The Wall

by Marlen Haushofer

Book Overview

While vacationing in a hunting lodge in the Austrian mountains, a middle-aged woman awakens one morning to find herself separated from the rest of the world by an invisible wall. With a cat, a dog, and a cow as her sole companions, she learns how to survive and cope with her loneliness.

Allegorical yet deeply personal and absorbing, The Wall is at once a critique of modern civilization, a nuanced and loving portrait of a relationship between...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811231941
• ISBN13: 9780811231947
• Release Date: June 2022
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

A feminist dystopia

A book lost to modern readers, the Wall could be compared favourably to the Road, or Oryx and Crake, or early science fiction novels like 1984. It has one lone narrator and protagonist, who lives through an unexplained world changing event, surrounded and ensconced by an impenetrable wall in the company of cats, cows and crows. Middle aged, middle class, and seemingly helpless, survival skills become second nature, and only the smallest of comforts keep her alive and sustained. Yet, throughout there is no sense that this woman is self pitying or paupered. If anything the protagonist seems to grow, and learn not only how to create a livable environment for herself, but one for her companions, keeping them warm, safe and occasionally breeding. The contrast between the facts of dissolution and daily life is stark, but breathtaking in its simplicity. A book to remember for its message, warmth and strength.

My Favorite of ALL TIME Book

Years ago I was looking for a "fiction" book to read, after having read so many self-help type books and I came across The Wall. I had no idea what a fabulous read I was in for on that day. I was drawn into the story in a way that is difficult to describe. I truly felt that I was there experiencing every single moment. The pictures were drawn so deftly, my mind came alive! One minute it was all peaceful and calm, and the next minute there was a horror and a fright -- then this was followed by a resolve and an inner strength. This is a most beautiful "woman's" story - to me. I read this book in the 80's, and in all that time, I have been looking for it again - as I must have given it out for another to read and never got it back. The Wall has haunted my life since -- and today I waded through 100's of titles trying one more time to find the book and there it was..... Any book that can stay with a person for 15 or more years, has to be a book that touches a true place. Brava!

the wall

I cant say enough about this book. I read it 10 years ago and I still am reeling about the way the book affected the way I think.

New Perspectives

'The Wall' is the story of a woman caught alone except for a dog, a cat, and a cow within mysterious invisible walls somewhere in the Swiss Alps. It is a masterwork of human, and particularly female, psychology. The detailed text moves at a slow, almost glacial pace which takes some time to adjust to. But then the reader is captured in a world which is real enough to touch. This book remains as a strong presence long after the last page has been turned.