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A review by msand3
After Nature by W.G. Sebald
3.0
I had been wanting reading Sebald for a long time, and hearing Patti Smith discuss this one in M Train finally pushed me to buy the book. The book is divided into three sections of poems. The first relates the life of Grünewald, the second gives an account Georg Steller's ill-fated voyage with the Bering expedition, and the third is a personal poem about Sebald's own life.
I enjoyed the ekphrastic elements of the poems -- from the description of Grünewald's work to Brueghel's famous Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. Having seen some of Grünewald's art -- including an altar triptych -- on display at an art museum in Munich, I was taken with Sebald's descriptions of those works in particular.
Unfortunately, beyond that, I didn't find the poems to be much more than straight-forward accounts of three lives, although there were moments of great beauty, especially the almost confessional nature of the third section. I enjoyed After Nature, but wasn't blown away. I already have three more Sebald books on order, so I look forward to exploring more of his work, even if this first book didn't meet my (too?) high expectations.
I enjoyed the ekphrastic elements of the poems -- from the description of Grünewald's work to Brueghel's famous Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. Having seen some of Grünewald's art -- including an altar triptych -- on display at an art museum in Munich, I was taken with Sebald's descriptions of those works in particular.
Unfortunately, beyond that, I didn't find the poems to be much more than straight-forward accounts of three lives, although there were moments of great beauty, especially the almost confessional nature of the third section. I enjoyed After Nature, but wasn't blown away. I already have three more Sebald books on order, so I look forward to exploring more of his work, even if this first book didn't meet my (too?) high expectations.