The Wall by John Lanchester

The Wall

John Lanchester

I didn't expect to enjoy this book but I couldn't put it down! A futuristic dystopian novel where the world is broken by a global disaster. Britain is surrounded by a Wall patrolled by young conscripts to defend it against 'the Others' who attack to invade. A scary book which has a certain resonance of Britain today.

Extract
It's cold on the Wall. That's the first thing everybody tells you, and the first thing you notice when you're sent there, and it's the thing you think about all the time you're on it, and it's the thing you remember when you're not there any more. It's cold on the Wall .... The cold is one of its fundamental properties; it's intrinsic. So it hits you as a package, the first time you go to the Wall, on the first day of your tour. You know you are there for two years. You know it's basically the same everywhere, as far as the geography goes, but that everything depends on what the people you will be serving with are like. You know there's nothing you can do about that. It is frightening but also in its way a little bit freeing. No choice - everything about the Wall means you have no choice.
Parallels
  • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  • The Wall by William Sutcliffe