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adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The most annoying characters I’ve read in a book, strangely there was something about this that kept me invested. I loved the relationship between the two men, and how their cruelty melted into one another. Fascinating read, slow to start but once it ended I wished for more.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence
The book's discussions of extreme thinness as being signs of absolute purity and beauty was incredibly triggering for me - dropped.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Stalking
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“Instead of the darkness, she faced a stupendous sky-conflagration, an incredible glacial dream-scene. Cold coruscations of rainbow fire pulsed overhead, shot through by shafts of pure incandescence thrown out by mountains of solid ice towering all around. Closer, the trees round the house, sheathed in ice, dripped and sparkled with weird prismatic jewels, reflecting the vivid changing cascades above. Instead of the familiar night sky, the aurora borealis formed a blazing, vibrating roof of intense cold and colour, beneath which the earth was trapped with all its inhabitants, walled in by those impassable glittering ice-cliffs. The world had become an arctic prison from which no escape was possible, all its creatures trapped as securely as were the trees, already lifeless inside their deadly resplendent armour.”
This is one of the strangest books I have ever read. The whole thing reads like a fever dream where violence is painted over a canvas of impending doom. As expanding glaciers swallow everything from the poles to the equator, the main character (all characters are unnamed) goes on a perverse odyssey around the world (or just the one country?) to find the white-haired woman he is obsessed with. At times, the novel, written in 1967, reads like commentary on the Cold War; other times, it reads like an allegory for the author’s own heroin addiction; yet other times, it reads like an exploration of sexual violence and misogyny. Possibly, it’s all three. As another reviewer put it (from therumpus.net):
“Certainly this is a book full of violence, but Kavan’s masterful and exacting prose never lets us forget that violence has to do with the human—specifically with the man—starting with the violence of language itself, in its use by man for representations and appropriations. The novel is suffused with a fatalistic attitude towards violence while it critiques it and acknowledges that many forms of violence are beyond the capabilities of language to capture. But the incessant desire to recuperate what lies beyond its reach is precisely what fuels language, and also propels this novel forward.”
I really wanted to like this book more, but I can’t help but feel like something crucial has escaped me, or if there was something crucial to understand at all.
This is one of the strangest books I have ever read. The whole thing reads like a fever dream where violence is painted over a canvas of impending doom. As expanding glaciers swallow everything from the poles to the equator, the main character (all characters are unnamed) goes on a perverse odyssey around the world (or just the one country?) to find the white-haired woman he is obsessed with. At times, the novel, written in 1967, reads like commentary on the Cold War; other times, it reads like an allegory for the author’s own heroin addiction; yet other times, it reads like an exploration of sexual violence and misogyny. Possibly, it’s all three. As another reviewer put it (from therumpus.net):
“Certainly this is a book full of violence, but Kavan’s masterful and exacting prose never lets us forget that violence has to do with the human—specifically with the man—starting with the violence of language itself, in its use by man for representations and appropriations. The novel is suffused with a fatalistic attitude towards violence while it critiques it and acknowledges that many forms of violence are beyond the capabilities of language to capture. But the incessant desire to recuperate what lies beyond its reach is precisely what fuels language, and also propels this novel forward.”
I really wanted to like this book more, but I can’t help but feel like something crucial has escaped me, or if there was something crucial to understand at all.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
dark
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, War
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the ARC.
I think I've heard of this before in my public library, but I never actually picked it up until I got approved to read this new edition. The setting, the events that take place, are all malleable for the narrator's sake of possessing the young woman but possessing her in a very specific state of despair. The narrative suggests a globe-trotting adventure against a despotic leader who keeps the woman locked up, but the details change regularly, there's very little sense of time, and you get the sense that the narrator and the villain are one and the same. Though even this is just my opinion; the writing lends itself to many interpretations. I personally enjoyed this sort of unreal narrative, but I can also see how it can frustrate someone who just wants something concrete to latch onto here.
I think I've heard of this before in my public library, but I never actually picked it up until I got approved to read this new edition. The setting, the events that take place, are all malleable for the narrator's sake of possessing the young woman but possessing her in a very specific state of despair. The narrative suggests a globe-trotting adventure against a despotic leader who keeps the woman locked up, but the details change regularly, there's very little sense of time, and you get the sense that the narrator and the villain are one and the same. Though even this is just my opinion; the writing lends itself to many interpretations. I personally enjoyed this sort of unreal narrative, but I can also see how it can frustrate someone who just wants something concrete to latch onto here.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Stalking, War
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War
challenging
dark
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
really difficult to read but worth it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Stalking
Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Not my favorite bookclub pick. This book is insanely repetitive and I feel like something only a self-absorbed Freudian might like. Have I mentioned how frail and skinny and white this girl is? And don't forget childlike, she's sooo fragile and small 🙃🔫 I feel like it's a metaphor for the closed world of misogyny, the girl is relentlessly pursued by this guy who is obsessed with her based on appearance and just cannot get away, much like the ice is creeping in, a fridged wasteland that is her role as future wife. She finally really goes with him in the end which is also closest to the end of the world, submitting to the patriarchy is death but it's also the only option, the ice will find you, the only other option is to kill yourself. But I feel like even exploring that metaphor doesn't make it interesting to read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Rape, Violence
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-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
Publishing date: 29.04.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the ARC. My opinions are my own.
TLDR: Man is very obsessed with a woman, hallucinates every other page
My summary is up to interpretation, you might see it differently.
Man wades through a post-apocalyptic urban reality where snow and ice has taken over the entire world. Infrastructure seems to collapse (except for the rich and powerful). While managing this he is also obsessively searching for a woman he once knew. He starts hallucinating her and himself in all kinds of different situations, but never seems to actually get close to her in reality.
I found reading this story very tough. Knowing what was real and what wasn't was very tough. Knowing when and where was nearly impossible. This made my reading experience a little skewed towards the negative sadly.
Both pacing and characters struggled with the same things, knowing who you read about was a little hard.
I did like the atmosphere, it felt cold and unforgiving. In my head I was imagining trudging through snow and ice and feeling hopeless. Gave a real sense of both danger and hope. What I didn't like was the image of the woman. She was fragile, and small, and made of glass, and such a victim, and it got repetitive. Every time she was mentioned, the sandwich list was pulled up of all her attributes. The purpose of this I do not know, but it did annoy me.
This was originally published in 1967, but I think the audience is the same. Adults, all the way. This is an adult read, both in terms of difficulty and themes. Adults that enjoy dystopian and surrealism might highly enjoy this.
I am giving this book 3 stars. Interesting premise, but very hard to process and actually get into. It is a quick and short read, so consider picking up if you feel like working out your brain a little.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, War
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
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:
Complicated
I feel conflicted about this book; I really loved the dreamlike narration and flow but I hated the main character so much it was distracting. I recognize that he is not meant to be loveable or admired and is likely a critique on masculinity and patriarchy but I couldn't get past how much I hated him. I went through waves of despising the book and appreciating it. I would probably like to read it again to get a better feel for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Violence