Chocky

by

Paperback, 153 pages

Published Jan. 3, 1971 by Penguin.

ISBN:
978-1-4003-1219-1
Copied ISBN!

View on OpenLibrary

5 stars (1 review)

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?

16 editions

reviewed Chocky by John Wyndham

Essential SF and great for non-genre readers too

5 stars

Wyndham's last substantial work before his death is a great way to go out. The story tells of a boy's imaginary friend who turns out to be a telepathic alien child reaching out from across the vastness of space. Wyndham imbues it with fantastic insights into the nature of language and communication and the delicate nature of family relationships.

Essential SF, and like much of this author's work, should appeal to non-genre readers too.