Reviews

Early stories are skeletal tales of class struggle or repetitive city sketches that remind me of Poe and Kafka , but the later ones, written well into Kavan's long relationship with heroin, are slippery, surreal nightmares of alienation, and absurdity. The titular story of 'A Bright Green Field' is the real shit. That story, and its follower 'The Ice-Storm' seem to contain the germs of many a latter-day British experimental writers— from Ballard, to McCarthy, to filmmaker John Smith. One of the best pieces of short fiction I've read in years.

subdue_provide75's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

jcovey's review against another edition

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4.0

What's most fascinating about this is seeing the development of an artist. While the themes stay the same, the stories advance from roughs to the polished expertise of the woman who wrote Ice.
What else to say about Anna Kavan? She epitomizes slipstream. A more modern Kafka. A woman burdened and freed by her own bazooka.
I love her.

jesslynsukamto's review against another edition

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5.0

to have this alongside the languid void-staring experience of internal turmoil is a match made in heaven that one will never have guessed. the richness and elucidity of Kavan in describing the perception of going down cold, bleak, yet delusion-ally passionate, streamlines from one short story to another. they run a wide range, from straightforward examinations of human beings, to the semi-surreal & science-fiction, to the avant-garde. Kavan manages to bring her personal view of world, full of mists and fogs and blurry distinctions in things by explores themes of shifting reality, unreliable perception, hallucinatory visions that rely so closely to home for some, while manages to blur the boundaries between reality and the fiction, without making it so heavily on magical realism but rather, autobiographical. it is certainly obscure writing, and not everyone could like the taste of her wraithlike, self-martyred prose.

wtb_michael's review

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

4.0

Bleak, paranoid, obsessive and strange - a great introduction to Kavan

dadoodoflow's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Carrington meets Kafka. Quite a find

nobodyatall's review against another edition

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3.0

A lot of it felt incomplete and like parts were missing, as though these were all scenes from novels rather than short stories. Ended up feeling a bit lacking.

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