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grasswaves 's review for:

The Wall by Marlen Haushofer
5.0

oh my god... after rereading this I somehow like it even more. I focused more on seeing this through a feminist lit lens bc of all the reviews mentioning it and it certainly helped me see a side to it i didn't previously see.

the aspects of (white, middle-class - yes) womanhood in this are very interesting! if a woman is in solitude she is no longer a woman because there is no one to perceive her as such. (if a tree falls and no one hears it etc.) the woman in this novel still suffers from how society has told her woman should act - i.e. calling herself weak and meant for nurturing/caring. these thoughts are not holding her back from doing anything though - if she wants to survive, nothing matters except her and her animal's continued existence.

this applies for all other aspects of her personality and personhood as well. she is stripped down to a bare, childlike state of mind because she has no other person to compare herself to.

i do think this book would be very different if it was written by a man - especially in the time period it was created. i honestly don't think a book with these ideas could even be conceived of by a man. too much male posturing often gets in the way of good survival novels.