The Wall
A Novel
by John Lanchester
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Pub Date Mar 05 2019 | Archive Date Feb 28 2019
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Description
Ravaged by the Change, an island nation in a time very like our own has built the Wall—an enormous concrete barrier around its entire border.
Joseph Kavanagh, a new Defender, has one task: to protect his section of the Wall from the Others, the desperate souls who are trapped amid the rising seas outside and attack constantly. Failure will result in death or a fate perhaps worse: being put to sea and made an Other himself.
Beset by cold, loneliness, and fear, Kavanagh tries to fulfill his duties to his demanding Captain and Sergeant, even as he grows closer to his fellow Defenders. And then the Others attack. . . .
Acclaimed British novelist John Lanchester, “a writer of rare intelligence” (Los Angeles Times), delivers a taut dystopian novel that blends the most compelling issues of our time—rising waters, rising fear, rising political division—into a suspenseful story of love, trust, and survival.
About the Author: John Lanchester is the author of Capital, a novel, and I.O.U., a New York Times best-seller on the financial crisis. A regular contributor to The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books, he lives in London.
Advance Praise
“In The Wall, John Lanchester takes our current political climate to its terrible and logical extreme. A harrowing, brilliant, and troublingly plausible vision of the future.”—EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL, author of Station Eleven
“A dystopian distillation of our troubled times, and an allegorical glimpse at a still-grimmer future, The Wall reminds us that even as politics corrupts and destroys and presses on undiminished, the soul erupts in surprising places to act as counterpoint and resistance. This patient, direct, suspenseful novel is one such eruption, and a civilizing comfort amid the simmering bloodlust.”—JOSHUA FERRIS, author of The Dinner Party
“A writer as funny as he is humane, John Lanchester has made a specialty of chronicling our contemporary descent into hell in the most charming possible way. This novel of life in the aftermath of climate change apocalypse is no exception. It is the scariest and most entertaining book I have read in a long time.”—KEITH GESSEN, author of A Terrible Country
“With The Wall, John Lanchester follows his mind-boggling financial essays and his great realist novel Capital with a bold science fiction fable, a vivid, swift, chilling, and ultimately beautiful human story. All his work is of a piece—he wants his readers to see our moment better, and then do something about it.”—KIM STANLEY ROBINSON, author of the best-selling Mars Trilogy
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781324001638 |
| PRICE | $25.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 288 |
Featured Reviews
Paul C, Educator
Surrounding the island of Great Britain, The Wall was constructed after The Change, the oceans rose and the earth was unable to continue to sustain the global population. The Others can attack at any moment; their desire to enter the a semi-working civilization of Britain stokes relentless courage. But the Defenders are there to man the wall in 12-hour shifts. Newly conscripted into his 2-year appointment, Kavanagh must learn the routine quickly.
There is talk all over the news about walls, both literal and figurative. Treaties and alliances formed and broken. Strong-willed politicians who drum up support based on fear of the others. And individuals who are sent into the fray in the midst of their debating conscious. Lanchester pushes the debates forward, but in a subtle way. He focuses on that soldier, that individual, who is in turns apathetic, angry, and contemplative.
I don't want to give away too much of the plot because it is such a short book. But you can expect the training of the Defenders, which serves as an introduction to the Wall and its history and politics. And yes, you can expect an attack. Now is the time to mention a key rule in the defense of the country: if an attack occurs and the Others are successful in entering the country, those Defenders who are responsible will be pushed out to sea...
Lanchester's story is weighing on me hours after finishing. Ultimately, I think this will be a polarizing read. There are many things I liked about it. The premise, the ending, several of the characters. But I wanted a little more out of the main character. I wanted him to have some sort of passion, either for or against the Wall. He more connected with his mates, and was focused on finishing his tenure of service than with anything bigger than himself for most of the book, but there is a change, a realization of sorts. There are some excellent twists and an ending that was something I didn't expect, but loved.
