Name: The Wall
ISBN: 9780571298716

John Lanchester

'Masterly . . . A signal achievement . . . Remarkable.' Guardian 'A 1984 for our times.' Daily Express Kavanagh begins his time patrolling the Wall. If he's lucky, if nothing goes wrong, he only has to do two years of this. 729 more nights. The best thing that can happen is that he survives and gets off the Wall and will never have to spend another day of his life anywhere near it. But what if something did happen - if the Others came, if he had to fight for his life? Thrilling and heartbreaking, The Wall is about a troubled world you will recognise as your own - and about what might be found when all is lost.

The Wall

Vicki Hesketh

** spoiler alert **
           Thank you to Faber & Faber for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review. 

3.5 Stars rounded down.

The Wall was in many ways a really brilliant book, which I did really enjoy reading. It's well written and the whole thing is a commentary on the way our society is continuing on a trend towards right-wing divisive ways of thinking. The book follows Kavanagh as he begins his time patrolling the wall, which in this dystopian vision of our future (though it really isn't that far fetched) is Britains coastline defence system, a huge wall that spans the entire coastline of The UK in order to prevent 'Others' (refugees and asylum seekers) from entering the country. 

Throughout this book, it is pretty clear that society has come to very much accept the 'Us vs Them' way of thinking. There are pretty dire consequences should any of the defenders fail to prevent the others from breaching the wall. If the wall is breached and others make it into the country, those responsible are put out to sea and become the others themselves. 

Whilst I enjoyed this book, and it contains some good commentary on our current political climate, I did feel that it sort of lost momentum and intrigue in the second half, I think the idea was to showcase how hard life at sea was, but I personally didn't really enjoy it as much, I felt that the pace was entirely lost and though there was the potential to show that humanity from all works of life working together could be successful, to offer some redemption and learning arc to the main characters, sadly this wasn't really achieved.

"The best-selling author of The Debt to Pleasure and Capital returns with a chilling fable for our time. 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"--

Brittany Harper

Solid three. Good storyline; not my favorite writing style. Would have liked a little more backstory of how things happened and for some of the characters (Captain especially).

"Gripping. . . . Few readers will stop until they reach its final page."-- A lec Nevala- Lee, New York Times Book Review

Manon van Heumen

I listened to the audiobook of this novel because it was narrated by Will Poulter. Although the book in itself wasn't bad, I felt like there was nothing this book built towards; no suspense, no climax, nothing. Will was absolutely amazing in telling this story, though, so it was really pleasant to listen to.

Alexander Sandberg

envee

Ricky Burgess

Yasmin

Kylie Frazer

Kavanagh begins his life patrolling the Wall. If he's lucky, if nothing goes wrong, he only has two years of this, 729 more nights.The best thing that can happen is that he survives and gets off the Wall and never has to spend another day of his life anywhere near it. He longs for this to be over; longs to be somewhere else.He will soon find out what Defenders do and who the Others are. Along with the rest of his squad, he will endure cold and fear day after day, night after night. But somewhere, in the dark cave of his mind, he thinks: wouldn't it be interesting if something did happen, if they came, if you had to fight for your life?John Lanchester's thrilling, hypnotic new novel is about why the young are right to hate the old. It's about a broken world you will recognise as your own--and about what might be found when all is lost.

The Wall

Reviews

Highlights