that she can't see either herself or his father in him when anything goes wrong, to being treated like a doormat by the members of her large family. She is portrayed as conforming to many negative female stereotypes, which I find highly irritating.

Although I have picked on the characterisation of the mother in particular in this case, I think that all of the characters are rather sketchily drawn, and that one can find less to identify with than in other Wyndham books. As is usual in his books, the story is told in the first person, from the perspective of Matthew's father, David, in this case. However, he also is a character without great depth, and overall, the characterisation in the book leaves us feeling that something is lacking. Perhaps what also put me off was that the characters, as well as their lives were so suburbanly "normal", where his other books usually have one or two slightly quirky characters, or a very unusual situation for very "ordinary" types to live through.

Having thought about what I have just typed, anyone reading this must be wondering why on Earth I have given it a four-star rating. I actually had no intention to be so disparaging. One of the things that I have most enjoyed and admired about Wyndham's other books is the way I which he tells a story that has a lot in it, both in terms of narrative and characterisation, in such a small space. In this book, which is even shorter than most, it appears that something had to be cut back on and it was the characters' depth of personality.

Overall, though, the book is a well told story and I enjoyed it thoroughly, I just would not recommend it quite as highly as Wyndham's other books, and I would certainly recommend anyone who is thinking of reading Wyndham's books to start on "Chrysalids", "Triffids" or "Cuckoos" first. Wyndham is an author who took the genre of science fiction and made it into something very skilfully understated (and dare I say very British). Even those who would not touch most sci-fi should try these. Don't be put off by the label, they are far more sophisticated and deftly written than the run-of-the-mill, and a million miles away in content and narrative from conventional sci-fi. Do try this book if you've already read some Wyndham, but try one of his others first if you have not.

Very dark, beautifully written - classic Wyndham - Rated
Don't be fooled if your only contact with John Wyndham's Chocky was via the original 1984 children's TV series: the book was never intended for children, and indeed is written in a much darker and more fascinating way.

If you enjoy the kind of organic sci-fi that Wyndham has produced such perfect examples of with Day of the Triffids, The Kraken Awakes etc, you will find Chocky at the very least as good as, if not better, than those two titles. Gripping and chilling stuff.

Classic - Rated
Reading Chocky again was like watching a favourite black and white film. Surely Wyndham IS the Cary Grant of sci-fi writers? I don't know what he looked like, but his prose is very beautiful and refined.

Even now the plot is original - yes, children are possessed all over literature nowadays - but never so intelligently as Matthew by Chocky. You'll think about the issues raised for a long time to come.

Gripping from start to finsh - Rated
I read this book on the recommendation of my mum, and i thought it was great. It keeps you guessing and wondering through the story, and you feel desparate to jump in and talk to the characters to explain what you know but they don't! I also found myself moved to tears at the end, something i certainly had not expected from this type of book! If you are atall into sci-fi, aliens, space or stange happenings, read this book, you will love it!