Nigeyb’s Reviews > Ice > Status Update

Whadaya know? A happy ending, of sorts. The best we could hope for in the circs anyway

Truly a descent into a dreamlike world where the external apocalypse mirrors the internal struggles of its characters. Anna Kavan's unique voice and unflinching exploration of dark psychological landscapes make Ice a powerful work

Ice seems to be an exploration of obsessive desire and control. The narrator's unhealthy fixation on the girl and his desire to "rescue" her often seems indistinguishable from a desire to possess or destroy her. The relationship between the girl, the narrator, & the Warden is a disturbing portrayal of a gender power imbalance. I shudder to think what happened to AK to inspire such a nightmarish narrative

The plot is ever more weird, episodic and dreamlike, with the narrator constantly pursuing, losing, and finding the girl, often seemingly unsure whether his encounters are real or hallucinatory.

A spectacularly unreliable narrative that inserts dreams, hallucinations, and shifts in perception. The reader, like the narrator, is left to question what is real and what is a product of a disturbed mind, or perhaps a world so broken that reality itself has fractured. No remotely conventional plot structure here, just an all pervasive sense of ambiguity.

Helpful introduction. Slipstream fiction eh? A genre that blends elements of literary fiction with speculative fiction (like science fiction and fantasy), often blurring the lines between reality and the surreal. Characterised by its dreamlike or uncanny atmosphere, challenging readers to question their perceptions of reality and the nature of storytelling itself. Oooh