After Nature

If you enjoy Sebalds prose, this is a must-read. If you enjoy less traditional literary presentation, consider this a must-read. For the rest, read the various reviews to determine your interest level - it would never be a mistake to choose this volume. But there is so much wonderful literature and so little time to read, that you may wish to invest your time elsewhere.

"After Nature" is written even less conventionally than are Sebalds 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 isnt 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, its 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" wouldnt 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 Sebalds 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 youd enjoy, I dont think you could find anything lovlier than "After Nature."

"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 books 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.