After Nature by W. G. Sebald
AFTER NATURE is W.G. Sebald's first literary work and the start of his highly personal and brilliant writing journey. In this long prose poem published in Germany in 1988 and now translated into English by Michael Hamburger, Sebald introduces many of the themes which he explores in his subsequent books and which will be familiar to readers of THE EMIGRANTS, THE RINGS OF SATURN, VERTIGO and AUSTERLITZ. Focusing on the conflict between man and nature, each of the three distinct parts gives centre-stage to a different character from a different century - the last being Sebald himself.