I just finished Ice and thought it was a masterpiece. While it was difficult to read because following the plot required a lot of concentration, the prose was also so economic and powerful. The ambiguities always made me stop and think, even if it was for a few sentences that didn't make sense at first. I would recommend it highly. The descriptions of an apocalyptic world are beyond anything I've read.
I read *_Ice_* almost 50 years ago, with a sense of urgency. I didn't fully appreciated it at the time, but the jumbled story has stuck with me due to the fantastic writing. I read it as science fiction but now see it more as a woman expressing feelings about her life. Good review. Maybe heroin helps less skilled tennis players forget their losses.
Anna Kavan is one of my favourite writers. Seeing this video and your ones on Angela Carter made me subscribe to your channel. Thank you for making these.
Good review of one of my favourite books. My take is that Kavan takes her personal tragedies and raises them to a universal, metaphysical level. She obviously had a very dark view of human nature but saw the beauty in desolation, the thrill of destruction, the rush of the death wish writ large. A major influence on Ice were the high brow French avant-garde/erotic novels of the 50’s, Pauline Reage and Alain Robbe-Grillet. Like Ice difficult reads but they linger in the mind as well.
Nice review! Not many reviews of this book on youtube... I think your experience with it mirrors mine, more or less. It was a very uncomfortable read while going through it, but it stuck with me afterwards.
