Veronique's Reviews > Trouble with Lichen

A less well-known novel from Wyndham. Once more, we see how the author experiments with one idea, introducing it, and then extrapolating how people will react, from the personal to public spheres. The ‘idea’ here is what would happen if someone found a means to lengthen people’s life expectancies drastically, prolonging their youths.

It is a quieter, more cerebral, or rather psychological, story. Wyndham doesn’t just give us the expected reactions but also some radical ones that would change the fabric of our societies. There are a couple of threatening scenes which did shock me but there are not the meaningful ones. No, it is the whole dissection of the matter that shines here and how people decide to act.

Is the result readable? Emphatically yes. It won’t be to everyone’s taste but in my opinion Wyndham wrote a quietly compelling and very thought-provoking story.

P.S.: I keep thinking about this book. That deserves to be pushed to 5*