Customer Reviews

The Kafka Effekt

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An interesting, wacky and often bizarre collection.
Despite the title, this book seems to have little to do with Kafka's mix of realism and surrealism; more likely influences seem to be Alfred Jarry, Samuel Becket and maybe even Marcel Schwob.
Each work is very short, most being little more than vignettes, but sit filled with a hefty ammount of creativity. Scenes range from a man whose body hair is made of thousands of tiny screaming people (I won't give away who) to cocktail parties where the food eats plate-fulls of people. Many work on a metaphoric level, although sometimes the metaphors are a little blatant, especially when Wilson makes little jabs at academia. All at the very least make you stop and think a moment about your own surroundings and perceptions.
My main complaint (and it's a pretty small one) is the obviousness of some of the wordplay and a lack of poeticism within the language. Many of the passages could be carried further with a little tweaking with the actual choice and rhythm of words.
Not a collection for those looking for a straight narrative with a beginning, middle and end, but those interested in the surrealists or writers like WS Burroughs and are willing to sit back and enjoy the creative ride will have a good (and occasionally thoughtful) time with this work.

You will encounter contradictions, illogical situtations and unnecessary roughness should you decide to test the limits of the Kafka Effekt. I personally know at least one person who has become obsessed with this work and does nothing at all without first consulting this enigmatic, yet prophetic text.

This collection of mind-bending short stories is in the absurdist and surrealist tradition. Take for instance the tragic account of Hogan Marsupial, a very serious man who tries to become a comedian. Also meet Dr. Thunderlove a pediatrician whose eyes are on stalks like a lobster and says to his fearful patients, "If you can't handle my eyeballs right now, when you grow up-how do you expect to handle the real world?"

Wilson is a master of exposing the horrors of mundane life. From the fear of public urination to the frustrations of simply trying to communicate with another person Wilson's odd tales are discomforting more from their familiarity than thier strangeness.

Wilson's imagination far surpasses almost every living author in print. His stories are as entertaining as they are smart, as surreal as they are socially accurate. The absurd ideas and strange situations are so mind-boggling and fun that you'll want to start this book over again as soon as you've finished. There's not an author since Russell Edson who compels this in me.

Just buy everything written by this guy. You won't be disappointed! . . . unless you happen to be the Jesus freak a couple posts below who is the only person who gave a negative review. If you happen to be close-minded, as most Jesus freaks are, you're just not going to get Wilson. Also, I'd like to point out that if you are expecting a Kafka-clone you're not going to find it here. This guy is very fresh and very unique. I'm sure the only reason why this book is called The Kafka Effekt is because the author was very inspired by Kafka or perhaps Kafka is the only other author out there that readers can compare Wilson to. But whereas Kafka is classical and bleak, Wilson is colorful, upbeat, funny as hell, and extremely modern. And far less subtle with his wild displays of surrealism and the absurd. Which makes for a more enjoyable read than your regular Kafka-clone who thinks they are writing for an early 1900s audience.

Also, his second collection, "Stranger on the Loose," is just as good if not even better than the Kafka Effekt. I recommend getting them both before you are eaten by a giant hors d'oeuvres.

I have to agree with that one review. This is hardly the artful significance of Kafka. But nevertheless, I still enjoyed the eccentricity and wildness of Wilson's writing. and a few a thoughtprovoking and interesting to say the least. Overall, I would reccomend this one to anyone with an open and creative mind.

This is great collection of stories. Intelligent, weird, comical and crafty. Like Kafka, Wilson's writing style is simplistic and pragmatic, but there's a lot going on beneath the surface. And it's funny. I laughed out loud from the beginning to the end of this book. I've never read anything quite like it. If you want to learn to laugh at and rethink yourself and the world you live in, check it out.

D. Harlan Wilson's world is unpredictable, unconventional and one where anything can and will happen.
Many characters are the id in its purest form, acting on impulse and neurosis, which is what makes these stories so fun.
His tales are weird and crazy and gory and funny, surreal and bizarre. They are complex and compelling and better yet, unlike anything you will read elsewhere.

D. Harlan Wilson has built a strange body of work. For most emerging writers that statement might be a kiss of death, but not for him. Wilson's intelligence and a razor wit separate his writing from the ignorant vulgarity that too often passes for originality in today's liturature. In his short story collection, The Kafka Effekt, strangeness becomes a weapon.

These stories are masterpieces of the absurd, both darkly funny and tragic. Wilson leads his readers through a surreal world with each one. And though he is far from the first author to do that, Wilson's skill in maintaining the delicate balance between chaos and meaning is what makes his writing enjoyable.

In every bizarre step along the 44 stories in this book, the reader collects a treasure: a nugget of understanding, a flash of empathy, or even a sense of familiarity with the often nigthmarish universe of Wilson's characters. Profound without being didactic and expertly blending jaded humor with a sobering vision of the future, The Kafka Effekt is well worth a few bad dreams and skipped meals. It is strange in the best possible way.

this is another fine example of the quality and type of material people run from like the plague but eraserheadpress.com has no qualms about releasing. many of these stories have their origins in wilson's out of print chapbook 'kafka breathing sock puppets'(a reference to 'supercalafraglisitc city', the last story in both this novel and the chapbook). to me this is relaxing to read, good exercise for the mind. highly recommended to those who have a shred of intelligence

D. Harlan Wilson, I have a question for you: what have you done to the short story?
I just finished your collection, "The Kafka Effekt" and I want to know who you think you are and where have you been all this time?
These stories are unlike anything I have ever read before (I find myself saying that a lot these days, now that I am so heavily into Bizarro Fiction, but even for Bizarro, this stuff is weird).
In these pages, I came across a man with a baby butt surgically grafted to his face, a man in a concrete hat who does unspeakable things to homemade pillows, A female Serial rapist/killer who stands idly by whilst her boyfriend goes through horrible changes against a wall, and a man who does not want to be told what to do by human-sized hors d'oeuvres.
Yep. All that and more. I had read Wilson's book "Peckinpah" before, and enjoyed it immensely, but even that splash of highly-violent experimental lit. could not prepare me for this amazing collection. Wilson is the true avant garde,a master of his own world, and a bonafide original.
Reading his work is like drinking a pan-galactic gargle blaster after punching several strangers in the face.
In other words: it is a good way to spend the day.

A classic collection of short stories and flash fiction from one of the original kings of the Bizarroverse. Wilson is weirder than you. His stories are very surreal, very stream-of-consciousness, and, ultimately, very necessary. So just do it. This is one of the first five books anyone with an interest in Bizarro should buy.