The Wall [Paperback]

Marlen Haushofer (Author), Shaun Whiteside (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1999

First published to acclaim in Germany, The Wall chronicles the life of the last surviving human on earth, an ordinary middle-aged woman who awakens one morning to find that everyone else has vanished. Assuming her isolation to be the result of a military experiment gone awry, she begins the terrifying work of survival and self-renewal. This novel is at once a simple and moving tale and a disturbing meditation on humanity.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Nearly forgotten after her death in 1970, Haushofer began to attract attention again when this novel was republished in the 1980s. Although it is described by the publisher as "a startling redefinition of ecofeminist utopian fiction," this first-person narrative has been characterized by most commentators as dystopian. It tells of a woman vacationing in a remote mountain hunting lodge who survives an unexplained catastrophe in which (almost) all the rest of the human world perishes. Imprisoned on the mountainside by an invisible wall, the unnamed narrator recounts her struggle to survive and her attempt to discover the essence of her own personality, femininity, and humanity. The minimalist plot is enhanced by rich description and wise insight, and the translation succeeds in capturing the author's fluid, lyrical style. Recommended for general readers.
- Michael T. O'Pecko, Towson State Univ., Md.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Originally published in German in 1962 and touted more recently as a feminist's Robinson Crusoe, this somber classic from prize-winner Haushofer chronicles the experiences of a (nameless) woman cut off from her familiar city ways in a remote hunting lodge, after Armageddon has snuffed out all life in the world beyond. With the woman's diary of activities during the first two years of isolation as foundation, the story assumes the shape and flavor of a journal. Saved from instant death by a transparent, apparently indestructible wall enclosing a substantial area of forest and alpine meadow, the woman finds relief from her isolation in companionship offered by a dog, a cat, kittens, and a cow and her calf, making them into a family that she cares for faithfully and frets over incessantly with each season's new challenges. Crops of potatoes, beans, and hay are harvested in sufficient quantity to keep all alive, with deer providing occasional meat for the table, but the satisfaction of having survived long winters and a halcyon summer is undone by a second sudden and equally devastating catastrophe, which triggers the need in her to tell her story. Although heavy with the repetition of daily chores, the account is also intensely introspective, probing as deeply into the psyche of the woman as it does into her world, which circumstances have placed in a new light. Subtly surreal, by turns claustrophobic and exhilarating, fixated with almost religious fervor on banal detail, this is a disturbing yet rewarding tale in which survival and femininity are strikingly merged. Not for macho readers. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Cleis Press; Second Edition edition (December 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573440949
• ISBN-13: 978-1573440943
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #303,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On my all time top 10 list, April 14, 2002

By 

Ms Diva "cycworker" (Nanaimo, B.C. Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wall (Paperback)

I read The Wall because it was assigned to me as part of a German Women Writers in Translation course. Wait... don't stop reading, quite yet... I had reservations about the novel when I first started it, because I thought it would either be dull and boring, or it would be too much like science fiction/fantasy or a nature novel, two genres I don't enjoy most of the time. It is neither.

This novel is actually a portrait of courage. As others have said, the unnamed author finds that she is the last person left after a nuclear holocaust. She is protected by an invisible shield and must learn to survive on her own.

The woman copes by writing a diary of her situation. She tell us, on the first page: "I'm not writing for the sheer joy of writing; so many things have happened to me that I must write if I am not to lose my reason."

The narrator comes across as very honest and the story is very moving. As she writes, "I can't think who I should lie to today. I can allow myself to write the truth; all the people for whom I have lied throughout my life are dead."

There are wonderful passages throughout the novel; my book is covered in highlighter pen because so many lines stood out. The process the author goes through to come to terms with what has happened and survive is realistic and gripping. The portrait of nature is quite captivating.

Overall, this novel has an important message about what it means to be human. It speaks to the need to work for peace; to come together to avoid creating a situation where this novel could actually take place. It is an important work that I believe everyone who is concerned for the future of our planet should read. You will be moved and you will be changed by this book.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite of ALL TIME Book, November 1, 2001

By 

Marjorie Rock (Cotter, Arkansas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wall (Hardcover)

Years ago I was looking for a "fiction" book to read, after having read so many self-help type books and I came across The Wall. I had no idea what a fabulous read I was in for on that day. I was drawn into the story in a way that is difficult to describe. I truly felt that I was there experiencing every single moment. The pictures were drawn so deftly, my mind came alive! One minute it was all peaceful and calm, and the next minute there was a horror and a fright -- then this was followed by a resolve and an inner strength. This is a most beautiful "woman's" story - to me. I read this book in the 80's, and in all that time, I have been looking for it again - as I must have given it out for another to read and never got it back. The Wall has haunted my life since -- and today I waded through 100's of titles trying one more time to find the book and there it was..... Any book that can stay with a person for 15 or more years, has to be a book that touches a true place. Brava!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Haunting Book, April 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Wall (Paperback)

This book is about my biggest dream and my worst nightmare... living in the mountains with beautiful alpine meadows AND losing every single person I have loved in my life. I was mezmorized as the author described the nameless woman's reactions to the Wall. She was a somewhat pampered, middle-class, middle-aged woman whom had only recently learned to drive and suddenly found herself in a bizarre and frightening situation. She was on holiday with her cousin and cousin's husband at their hunting lodge in the Austrian mountains. After waking to discover they had not returned from an evening in the village she decided to walk down to the village to look for them. As she rounded a corner she literally ran into a wall.."a smooth, cool resistance where there could be nothing but air". She could see everything that had once been alive was now dead on the other side of the wall and could only surmise that she was the sole survivor of a military experiment gone bad. The rest of the book is her attempt to make sense of what has happened and to make a life for herself with just a few animals for companionship. This is one of the most unique books I have read.