Machines in the Head
Author: Anna Kavan
Genre: Fiction
Year: 2019
Rating: 7 of 10
This book is a collection of short stories with publication dates spanning from 1940 to 1975. I was only familiar with her later science fiction masterpiece, Ice, and had not read any of her non-SF work. It was interesting to see how Kavan’s style evolved over the years. The early stories came off as self-absorbed and paranoid, but the later pieces become more developed and mature. She has a wonderful way of making internal feelings spill out into the external world, and blurring these lines in an emotional way. Because I had really high expectations (due to Ice) I found myself slightly disappointed with this collection and wished that I had been reading the entire books instead of excerpts, however the book did get considerably better as it went along. I look forward to reading more of Kavan’s work, especially the later stuff.
Purchase: Buy!