The World Had Become an Arctic Prison

Ice by Anna Kavan follows an unnamed narrator obsessively chasing after a mysterious girl through a world being consumed by winter. She is being held captive by a man named the Warden. Where, when, why, and how exactly any of this is taking place is never explained. Most of Ice doesn't make any sense, but you just have to accept things the way they are, like in a dream. There are many points at which I felt like nothing was happening at all. Kavan occasionally implies that the warden and the narrator are the same person, or that this girl doesn't really exist at all.

Kavan’s writing in general is excellent. Her descriptions and depictions are haunting yet beautiful. The story could have devolved into a muddy slush very easily, as the true focus of the story isn't definite. And I will admit that's how I felt initially about Ice. I felt like it was a cheap Kafka rip-off, that it had no ‘meaning.’ But isn't that the definition of existentialism? Kavan wrote a hundred something pages of fever dreams and abusive infatuation and the frightening cold, all blended up and spit back out onto the page. And I read all of it. It's not that there is no meaning, but that there are too many to choose from. Is Ice about the fetishization of abuse, or maybe a heroin addiction? Is it about the fears of the future, the Cold War, or nature itself? Not to be cliché, but I think it really is up to the reader to decide what Ice means.

Ice, of course, does have its flaws. At points I think it's a little too strange… and the plot is difficult to follow. There are also a lot of scenes and passages that I feel aren't used to their full potential, and it can get a bit repetitive. I’m also not so sure about how little character the girl has. I wish Kavan would push her personality a little further than just being easily broken and deeply traumatized. This last complaint lies on me, because I did just say that the reader should be the one to flesh out Ice’s meaning… but I don't feel like Ice really left an impression on me. Sure it's good. I don't regret reading it. I would probably recommend it to someone who's interested. But I likely won't be thinking about this book for the rest of my life.

The narrator is seriously obsessed with this girl. He abandons his life before, and takes stupid risks in the hopes of finding this girl. At one point, the narrator even blames the girl. Saying she's like a drug, that he’s the victim here. All while fantasizing about hurting her. Both the demented, broken logic and fuzzy world connect to the theme of my project. This is a peek into another reality, not only because of Ice’s sci-fi qualities, but also because the book is built on the immorality of the main character. To experience Ice, you must go along with the narrative.

Putting my head on the narrator’s shoulders was scary, but Kavan’s intensely descriptive style made it easy to see out of the narrator's eyes. Thus, I made a digital drawing based on Ice. I wanted it to be dream-like and feel not quite real. I also messed up the girl's face a few times… but overall im not unhappy with it.