Reviews

Machines in the Head: The Selected Short Writing of Anna Kavan by Anna Kavan

atticmoth's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Reading Anna Kavan during the aftermath of one of the worst depressive episodes of my life is funny because even if I didn’t like this book, I felt like I understood it. Machines in the Head is a sort of “Greatest Hits” compilation of Kavan’s short stories, pulling from 5 different collections from 1940-1975. Despite this, they all felt like part of the same big work. Almost all of the stories were in first-person, translating the most depressing despair into externally-turned nightmare imagery. The fact that they’re all in first person makes it feel like the narrator isn’t crazy, she’s just having a logical reaction to a nightmarish world. Kavan’s hopelessness isn’t fun to read, nor is it cathartic at all, but I definitely could see where she was coming from. The best stories were the ones that were the most rooted in reality, “Ice Storm” and “World of Heroes”. 

in_praise_of_idlenesss's review against another edition

4.0

machines in the head?? more like anna kavan could put a MACHINE (a vibrator) IN THE vagina or just give me HEAD

wrystake's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

cachou's review

dark reflective fast-paced

3.5

ruthie_'s review

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

_nat_con_'s review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

4.25

darby3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

4.25

fancyradish's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

hutyluty's review

dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

I really enjoyed the Asylum Piece stories. They felt kind of conjoined, like a novella of sorts, even if they weren't necessarily linked by logic. The later stories were less good, some of them retrod similar ground and felt a bit much whilst the more surrealist stories were missing the realist base which I tend to need to enjoy stories of that kind. The essays were interesting as a window into post-war literature and the kind of distraught, horrifying mental effects of living through a time when the world truly lost its mind (puts covid in perspective, at least a little bit). Some of Kavan's conclusions and thoughts were a little odd however, to say the least.