John Wyndham

David Anthony Theodor Ketterer (University of Liverpool)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

Born c. 10 Jul 1903
Died 11 Mar 1969
Activity 1923-1969

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Novelist

Resources

Wyndham's Works

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For a period in the 1950s John Wyndham (1903-69) was the best selling science-fiction author in the UK and Australia. Possibly the science-fiction novels of H. G. Wells (1866-1946) may have been more widely read in those countries, but that itself fed Wyndham's readership because Wells's science fiction was his primary model; he was regarded as Wells

redivivus

, a young Wells continuing his career in the 1950s. However, he should not be regarded as a Wells clone. Like Wells, Wyndham was an overt Darwinist, but Wells was a member of the lower middle-class on the way up, while Wyndham was a member of the upper middle-class fallen on hard times. This difference of perspective, along with Wyndham's respect for strong females (and anxiety about female sexuality) are enough to give his major…

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8737 words

Citation: Ketterer, David Anthony Theodor. "John Wyndham". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 November 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4820, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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