Chocky
by John Wyndham · first published 1968
67% recommend33% neutral
Matthew's parents are worried. At eleven, he's much too old to have an imaginary friend, yet they find him talking to and arguing with a presence that even he admits is not physically there. This presence - Chocky - causes Matthew to ask difficult questions and say startling things: he speaks of complex mathematics and mocks human progress. Then, when Matthew does something incredible, it seems there is more than the imaginary about Chocky. Which is when others become interested and ask questions of their own: who is Chocky? And what could it want with an eleven-year-old boy?
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"Chocky" by John Wyndham was quick/fun. A little uneven but enjoyed "All Our Wrongs Today" by Elan Mastai. Tough to get thru for me but many seem high on "The Three Body Problem" books by Cixin Liu. Some others…
on “Ask HN: What are the best Sci-Fi books you've ever read?” ↗Enjoyed: - Chocky - John Wyndham - Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata - The Eight Mountains - Paolo Cognetti - The Executioner Weeps - Frederic Dard - The Invisibility Cloak - Ge Fei - The Midnight Fox - Betsy…
on “Ask HN: Favorite fiction books of 2018?” ↗…I say, the man is a genius and a treasure Eifelheim - Michael Flynn - ok, this book can be a slog at times, but it is very rewarding for those who persevere, and has stuck in my brain for many years Chocky - John Wyndham Providence - Max Barry - This book flows like a movie. It will make a great movie. I found myself LITERALLY out of breath a couple of times Hench: A Novel - Natalie Zina Walschots - Quirky,…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗…possibly lesser-known science fiction I've read over the past few years. These are the ones that stick in my brain and continue to generate thought, even though I read them months (or even years) ago: "Chocky" by John Wyndham "This is How You Lose the Time War" by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (a new all-time fave for me) "The Book of Strange new Things: A Novel" by Michel Faber "The City and the City"…
on “Ask HN: What are some underrated sci-fi books?” ↗…Conspiracy - Ryan Holiday Courage To Be Disliked - Ichiro Kishimi How To Change Your Mind - Michael Pollan Open - Andre Agassi Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker World After Capital - Albert Wenger Fiction: Chocky - John Wyndham Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata The Eight Mountains - Paolo Cognetti The Invisibility Cloak - Ge Fei The Midnight Fox - Betsy Byars Such Small Hands - Andres Barba The Thief…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗…considering it to denigrate cows, their personalities, feelings etc, but rather with the focus on "acceptance", their perceived resignation to fate or order/hierarchy. My thinking was informed by a bit of Chocky [1], by John Wyndham, in which the key character, a boy called Matthew Gore - who has been communicating telepathically with an alien lifeform (Chocky) and trying to answer questions put to him about…
on “Desiderata by Max Ehrmann” ↗