The Ice

Set in Moscow during the late 1980s, "Ice" follows an Egyptian narrator studying film directing while experiencing the profound shifts and major collapses leading to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Through a narrative blending strict daily realism with political documentation, the author chronicles the intellectual and psychological alienation of the Arab intellectual in exile, raising painful questions about social justice, freedom, and democracy. It is a discerning reading of the death of ideologies and their poignant repercussions on ordinary individuals and decision-makers alike.

Because it offers a rare literary and historical document on the end of the Cold War era and the collapse of the Soviet Union, through the observant eye of an authentic Arab creator.

For lovers of political and historical literature, those interested in exile and travel-themed novels, and fans of Sonallah Ibrahim's realistic, documentary narrative style.