I just can’t recommend this book enough - classic CLASSIC post-apocalyptic sci-fi, without all of those zany zombies to worry about. It has everything a GWCer is looking for - deep plot, literary yet the action never stops - lots of plot twists and turns - and runs something like 200 pages - THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT DOWN.
Realistic without being over the top or horrifying (I’m thinking Octavio Butler here, if you’ve ever been burned by some of her work - amazing stuff - but still gives me the creeps, especially when I’m driving to Vegas in the middle of nowhere Nevada), with a full range of human expression, condition, and nature. Like Galactica - so many opportunities for things to go really wrong, people left behind, muddling through, trying to rebuild some kind of a life, and yet, in the middle of it all - big love, heart, progress, and relief.
Written in 1951, with no date given in the text, John Wyndham does a fabulous job of creating a timeless story that blew me away! For more info on the plot and other details, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids. Odds are your library has a copy, and I’m sure there are a bunch floating around on Amazon or Ebay for like a buck fifty…