Marlen Haushofer was an Austrian author whose work was rediscovered by the women's movement, drawing attention to her exploration of women's roles in a male-dominated society. Her prose frequently delves into themes of isolation and survival, with her seminal work, 'The Wall,' depicting a woman living alone in the wilderness. This novel, notable for its open ending, invites numerous interpretations and highlights her profound interest in the human psyche and societal constraints.
Meta opens her eyes wide, and the blue seeps into them. She keeps them open until she is fat and swollen with colour and the sky is drained pale. It is a slightly scary game: it could easily be that the sky doesn't like having its colour taken away. So she closes her eyes and sends the blue back to where it came from.
Variously interpreted as an ironic Robinson Crusoe story, a philosophical parable of human isolation and as dystopian fiction, The Wall is at once a simple survival story and a disturbing meditation on twentieth-century history.
'There is still one thing for me to cling to: namely, the hope that one day I will draw a bird that is not completely alone in the world...'