Web by John Wyndham (1979)

Web

Written by John Wyndham

Read by Keith Wickham

Audible Studios - 2022

Audible / digital download

   

   I've been a massive John Wyndham fan since my early teens when I collected the lovely Penguin Book re-jackets that came out in the 1980's.  Prior to that I was a big fan of his stories without knowing who their author was.  I may have mentioned it elsewhere but The Day of the Triffids was a comic strip as far as I was concerned, original to my Marvel Comics Planet of the Apes Weekly.  Right up to the point where my mum told me otherwise.  Anyway, you cant have a good collection of Sci-fi paperbacks without including Wyndham in there and so he's happily sat on my various bookshelves ever since. 

   I cant remember when first I read Web although I've an idea I kept putting it off, not expecting it to be as good as his other books.  Maybe because I knew it was published posthumously or maybe it just didn't sounded like a very John Wyndham concept. Growing up in the era of The Rats, the Crabs books and Slugs, I probably imagined it might be of that ilk, i.e. entertaining enough but maybe not a sophisticated read.  Obviously I was wrong and I really enjoyed it when I finally got round to it.  Even more so because I had expected so little.

   Having revisited The Chrysalids on audio at the end of last year and noting that a lot of his back-catalogue was available for free on Audible, I had downloaded them all ready for a future listen. Web was picked next because its relatively short so I could probably complete it in the Easter Weekend in between the other papery things I'm also reading at the minute.  And it did the job.

   I enjoyed it as much the second time around and the reading was just about spot on for tone.  Interestingly, there were a couple of moments where a very stoic English reserve came into play for some of the characters that struck me not so much as old fashioned but just unrealistic.  And there is a very long history of the island in chapter two that probably outstays its welcome although some of it is relevant later.  All in all though, its a cracking little romp about killer spiders on an isolated island and I really don't understand why its not better known, or more surprisingly, been optioned for TV or a film adaption.  Its never going to not find an audience and there's plenty of room to flesh out and modernise the characters.

   Good nostalgic fun that needs a new audience 

Steve