The Wall

A deeply affecting and poignant novel, also a complex and plausible allegory for our times. Although the facile response is to compare Lanchester's work to Orwell's 1984, I found much clearer parallels in both Kafka and Ballard. The narrator of Lanchester's novel is called Joseph Kavanagh, a presumable direct homage to Joseph K. The often matter-of-fact prose with which Joseph narrates his story would appear to share many similarities with Ballard's style. Another commonality across all three authors (Lanchester specifically in this work, since his others are very different) is how little the key protagonists can do to determine their own fate; it is out of their hands. On reading The Wall, it is also hard not to think of the role such a defining structure plays also in “Game of Thrones”. To return to Lanchester's novel, the near future in which it is set highlights not only one interpretation of Brexit's legacy (a literal wall to keep others out, per Game of Thrones) but also the necessity of how possibly to manage environmental disaster (a wall to keep rising sea levels out). The specific capitalisation of certain words (“Wall”, “Breeder”, “Defector” and “Other”) reinforces Lanchester's point and speaks to how depressing a new world order could be. Kavanagh's hopes are quashed by factors beyond his control (betrayal leads to despair), but although humanity is depicted as generally both selfish and hypocritical in this work, there is also a clear sense of hope espoused. Unlike in Kafka/Ballard, Kavanagh learns to discover and value comradeship and compassion. Spoiler alert: he survives. The conclusion, however, is far from evident, and The Wall is made generally even better than it already would have been simply by virtue of the pace of its plot and the unpredictable turns it often takes.

By John Lanchester