A review by ctgt
The Other Side by Alfred Kubin

4.0

Surrealistic nightmare?

Satire on capitalism?

Study of the subconscious mind?

Damned if I know.


A man receives a "summons"

"Claus Patera, Absolute Lord of the Dream Kingdom, charges me as his agent to present you with an invitation to come and live in his country

Patera, a former classmate came into a vast sum of money while in Asia and has created a walled city/kingdom over which he exerts full control. He has even gone so far as to move buildings from throughout the world into his new kingdom,

They are all ancient structures; many, indeed, are in ruins and would be worthless in anyone else's eyes, but others are massive and well preserved. Formerly they were scattered all over Europe.

Our protagonist(?), and his wife travel by rail to the Dream Kingdom. The next few chapters are fairly mundane and Kubin briefly explores the class structure, economics and religion of this newly formed kingdom before we gradually slide down the slippery slope. Things in the kingdom seem just a bit off and in fact his wife is never comfortable or happy once they arrive. As discoveries are made and things start to deteriorate, a foil to Patera appears in the form of an American, Hercules Bell who begins to accelerate the collapse of the kingdom.

Some vivid passages;

A dream sequence,
An elderly fellow with an abnormally big torso and short legs approached me; he was naked except for a pair of greasy duck workman's trousers. He had two long vertical rows of nipples, I counted eighteen. With a snort, he inflated his lungs, filling first the right and then the left side of his chest, and then with his fingers on the eighteen nipples played the most beautiful harmonica pieces.

as the kingdom deteriorates;

the most valuable objects had clearly lost the will to live. A fine pattern of cracks appeared in the precious vases and porcelains. The splendid paintings developed black spots, which rapidly spread over the entire surface. Engravings became porous and fell to pieces. The speed with which so many well-preserved and carefully repaired household furnishings turned into piles of rubbish was hardly credible.

Now he grew boundlessly, he dug up a volcano from which still hung, snail-shaped and twisted, a granite intestine torn from the entrails of the earth. He put this gigantic instrument to his lips-it roared so that the universe shook. The city had long since disappeared beneath his feet. He stood there upright, his torso reaching the clouds; his flesh was as if made of hills.


This won't be for everyone but if you like weird fiction...Kafka....Peake, I would say give this a shot. It's definitely one of those books I will need to read again.