The Wall

By John Lanchester,

Book cover of The Wall

Book description

In this taut, dystopian tale, an island nation ravaged by the Change has built an enormous concrete barrier around its coastline-the Wall. Joseph Kavanagh, a new Defender, has one task: to protect his section of the Wall from the Others, the desperate souls trapped amid the rising seas outside. A…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Wall as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I found this book realistic in a really frightening way. The entire societal structure of the world depends on the stories we humans tell ourselves about ‘us’ and ‘them,’ and I think the book plays with this very cleverly.

It has a very tender depiction of what happens to us and our stories when we’re all alone, and I still think about the way generational guilt is woven through the story.

It was one of those books where I kept walking up to my wife to say, “Can I read you something?” and, “Listen to this…” because the ideas are…

Want books like The Wall?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Wall.

Browse books like The Wall

Book cover of The Road
Book cover of Parable of the Sower
Book cover of The Last Cuentista

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,179

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in dystopian, eschatology, and Europe?

Dystopian 618 books
Eschatology 24 books
Europe 956 books