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A review by grogu_djarin
Ice by Anna Kavan
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Overall Thoughts:
This book had a lot of potential but stylistic choices ruined it for me. Kavan created an extremely vivid post-apocalyptic world caused by an encroaching ice age. She did a fantastic job depicting that and the oppressiveness of it. It almost felt like the environment was a character in itself.
That said, the rest of the story is an incohesive mess. Scenes don't flow cohesively together and perspectives change without any scene breaks. There is a lot of unreliable narration and you keep meeting the warden and the girl over and over again, but it's almost impossible to tell if these are the same characters or if the main character is hallucinating them or believe others to be them.
This book had a lot of potential but stylistic choices ruined it for me. Kavan created an extremely vivid post-apocalyptic world caused by an encroaching ice age. She did a fantastic job depicting that and the oppressiveness of it. It almost felt like the environment was a character in itself.
That said, the rest of the story is an incohesive mess. Scenes don't flow cohesively together and perspectives change without any scene breaks. There is a lot of unreliable narration and you keep meeting the warden and the girl over and over again, but it's almost impossible to tell if these are the same characters or if the main character is hallucinating them or believe others to be them.
Likes:
- The world was extremely well characterized and the encroaching ice felt oppressive.
- I liked the exploration of post-apocalyptic society and the people in it even if scenes were disjointed. It was a good analysis of human nature. Some people were just trying to survive while others were more than happy to take advantage of the situation for their own benefit.
- The prose itself is beautiful if you read it in isolation from the rest of the book.
Dislikes:
- It's very difficult to follow along with the story. There's times where the perspective shifts in time or location or character without ever telling you so it's hard to extract a cohesive story from it. It feels more like following along in an incohesive dream that jumps around more than anything.
- There's graphic physical and sexual abuse in this book and characters often fantasize about it.
- While the book is about the narrator's obsession with the girl, he also has a strange fixation with lemurs that feels bizarre juxtaposed with the rest of the book.
Other Notes:
- NA
Would Recommend To:
- Someone interested in abstract experimental fiction or stories set in a post-apocalyptic ice age with a disjointed narrative.
Do Not Recommend To:
- Anyone who want's a cohesive plot or anyone who dislikes depiction of physical and sexual abuse.