Review 46: The Wall

The Wall by John Lanchester
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

I read this book about a month ago, in mid-June, finally had some time to add some thoughts on the reading.

First off, I started this book despite already a few going, because it looked like a simple and easy read. My life outside of reading was a bit stressful and the other books weren't relaxing enough, needing more concentration than I had the energy at the time. So did this book live up to the ease it promised? Yes, and then some. The language was very simple, too simple.

The story itself started out very slow. There is this wall, and the young adults, the first generation to do so, much go serve two years of their life on the wall. It's cold on the wall. The wall was built after the change to keep the outsiders on the other side of the wall.

The wasn't much to the book overall. I wondered often if it is a young adult book, perhaps. The generation that had to serve on the wall, feels like there is no future. They generally, do not become "breeders." They also have a huge disconnect with their parents, since they are responsible for ruining the world. The overtones are so distinct it is easy to see what the author is meaning.

The book grew on me as I read, although it turned out fairly predictable in nearly every way. Perhaps a surprise or two, but mostly not. The ending was somewhat abrupt, when it really could have continued just a little longer.

Oh, one last thought: I did not believe that even with rising oceans, that all beaches were completely wiped out over the entire world. The level of the seas would rise, but new beaches would occur, the ocean, with wave action, creates them. So how many years later after the ocean rising and the wall built? I bet there would be some beaches somewhere in the world.

Book rating: 2.5 stars



P.S. Left this book at the airBnB I was staying at when I finished reading it. I was visiting Washington, D.C. and it felt appropriate to leave a book with this title that is focused on keeping out the others, with the president that was currently occupying the White House. I realize the book is about England not the United States, yet politics.