The Ice Storm

infobox Book |
name = The Ice Storm
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First edition cover
author = Rick Moody
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Family, Drama, Tragicomedy
publisher = Little Brown & Co
release_date = 1994
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
pages = 279 pp
isbn = ISBN 0316579211
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Ice Storm" is a 1994 American novel by Rick Moody. The novel was widely acclaimed by readers and critics alike, hailed as a funny, acerbic, and moving hymn to a dazed and confused era of American life. [http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/ice_storm1.asp "The Ice Storm" at Reading Guides] ; accessed April 3, 2007.]

In 1997, the novel was adapted into an acclaimed feature film directed by Ang Lee, featuring a cast including Joan Allen, Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood and Tobey Maguire.

Plot summary

The novel is set before, during and after Thanksgiving, leading up to a threatening ice storm and centers on two neighboring families, the Hoods and the Williamses, and the difficulties they have dealing with the tumultuous political and social climate of the day, in affluent suburban Connecticut, in 1973. The novel is narrated from four different perspectives, each of them a member of the two families, who are promoting their own opinion and views of the several complications that arise throughout the novel, including their encounters and daily life. The Hood family is overridden with lies: Ben is currently in an affair with his married neighbor Janey, his wife Elena shoplifts, her daughter ventures on her own sexual liaisons with both females and males of her age, including her neighbors Mikey and Sandy.

The Hoods are Ben, Elena, Paul and Wendy and the Williamses are Jim, Janey, Mikey, and Sandy. The story focuses on a brief period of time when a major ice storm hits their town of New Canaan, Connecticut, just as both families are melting down from the parents' alcoholism, escapism and adultery, and their children's drug use and sexual experimentation.

Characters

*Ben Hood
*Elena Hood
*Paul Hood
*Wendy Hood
*Janey Williams
*Jim Williams
*Mickey Williams
*Sandy Williams

Themes and analysis

The novel's central themes are the loss of innocence and moral compass in middle-upper class Americans, and the 1970s era. It also deals with several underlying themes, including the Watergate scandal and suburban secrets, such as sexual experimentation by youths, and the same thing being done by the adults who are failing to be role models for their children, as well as their absence from their children's lives, which causes the most significant problems in the novel. The novel is also set during the time of the sexual revolution, which is obviously a central part since a recurring theme is sexuality. The rapidly changing sexual era is reflected in the lives of both families, who, as the revolution approached, have experimented with new, taboo sexual acts, such as incest and adultery.

Critical reception

"The Ice Storm" was largely commended for its audacity and the many daring subjects explored in the novel.Fact|date=June 2007 Critic Adam Begley of the "Chicago Tribune" called the novel: "A bitter and loving and damning tribute to the American family.... This is a good book, packed with keen observation and sympathy for human failure"Fact|date=June 2007 while "The Guardian" called it "one of the wittiest books about family life ever written."Fact|date=June 2007 Amanda Heller of "The Boston Globe" stated "Moody brings this profusion of metaphor to order with a fierce, subversive intelligence. His characters, drawn with a manic acuity that isn't fully accounted for until the end, stay with us long after we've finished reading." Fact|date=June 2007

The novel was a moderate success commercially; however its sales were boosted in 1997 with the release of the film adaptation.Fact|date=June 2007

Film adaptation

The film adaptation of "The Ice Storm" featured a cast including Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Christina Ricci, Tobey Maguire and Elijah Wood. The film was a "succès d'estime" as an art house film and critically acclaimed despite a poor box office, however it gained a modest reception on subsequent home video releases. Fact|date=February 2007 While remaining more or less faithful to the book, some details were changed. Most notably, Weaver and Jamey Sheridan's characters were named Janey and Jim Carver, while in Moody's book, their name was Williams.

References