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The Wall

Discover this addictive dystopia from the Vintage Earth series
Series: Vintage Earth
4.02 goodreads logo

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( 29,561 ratings, 4,269 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Wall by Marlen Haushofer is a haunting novel set in a secluded area where the protagonist finds herself completely isolated after an invisible barrier mysteriously appears, separating her from the world. As she struggles to survive in solitude, she must confront her inner fears and the challenges of self-reliance while adapting to a life connected with nature. This introspective sci-fi fantasy explores themes of isolation, resilience, and the human connection to the environment.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$2800
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're drawn to stories that explore themes of isolation and survival. It offers a gripping narrative where a woman finds herself cut off from the world by an invisible barrier, prompting introspection and resilience in a unique dystopian setting. This book may appeal to readers interested in character-driven tales set against the backdrop of a solitary and mysterious world.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

VINTAGE EARTH - A series of transformative novels with the environment at their heart.

'The air trembled, gold and green and clear, at the edges of the forest'

A woman goes to the Austrian mountains to spend a few days in a hunting lodge with her cousin and his wife. When the couple fail to return from a walk, the woman tries to go into the village to look for them. Instead, she comes across a transparent wall behind which there seems to be no life.

Trapped behind the wall, a result of a too successful military experiment, she begins the arduous work of not only survival but self-renewal. The Wall is at once a simple document of potatoes and beans, of hoping for a calf, of counting matches, of forgetting the taste of sugar and the use of one's name, and simultaneously a disturbing meditation on our place in the natural world.

VINTAGE EARTH is a series of books that reveals our ever-changing relationship with the environment. These are stories old and young, set in worlds real or imagined, that allow us to explore our connection to the natural world. Transformative, wild, surprising and essential, these novels take on the most urgent story of our times.

Series: Vintage Earth

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Marlen Haushofer's The Wall is both utopian and dystopian, blending elements of idyll and nightmare with a persistent undercurrent of threat. It masterfully sustains a sense of dread while offering fresh perspectives on reality and emotion. Critics have noted that its profound psychological insights might have been overlooked because it was authored by a woman, with some comparing it to Robinson Crusoe for its compelling narrative. Overall, this novel has been praised as gripping and underappreciated, capturing readers' attention with its unique voice and existential depth.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781784878030

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 07 July 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by Shaun Whiteside
  • Translated by Shaun Whiteside
  • Translated by Shaun Whiteside

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 17.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 181g

Pages: 256

About the Author

Marlen Haushofer (Author)
Marie Helene Haushofer was born in Frauenstein, Austria in 1920. Following the Second World War, she worked in her husband's dentistry practice. She began publishing short stories in magazines from 1946. She enjoyed success with her novella The Fifth Year, which was published in 1952 but her most enduring work was The Wall, first published in 1963 and now considered a classic of dystopian fiction. She died in 1970.

Shaun Whiteside (Translator)
Shaun Whiteside is an award-winning translator from French, German, Italian and Dutch. His most recent translations from German include Aftermath by Harald JΓ€hner, To Die in Spring by Ralf Rothmann, Swansong 1945 by Walter Kempowski, Berlin Finale by Heinz Rein and The Broken House by Horst KrΓΌger.

Also by Marlen Haushofer

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  • The Wall
    The Wall is a cult classic, the ultimate work of sustained dreadβ€”a story of a woman trapped alone in the forest. A woman's weekend away in the Austrian mountains takes an inexplicable and sinister turn, becoming a fight for survival. During her holiday in the Austrian mountains, a woman spends a few days with her cousin and his wife at...
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  • The Loft
    A woman is unnerved when a sinister package arrives in the postβ€”containing her old diary entries. Strange and gripping, this is the unmistakable work of Marlen Haushofer, mistress of sustained dread and author of the cult classic, The Wall. An Austrian housewife sits in her loft intent on her drawings of birds and insects. The loft is a retreat where...
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  • Killing Stella
    A short, claustrophobic, shattering novel about a woman unable to act to save a teenager in her care, by the mistress of sustained dread, Marlen Haushofer. Claustrophobic and shattering, this is the story of one ordinary woman unable to save a teenager in her care. It is the story of Stella... Stella is a friend's nineteen-year-old daughter who has come...
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  • The Loft
    Pre-order
    The Loft
    A woman is unnerved when a sinister package arrives in the postβ€”containing her old diary entries. Strange and gripping, this is the work of Marlen Haushofer, mistress of sustained dread and author of the cult classic, The Wall. An Austrian housewife sits in her loft intent on her drawings of birds and insects. Then one day a disturbing package arrives...
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    Pre-order
    Out 20 Oct 2026

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