Ice: The hypnotic dystopian cult classic

Synopsis

In a decaying city where memory slips as easily as ice melts, an unnamed narrator pursues a mysterious white-haired woman across a frozen landscape that seems to exist somewhere between dream and reality. As glaciers engulf the world and civilization crumbles, his obsession becomes increasingly unsettling, blurring the boundaries between desire, violence, fantasy, and delusion. Each encounter transforms the landscape and the characters themselves, creating a nightmare that refuses simple interpretation.

First published in 1967, Ice is Anna Kavan's masterpiece and one of the defining works of literary dystopian fiction. Decades ahead of its time, the novel anticipated climate fiction while weaving together psychological horror, surrealism, and speculative fiction into a haunting vision of environmental collapse and possessive obsession. Strange, hypnotic, and unforgettable, it remains one of the most singular novels of the twentieth century. This Pushkin Press Classics edition includes an introduction by Christopher Priest.

About the Author

Anna Kavan (1901–1968), born Helen Woods, was a British novelist, short story writer, and painter. Following a mental breakdown in the 1930s, she adopted the name of one of her fictional characters and began writing in the dreamlike, psychologically charged style for which she became renowned. Although overlooked during much of her lifetime, her work has since been recognized as a major influence on writers including J. G. Ballard, Doris Lessing, China Miéville, and Patti Smith. Ice, published shortly before her death, is widely regarded as her greatest achievement.

Publisher

Pushkin Press Classics

Publication Date

January 16, 2025

Format

Paperback

Pages

192

Subjects

Literary Fiction · Dystopian Fiction · Climate Fiction · Psychological Fiction · Modern Classics · British Literature

ISBN

9781805330981