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Read An Ice-Cream War (1999)

An Ice-Cream War (1999)

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Genre
Rating
3.84 of 5 Votes: 1
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ISBN
0375705023 (ISBN13: 9780375705021)
Language
English
Publisher
vintage

An Ice-Cream War (1999) - Plot & Excerpts

How to put this? A book about misunderstandings, of failures of communication is perhaps the underlying theme of this greatly enjoyable read.Almost from the start are the two-way failures of understanding, of empathy, and these keep recurring through the novel - sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, sometimes catastrophic.And through the novel runs a theme of an irrational desire for revenge at any price. I could not help thinking of the Glasgow Ice-cream Wars and kept wondering whether Boyd had used that as an inspiration for the title because of the shared urges for justified retribution - but, of course, given the dates, that would not have been possible.The scene is unfamiliar - the First World War in the East African theatre. The title comes from the prologue, a letter home from brother to sister (again with confusion in communications as its theme) which closes with the comment that "it is far to hot for sustained fighting, ... we will all melt like ice-cream in the sun!"This is the first Boyd novel I've read. I was pleased by its easy fluency and the clever layering of detail. The characters are a strange bunch - few drawing much sympathy as they lead their separate and isolated lives. That's not to say that they are not believable - they are - but rather that they appear to be victims of their own failings without making any attempts to shape their own destiny.The humour is black - probably more funny because of the bleakness of the plot - with some finely funny characters worthy of The Sword of Honour Trilogy.A good introduction to this author - I'm encouraged to explore further!

'Contrasts the fortunes of those languishing at home with those fighting abroad'. Jumping around between 'home' (England) and 'abroad' (East Africa) often with large gaps between where we left off that aspect of the story to re-joining it I'm afraid for me the narrative just didn't flow well. Despite their obsession with genitals and frank sexual talk I much preferred the 'home' episodes spent with the Cobb family, brothers Felix and Gabriel, and their wonderfully dreadful father, Major Cobb (possibly the only redeeming thing about the novel), and can't help but wonder if the story would have benefited from sticking with one thread of the story or the other whether that be the 'home' or 'abroad' element.'Funny' according to Harper's. Very much a personal matter, what one person finds humorous another person might not and OK whilst there were times when I recognised that certain events could be interpreted as being funny I personally felt the book woefully lacking in this respect. Perhaps worst of all though was ...It was often difficult to pick out the actual plot from all the numerous background details and with such an abundance of viewpoints/various pyschologies the author frequently seemed to lose sight of his characters frequently glossing over 'important' events.That though set in a war zone there often was no real sense of place, that this was not just any war zone but East Africa.And that folks is why I didn't enjoy An Ice-Cream War.Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper.

What do You think about An Ice-Cream War (1999)?

What a strange book this is. I picked it up because after Lila I thought it'd be nice to read something 'light,' a comedy in this case, about a bunch of half-mad Englishmen in East Africa during the First World War. That's how ignorant I can get. It is 'light' in the same way that say, The Beatles' Blue Album is light - that it's certainly no didactic, that it's lively and frisky and that action and response, not vague morality, means everything. And it's so well made, so well executed, continuously inventive, and self-assured that you probably won't be able to treat it 'lightly.'It's a very funny book, refreshingly politically incorrect, about a small bunch of flawed people, the good and the mad, English and German, but it's also a very serious book dealing with themes not only of war but of family and love too, self-preseverance and the relentless sense of loss. It's also quite brutal, or at least very violent occasionally. It's great fun, a very memorable ride with unforgettable characters and highly recommended.
—Lucynell

Boyd at his accomplished best. Able to transport the reader effortlessly into ostensibly unpromising territory (East Africa? 1914-18?) and bring his large cast of disparate characters absorbingly alive. This epic story has it all - a chaotic and pointless war, meandering adventure, travelogue, family, frustrated love and shocking loss. Boyd seamlessly intermingles episodes of romance, drama and thriller with dark comedy, punctuated with moments of delirious farce reminiscent of Tom Sharpe. I especially enjoyed his running joke about the ways things get hopelessly lost in translation, whether to amusing or calamitous effect. Above all he is a master of convincing description and detail, lending his prose a vivid cinematic quality, which continually provokes the reader's imagination. A book to be relished and long remembered, not least for its title which refers to the sheer idiocy of conducting hostilities in an unforgivingly hot climate.
—RedSaab

An entertaining and occasionally laugh out loud account of warfare in East Africa during WWI. As with many of William Boyd's books, the reader has to pick the plot out from the very dense background detail and though the writing is of a consistently high standard, it can be difficult at times. It certainly took me a while to get into this novel - but once the 'egregious' Cobb family made their appearance, the entertainment level certainly moved up a notch or two. Events alternate between the farcical and the gruesome. Some quite horrific events interspersed with episodes of military incompetence - at one point a ship full of troops is unsure whether it is supposed to land at Beach A, Beach B or Beach C. Rather like conducting a war in a branch of Argos. There is an impressive sense of the ridiculous - two sides in a conflict unable to quite understand what they are fighting over, and struggling to muster sufficient enmity to make it convincing. And the sergeant who spoke entirely in Celtic dialect was fab. What fascinated me in particular about this book was the character Felix - an 'odious little prig' according to his sister-in-law. An accurate description, and yet I rather liked him by the end. If this wasn't a book written by one of my fave authors I would no doubt be grumbling about inconsistent characterisation, but under the circumstances I'd have to conclude that it's a highly skilled depiction of the effects of war on the individual
—Jayne Charles

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