The Sea Wall

by Marguerite Duras

Book Overview

Inspired by his own biography, Marguerite Duras recounts in a dam against the Pacific Indochina in the peculiar life of the family formed by a seductive teen-Suzanne, his brother Joseph and mother of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060970537
• ISBN13: 9780060970536
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Struggles of Colonial life in French IndoChina

Duras wrote this novel right in the middle of France's struggle with the war of independence in Indochina. That is where this novel takes place. It is a compelling, well illstrated, and masterfully composed piece of writing that is actually semi-autobiographical (many events of Duras' life appear as events in the novel). It is based upon a family's constant struggle with the endless difficulties with life in the country and their many and frequent bouts with the constant desperation that is portrayed throught the entire course of the book. It is a wonderful book to read and (undoubtedly) enjoy.

The Sea Wall

The Sea Wall is a fine example of Duras' cinematic and romantic writing style. Like The Lover, this novel is semi-autobiographical, and is set in French colonial Indochine.It is the story of a poor widow's desperate fight against the world she is trapped in, exemplified by the sea wall she constructs to stop the yearly encroachment of the sea on her useless concession of land. Although her efforts are futile, she bravely, or sometimes absurdly, maintains hope in the midst of poverty and her children's growing restlessness.