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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Remarkable Epitaph, September 8, 2002
This review is from: After Nature (Hardcover)
The literary world stil mourns the too early passing of W.G. Sebald, who died just as his fertile mind was being shared with us through his four novels. Few people who experienced the power of his talent in reading 'The Emmigrants', 'Vertigo', 'The Rings of Saturn", and his final 'Austerlitz' have been able to reconcile the loss of a man so gifted having his career so shortened. Sebald is a writer's writer but his book, while dense in content and style, spoke so clearly to our generation beseiged by media madness, global wars, terrorism, starvation, and mutilation of the environment that turning to his unique form of writing provided a great solace. He asked us to explore the mysteries of birth, of death, of aging, of remembering and honoring our personal and cultural past. Now, after his death, we are gifted by this amazingly beautiful volume of three poems he wrote at the inception of his writing career. Knowing that these elegant and brilliant poems have been available all these years - just not translated - brings the circle of life round in a way I feel certain Sebald would have enjoyed. The poems are in free verse and read easily; the content is typical of Sebald, in that he relates detailed histories of painter Matthias Gruenwald, botanist Georg Stellar, and himself - each man being described as one who explores life from his passion to understand his past and future and find meaning and peace at its core. Rarely has language appeared so fluid, elegant, informative and lovely as in Sebald's informed hands. This is a book to savour and to share........a magnificent volume.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DNA for Sebald's Prose Works, January 8, 2003
This review is from: After Nature (Hardcover)
This triptych prose poem actually was published before Sebald's prose books. The word 'poem' is a loose word here, as words like 'fiction' and 'novel' were in "Austerlitz", "Vertigo", "Rings of Saturn" and "The Emigrants". This poem is a progenitor of the later work, and has much of the same agenda as the books. "After Nature" follows three characters: Grunewald, a Renaissance painter, Steller, an 18th century botanist-explorer, and finally the author himself. The book is preoccupied and troubled by the slow devastation of nature and innocence by history and man, and the book's end, as Sebald himself imagines looking onto the virgin continent of Africa in the times of Alexander the Great, is eloquent and beautifully melancholy as only a Sebald work can be. This is as luminous and hypnotic as writing can be, and literature will sorely miss the genius of W.G. Sebald, who passed away far too early, at the height of his literary powers, in December of 2001.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Profound, September 29, 2003
This review is from: After Nature (Hardcover)
I really don't feel I can do this beautiful book justice but I loved it so much I feel compelled to try. "After Nature" is written even less conventionally than are Sebald's other books. "After Nature" is a rather longish prose poem that details the unique relationship between three very different men and nature, herself. The three men are Matthias Grunewald, the German Renaissance painter, Georg Steller, the scientist and Arctic explorer and Sebald, himself. Each one of the men named above begins life with a vision of Nature that is placid and benevolent but come to realize that Nature can often be cruel and can even destroy her own creations. Each man was changed by his experience with Nature; whether for better or worse is something each reader will have to judge for himself. Sebald was an enormously creative and original writer and he defined himself as a "writer" rather than a novelist. While "After Nature" certainly isn't conventionally plotted there are remnants of stories contained within the poetry. Sebald, however, makes the reader work a little in order to obtain a full understanding of "After Nature." The book may look "easy" but believe me, it's not. "After Nature" is a beautiful book and, like the ones that followed, its beauty is melacholic. If you need a conventionally plotted work or a page turning storyline, however, "After Nature" wouldn't be the right choice for you. This is a very introspective work and the more you read, the more inward looking the book becomes. I loved "After Nature." I think I loved it even more than Sebald's other books. "After Nature" made me think more and reflect more and it stayed with me far longer. If a very reflective, introspective and melancholic prose poem is something you think you'd enjoy, I don't think you could find anything lovlier than "After Nature."
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