The deeps of the sea and other fiction - George Steiner

George Steiner's fiction spans intimacy and politics, violence and calm. The settings include the deeps of the Pacific and the Amazonian forests, the Poland of the death-camps and Italy after the collapse of Marxism. They pivot, as do Steiner's philosophic and literary writings, on the enigma of language, and of its power to bless and destroy. Time and again, the underlying theme is that of the inhumanity at the heart of culture, of those nightmares that can come of reason. Apart from The Deeps of the Sea, the collection also includes The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H., Anno Domini and Proofs and Three Parables.