Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Dedalus, (2000), Edition: illustrated edition, Paperback, 320 pages
Description
Written in 1908 and hailed by artists such as Kandinsky, The Other Side describes a dream kingdom that becomes a nightmare and a journey to Pearl, a mysterious city created deep in Asia that is also a journey into the subconscious
User reviews
LibraryThing member Ganeshaka
"I'll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours." Bob Dylan said that. But, I wonder, would Bob Dylan have wanted to be in Alfred Kubin's dreams? Kubin, an obscure German artist from the early 20th century, is remembered chiefly for his phantasmagoric Goyaesque drawings. Odd, dark visions of a
Alas, slowly at first, but with gathering speed, The Dream Kingdom spins awry. Its citizens are all a bit off, like the resurrected animals in Stephen King's Pet Sematary. The weird imbalances mount. Our hero's wife dies. And Patera grows more distant and unreachable. And eventually "The American" arrives and engages in a power struggle with Patera.
Any number of metaphorical interpretations are possible. Does the novel foretell the fall of Soviet Russia? Does it foresee the chaos of contemporary failed states? Is it an extrapolation of Kubin's experience of the social disruption in Germany during the hyper-inflationary period after WWI? The writing is a bit too hallucinatory to draw any conclusions. Think if Hieronymous Bosch had tried his hand at writing along the lines of Rabelais.
Of course, to read The Other Side, you first need to find it. I was pleasantly amazed that my local library, the Ohio County branch in Wheeling WV, was able to obtain a copy, through the interlibrary loan program, in only two weeks. I suggest you give your local library a try. The price of the novel on Amazon is prohibitive.
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quirky world. But Kubin, also, wrote one novel, The Other Side, - a feverish work - while he was taking a break, or a breakdown, from his art career. And what an odd, dark book it is. The subject matter was a utopia in transition to a dystopia - a fantasy kingdom located somewhere in the East, on the far side of Samarkland. The tale begins when the unnamed artist/hero of the story is invited, with his wife, to emigrate to the capitol city of Perle by a childhood friend, Claus Patera. Patera, by a series of happenstances, has acquired an immense fortune, and has set about realizing a utopian vision. He has populated the kingdom by invitation only, with seemingly oddball, obsessive characters from around the globe. Even the housing has apparently been chosen at whim, and, at great expense, has been deconstructed, imported, and re-erected.Alas, slowly at first, but with gathering speed, The Dream Kingdom spins awry. Its citizens are all a bit off, like the resurrected animals in Stephen King's Pet Sematary. The weird imbalances mount. Our hero's wife dies. And Patera grows more distant and unreachable. And eventually "The American" arrives and engages in a power struggle with Patera.
Any number of metaphorical interpretations are possible. Does the novel foretell the fall of Soviet Russia? Does it foresee the chaos of contemporary failed states? Is it an extrapolation of Kubin's experience of the social disruption in Germany during the hyper-inflationary period after WWI? The writing is a bit too hallucinatory to draw any conclusions. Think if Hieronymous Bosch had tried his hand at writing along the lines of Rabelais.
Of course, to read The Other Side, you first need to find it. I was pleasantly amazed that my local library, the Ohio County branch in Wheeling WV, was able to obtain a copy, through the interlibrary loan program, in only two weeks. I suggest you give your local library a try. The price of the novel on Amazon is prohibitive.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Alinea
Two aspects make this book worth reading today: It was written 1908, before the world wars, and its haunting images were most prophetic. Secondly, a key idea makes this books both a psychological and surreal experience: The mood of a man and the state of his soul are mirrored in the physical and
Alfred Kubin is better known for his illustrations (of say E.A. Poe's short stories), and this is his only work of fiction.
If you want a book where everything becomes clear at the end, you want something else. If you enjoy being disturbed, go ahead and read it!
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social state of the city he reigns.Alfred Kubin is better known for his illustrations (of say E.A. Poe's short stories), and this is his only work of fiction.
If you want a book where everything becomes clear at the end, you want something else. If you enjoy being disturbed, go ahead and read it!
Show Less
LibraryThing member CharlesFerdinand
This novel is the linguistical equivalent of the eerie and haunting drawings for which the author is better known. There is a difference however. Where the illustrations are usually stark and monochrome, the images of the book bathe in a Grand Guignol atmosphere, with large doses of Hieronymus
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Bosch. The narrative starts conventional enough, but dissolves gradually (just like the world that is described) in a series of fantastical vistas of death and destruction, linked more by emotion and association than any strict logic. If you like the early works of Lovecraft, this is the book for you. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
German
Original publication date
1909
Physical description
320 p.; 7.7 inches
ISBN
1873982690 / 9781873982693
Local notes
Die andere Seite; ein phantastischer Roman. 1910213039 for 2014 edition. 014003594X for Penguin Modern Classics