2.19k reviews for:

Die Wand

Marlen Haushofer

4.05 AVERAGE


Wonderful survival story of the last woman on earth, musing life, death and time, while trapped behind an invisible wall in the Austrian Alps.
emotional sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Loveable characters: Yes
challenging dark sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes

a woman finally left alone, free from the expectation/obligation to raise/take care of other human beings (animals are fine)? sounds more like utopia rather than dystopia to me
challenging informative slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: N/A
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The Wall starts strong as our narrator wakes to find herself alone with a dog, cat and cow trapped within an invisible barrier in the Austrian countryside.

It speaks to isolation, our relationship to nature and one’s purpose but, as it goes on (and on), forgoes any real character development in favor of a monotonous farming journal. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging emotional inspiring sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

It's an art to make a story that slow so readable. I might consider it a travelogue to productive, empathic nihilism. Either way, a great read found in a public book shelf, and one of the rare occasions where I definetly keep the book. 

A remark: I found it to be inspiring regarding the missing emphasis on the murderer and the avoidance of "tension". It shows a human way of storytelling, both in the way it uses "spoilers" and in the irrelevance of the person of the murderer. I would even say, we should handle this the same way as a society, but people like true crime, making murderers immortal. 
reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
medium-paced