Ice (Sorokin novel)

Ice (Russian: «Лёд», romanized: Lyod), a 2002 novel by Russian author Vladimir Sorokin, unfolds in a harsh, near-future Russia. In this world, the Tunguska meteor event left behind a substance that a secret cult uses to make human hearts "speak." Though it was the first part of Sorokin's Ice Trilogy to be written, it is the second in narrative order; the trilogy continues with Bro (2004) and 23,000 (2006).

Critic Jon Fasman, writing in the Los Angeles Times, compared the novel to Haruki Murakami's work, calling it a "head-scratching pleasure" with a deceptively quick pace. Fasman noted that Ice is a thriller in the truest sense, offering both a swift plot and the thrill of discovery. He observed that Sorokin, like Michel Houellebecq, dwells on how the body's needs and decay betray us, though without Houellebecq's nihilistic grimness. Murakami has more whimsy and a similar feel for a fast-moving plot, but Sorokin is less burdened by nostalgia or a sense of loss.

Ken Kalfus of The New York Times remarked that Sorokin's "frigid antihumanism" sets him apart from Russian satirists such as Gogol, Bulgakov, Yuri Olesha, and Viktor Pelevin. Kalfus also praised translator Jamey Gambrell for turning Sorokin's staccato rhythms into a hard-boiled English that suits the novel's brutality, especially in its violent early chapters. However, he added that American readers tackling the book with their own "ice hammers" may struggle to find its heart—and even more to make it speak.