jatoha 's review for:

The Wall by Marlen Haushofer

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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: Complicated

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An absolute masterpiece of quiet, solemn introspection.  A woman on vacation in the Austrian Alps finds herself separated from the rest of the world by an invisible wall.  No one is left alive and she must find a way to survive. The novel is her “report”, a litany of her introspective thoughts as she navigates her circumstance with a few animals as companions.  I was reminded of Ishiguro’s ‘Never Let Me Go’ with the slow build of dread written in plain language and I have to wonder if McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ was influenced by this work.  Written in 1963, this is timeless in its exploration of what makes us human. The best book I’ve read this year.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death