"Startlingly believable"
The near future dystopia John Lanchester creates in The Wall is startlingly believable. A vast coastal wall surrounds the UK to defend against attack following the breakdown of society as we know it from a collossal event referred to only as 'The Change'. With themes of mass migration, climate change and Trumpism Lanchester's premise is the stuff of real and tangible anxiety.
The story itself concerns Kavanagh one of the latest 'Defenders', conscripts who guard the wall from attack by 'The Others'. In the first part of the book we experience the quotidian routine of shift work on the Wall. Life is exceptionally hard; "Back at the Wall, everything was the same ....... Concretewaterwindsky". Though the routine is slow the pace of the narrative is far from plodding.
The only hope for Kavanagh comes in the form of day dreaming, about the Elite who are exempt from guard duties, about the comradeship with his local garrison and the opportunity to 'breed' with fellow conscripts. Like Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) there is a love story at the heart of the novel.
The problem with The Wall is that the narrative runs out of steam leaving the reader wanting more. Whilst the story is utterly compelling the plot is left longing for answers and further explanations. What was the nature of 'the Change', how freely can people travel within the UK, what are 'the Others' fleeing from?
The result is haunting but perhaps, there is a much richer story somewhere in Lanchester's head that is yet to be written. Could this be the start of a series of books, please? 4
The story itself concerns Kavanagh one of the latest 'Defenders', conscripts who guard the wall from attack by 'The Others'. In the first part of the book we experience the quotidian routine of shift work on the Wall. Life is exceptionally hard; "Back at the Wall, everything was the same ....... Concretewaterwindsky". Though the routine is slow the pace of the narrative is far from plodding.
The only hope for Kavanagh comes in the form of day dreaming, about the Elite who are exempt from guard duties, about the comradeship with his local garrison and the opportunity to 'breed' with fellow conscripts. Like Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) there is a love story at the heart of the novel.
The problem with The Wall is that the narrative runs out of steam leaving the reader wanting more. Whilst the story is utterly compelling the plot is left longing for answers and further explanations. What was the nature of 'the Change', how freely can people travel within the UK, what are 'the Others' fleeing from?
The result is haunting but perhaps, there is a much richer story somewhere in Lanchester's head that is yet to be written. Could this be the start of a series of books, please? 4
The Wall by John Lanchester, published by Faber and Faber 288 pages
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