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Ice Road Gillian Slovo 9781844080595 Books

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Ice Road Gillian Slovo 9781844080595 Books

Takes a while to get into, but well worth the effort. The characters are engaging, and their struggles with adversity in the Soviet Union during the reign of Stalin make a great saga. We follow the stories of Natasha, Soviet aristocracy, and her tragic loves, the historian Anton, the strange and haunting orphan Anya, and the insipring Irina, a downtrodden cleaner who rises up to become the central character, holding all together through almost overwhelming difficulties.


Tags : Ice Road [Gillian Slovo] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Irina Davydovna is a cleaner. She has no time for politics or even for that matter, people: 'rules and rulers may come and go,Gillian Slovo,Ice Road,Time Warner Books Uk,1844080595,Modern fiction,Fiction

Ice Road Gillian Slovo 9781844080595 Books Reviews

In 1934, Irina Davydovna is sent on a fated Artic expedition, along the coast of Siberia and back. Trapped in the Arctic ice with her shipmates, the author perfectly captures Irina's sense of isolation, the eerie crackling sound of the ice floes pressing against the ship and the helplessness of their predicament in this frozen, indifferent world "I have grown heavy with hope and with belief. I have dared to dream." In an enormous rescue effort, most of the crew is saved, including Irina, although the ship is lost to the depths of the ocean.

Later, Irina finds employment in the household of Anton Antonovich Abramov, once a close friend of Boris Aleksandrovich, and his adopted daughter. Although the orphan child, Anya, never warms to her more welcoming circumstances, Irina is content to have a place in the home of a respected man after the terrifying, near-fatal experience in the Arctic. Irina watches the metamorphosis of her nation, a woman given to obedience and respect for those in power. But these are dangerous times, neighbor spying on neighbor as those of questionable motives join the ranks of the disappeared.

The vital Natasha, daughter of Boris Aleksandrovich Ivanov, is in love with Kolya and eager for marriage. Natasha is in the bloom of youth, beautiful and covertly watched by many male admirers, her father's favorite child. The couple is married and has a child, Katya, when Kolya is arrested.

Natasha is bereft when Kolya is arrested, her life now precarious, a social outcast. Natasha marries the jealous, uninspired Dmitry Fedorovich, the epitome of an inflexible Stalinist regime, her one opportunity to secure her future and that of her daughter. Desperately unhappy, Natasha is riddled with questions about Kolya's fate, but fearful of her husband's power. In her distress, Natasha turns to her friend Irina, living alone with Anya since Anton's untimely death.

As Russia hurtles towards its date with destiny, the Germans mass on the Russian border. Leningrad prepares for a devastating siege and soldiers desperately dig trenches to protect the city from assault. Hitler is eager to subdue this massive country, while a flustered bureaucracy is decimated by those who flee from the city. The great experiment is in turmoil, under attack and unprepared, without provisions in a brutal winter.

With uncanny insight, Slovo defines society through the eyes of the women in this vast, white world where ideas are as rigid as the ice-covered terrain, proving there is room for passion, love and tenderness. It is the women who reflect the true changes in society, showing astonishing emotional growth, made stronger by their trials, losing the passive obedience of long habit. In spite of personal danger, Irina and Natasha form a bond that sustains them where others, fathers, husbands, have failed. Slovo's characters are surrounded by peril, betrayal and intrigue, but when survival is at stake, the women breathe life into the future, buoyed by loyalty and compassion. Luan Gaines/ 2005.
Actually, it's a pity that this book got so little attention in North America. I can not be really objective, being born in Leningrad and living there for the first 20 years of my life. So, reading the "Ice road" returned me to the good - and not so good - old times in Russia. But this is not the only, and not even the main reason for me to enjoy the book. First of all, it is a real story. Well, it is real in a sense, that this story truly has happened to many people - and all of them had to go through grief, losses, betrayal, doubts... and this was the system that broke the people down. Read the book, and you understand how it works - something that will help you to discover one of those infamous "Russian mysteries".

Secondly, I was truly amazed to see that Slovo, who never has been in Russia, was able to find the right words, to paint the right atmosphere and describe all these Soviet hard idealists better than most Soviet writers that I know. This is a very impressive thing to perform from South Africa.

Bottom line? Highly recommended. If you want to read a really good book, which will make you both to turn the pages at 2am, to cry and to think, pick this one.
Gillian Slovo covers a wide canvass in "Ice Road" with her interwoven stories of life in Leningrad in the 1930s. These were eventful, fearful years and she delves deep into the complexities of political and social life drawing her characters through events as diverse as the heroic rescue of the research ship trapped in the Arctic, the murder of Stalin's protege Kirov and the coming of war. Residents of the city whatever their status, from the elite to lowly service workers whose stories she captures, learnt that survival depended on living behind layers of camoflauge, adopting masks deftly adjusted to the shifting political imperatives of the day. This places some demands on her readers but it is well worth it in the end as vignettes of character, particularly her descriptions of the lonely, pre-doomed Kirov, linger long after the book is done.
I bought this book for my son who is in prison and appreciates all the books I can send him....even with nothing to do he ended up putting this book down...he said he would enjoy watching paint dry better then this book...I chose this book as he enjoys historical stories and the revues were good....I think the revues were purchased by the author as no way are we discussing the same book.....I am sorry but I doubt that you should waste your time...
this book was very interesting, but often I felt that the writer skimmed over time periods that demanded more explanation and detail. Overall, tho it was a good book.
Having recently finished H Salisbury's "900 Days- Siege of Leningrad"- this well written novel resonated even more with me. It does jam pack many historical details, including the break up of the Arctic explorer ship, the ice road of the title (over Lake Ladoga), Stalin's purges. However, the emotional depth of the characters, some of whom come and go, is well drawn. Highly recommended!
Takes a while to get into, but well worth the effort. The characters are engaging, and their struggles with adversity in the Soviet Union during the reign of Stalin make a great saga. We follow the stories of Natasha, Soviet aristocracy, and her tragic loves, the historian Anton, the strange and haunting orphan Anya, and the insipring Irina, a downtrodden cleaner who rises up to become the central character, holding all together through almost overwhelming difficulties.