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A review by james2529
The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald
5.0
I absolutely loved this book. The author takes a walking tour around the east coast of England and includes not only his reflections on this experience but also a lot of the history of the land he passes through.
He will happily go off on complete tangents on seemingly unrelated topics but they all come back to a key point in each chapter.
The mood of this book is incredibly sombre and focuses intensely on decay, death and the ultimate pointlessness of human striving. This is a theme I find endlessly interesting and Sebald's way of expressing it is absolutely brilliant.
The subtle explorations of man's destructive relationship with nature are nonetheless devastating. His frequent discussions of the foibles of the rich and powerful and their inevitable downfall are just so powerful and evocative.
The layout of the book, with very few paragraphs and lots of creepy and evocative images, is absolutely mesmerising and worth mentioning.
I often struggle to focus on books, even ones I enjoy, but there was something about this prose style that totally sucked me in and I read this in about three sessions.
Absolutely stunning.
He will happily go off on complete tangents on seemingly unrelated topics but they all come back to a key point in each chapter.
The mood of this book is incredibly sombre and focuses intensely on decay, death and the ultimate pointlessness of human striving. This is a theme I find endlessly interesting and Sebald's way of expressing it is absolutely brilliant.
The subtle explorations of man's destructive relationship with nature are nonetheless devastating. His frequent discussions of the foibles of the rich and powerful and their inevitable downfall are just so powerful and evocative.
The layout of the book, with very few paragraphs and lots of creepy and evocative images, is absolutely mesmerising and worth mentioning.
I often struggle to focus on books, even ones I enjoy, but there was something about this prose style that totally sucked me in and I read this in about three sessions.
Absolutely stunning.