Reflections between literature and music

Anna Kavan – Ice (1967, last published translation in 2021 by 451 libri)

We venture into a frozen landscape, into the dark, guided by the enigmatic presence of an unknown narrator. He has set out in search of a woman for whom he once nursed a deep feeling. The woman, likewise nameless, emerges as a vulnerable figure marked by abuse and wounds, with a deathly pallor and hair so blonde it borders on white, or silver. She is currently bound to a powerful and violent figure who keeps her confined in a sort of mountain fortress.

The narrator has returned from a place increasingly gripped by the relentless advance of the ice, following an unspecified catastrophe. Ice that is progressively taking hold across the entire planet. Driven by concern for the woman's fate, the man seeks contact with her, gradually revealing that this concern is more akin to an obsession. The narrator's intentions, initially aimed at saving his old flame, betray increasingly murky undertones.

Shortly after, the woman and her tormentor vanish into mystery.

From this point on, an epic hunt for the two of them begins, an adventure unfolding through a series of episodes interspersed with visions that frequently cut into the narrative, making the plot ever more elusive. Meanwhile, the backdrop of a world crushed by the glacial catastrophe grows increasingly oppressive.

"Ice" is a work of tremendous evocative power that can be read as an allegory of the heroin addiction endured by Anna Kavan, a writer of extraordinary visionary talent whose life was marked by hardship and turbulent struggles for self-affirmation. Her most celebrated work plays out as a power struggle between the narrator – an apparent hero – and the woman, an objectified figure denied the right to a name or a will of her own.

The icy setting, reflecting the writer's inner tensions, becomes a mirror of her art, which moves fluidly between magical realism and experimentation.

"Ice" may not offer readers an easy path, but it stands as an intense and singular study of compulsion, submission, and the chaos born from the inability to control one's own actions and fate.

Soundtrack: Thomas Köner – Permafrost (1993)

The choice of pairing book and record explains itself: "Permafrost" represents a vision of a reality in which ice has prevailed over human existence. Most of the tracks are pervaded by a sense of menace, emphasized by the rumble of sub-bass frequencies. The music unfurls like a blanket of snow, evoking glacial columns and dark peaks drifting through perception.

Curiosity drives the exploration, skirting the edge of possibility like a ship sailing along an unknown fjord, peering into the throat of this mysterious land. The music unfolds in silence, slowly growing and coming into focus as the scene reveals itself: dark walls rise on either side, barren gulfs of rock scrape against the sky, a glacier spills chunks into the ocean, blocking the way. But it's precisely this menacing, impenetrable face that heightens the intrigue.

Then understanding evolves, and macro and micro systems come to light. Haunted drones float at the core of the music with a frozen breath, while undercurrents charged with invisible activity betray the presence of life in this land that is at once merciless, pristine and beautiful.

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