Reviews

This is the second book by Anna Kavan I've read (Ice was the first), and the second I've loved. This book works as a whole or as separate stories, and is probably the most haunting evocation I've come across of the aura of dread around asylums in the early twentieth century. The whole notion that a woman who did not conform to what was called rational behaviour could be placed in a lonely, forbidding oubliette, in the name of curing her, is wonderfully explored, and some powerful pieces delve into neurosis, paranoia and dissociation. What's deliciously (and unsettlingly) done in particular is that you're never sure how much of what is going on is the twisted perceptions of an individual who is losing touch with reality, and how much is a genuinely faceless, uncaring and malign world that has no room for anyone who does not fit. Great stuff; Kavan deserves to be better known.

mamimitanaka's review against another edition

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4.0

Haunting and full of a melancholic finality which not only acts as an autobiographical window into Anna Kavan's condition and the treatment of ill people in the medical establishment which still disturbingly holds up to this day, but also an elegaic excursion into the thoughts and emotions of the interwar period [it's not pronounced, but there's no doubt the advent of WW2 is implicitly lurking in the background throughout every page here]. Kavan writes laconically but gorgeously and the whole thing is eclectic in its presentation and symbolism while always maintaining a clear connective tissue throughout these short stories - it's really more of a fragmented novel than an anthology, with much of the back half feeling like a disjointed-yet-whole collection of fiction writings put to pen during Kavan's institutionalization, all of them more or less seeming to fictionalize different parts of her experience. The book almost ends up being best read as a surreal memoir than outright fiction. Don't have a whole lot to say about, it's just very good and very touching as well.

theswampmaster's review against another edition

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3.0

The Birds and Machines in the Head felt like they were written by a part of my brain that was aware of me and yet I was not aware of. No one writes emotions of disassociation and over-used coping machanisms quite like Kavan.

james2529's review against another edition

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5.0

This is a genuinely incredible book. After reading Ice I was desperate to read more Kavan but I wasn't expecting this level of brilliance.

The book is a collection of short stories that illustrate the experience of various mental illnesses and which are based on Kavan's own time at a mental hospital in Switzerland.

A lot them are simply outstanding. My favourites would be asylum pieces 1-4.

Asylum piece one is literally setting the scene of the 'theatre' that is the mental asylum. There is an added twist of horror at the end.

Asylum piece two describe the despair of a woman taken to the asylum by her lover and left there. It is amazing how kavan can break your heart over 8 pages.

Asylum piece three is one of the greatest depictions of depression I have ever read. Every word is perfect and completely relatable.

Asylum piece 4 is that of a child with some disability (possibly downs syndrome?) Who is taken to the asylum and separated from her family. When she later hears her family came but didn't see her she tries to run away. It is absolutely devastating.

I also really enjoyed Machines in the Head (about someone who carries on working a tedious job they are desperate to leave) and the Trial-esque running story of someone 'under investigation'. At one point he receives what he thinks are suicide pill which he takes and then discovers they were just sent to test him. Absolutely horrifying and brilliant.

I loved this book. Kavan is one of new favourite authors.

bookiss's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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