Changes

[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]]

[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]]

[[Image:Real_presences.jpeg|right]]

[[Image:Real_presences.jpeg|right|frame]]

A Review of '''Real Presences''' by G. Steiner

A Review of the book '''Real Presences''' written by G. Steiner

==fr. Theology Vol. 102 (1999) 169-176==

==fr. Theology Vol. 102 (1999) 169-176==

''Real Presences: Two Scientists’ Response to [[George Steiner]]''

''Real Presences: Two Scientists’ Response to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Steiner George Steiner]''

==Authors==

==Authors==

Wilson Poon and Tom McLeish

Wilson Poon and Tom McLeish

Real Presences is Steiner's personal manifesto against the [[deconstruction movement]] in modern [[literature]] (and [[art]] and [[music]]). It is not a book that many scientists would read, let alone re-read.And yet we have read and re-read the book; it has made us laugh and cry. Why? This essay is a first attempt at articulating the shock of relevance two scientists felt after their encounter with this remarkable book.

Real Presences is Steiner's personal manifesto against the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction deconstruction] movement in modern [[literature]] (and [[art]] and [[music]]). It is not a book that many scientists would read, let alone re-read.And yet we have read and re-read the book; it has made us laugh and cry. Why? This essay is a first attempt at articulating the shock of relevance two scientists felt after their encounter with this remarkable book.

 

==Section 1==

==Section 1==

Real Presences is evidently born out of pain (one reviewer calls it a ‘vulnerable’ book), the pain

Real Presences is evidently born out of pain (one reviewer calls it a ‘vulnerable’ book), the pain

of disappointment to read (italics ours)

of disappointment to read (italics ours)

<blockquote>‘Only art can go some way towards making accessible, towards waking into some

<center>‘Only art can go some way towards making accessible, towards waking into some

measure of communicability, the shear inhuman otherness of matter.’</blockquote>

measure of communicability, the shear inhuman otherness of matter.’</center>

Frighteningly, ‘we are utterly free not to receive ... [when we are] face to face with the presence of

Frighteningly, ‘we are utterly free not to receive ... [when we are] face to face with the presence of

==Bibliography==

==Bibliography==

1 George Steiner, Real Presences (Faber and Faber 1989)

#George Steiner, Real Presences (Faber and Faber 1989)

2 George Steiner, A Festival Overture, Festival Lecture (The University of Edinburgh 1996)

#George Steiner, A Festival Overture, Festival Lecture (The University of Edinburgh 1996)

3 Numbers in brackets refer to pages in Real Presences.

#Numbers in brackets refer to pages in Real Presences.

4 See, e.g. The EPSRC Programme 1997-98 (Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council 1997)

#See, e.g. The EPSRC Programme 1997-98 (Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council 1997)

5 Reprinted in Language and Silence (Faber and Faber 1985)

#Reprinted in Language and Silence (Faber and Faber 1985)

6 John Carey’s Introduction in The Faber Book of Science (Faber and Faber 1995)

#John Carey’s Introduction in The Faber Book of Science (Faber and Faber 1995)

7 See, e.g., B. Appleyard, Understanding the Present (Pan 1992)

#See, e.g., B. Appleyard, Understanding the Present (Pan 1992)

8 S. Weinberg, Dreams of a Final Theory (Hutchison 1993)

#S. Weinberg, Dreams of a Final Theory (Hutchison 1993)

9 J. Gribbin and M. Rees, Cosmic Coincidences (Heinemann, 1990)

#J. Gribbin and M. Rees, Cosmic Coincidences (Heinemann, 1990)

10 This process is documented by, e.g. S. Weinberg, op. cit., p. 196.

#This process is documented by, e.g. S. Weinberg, op. cit., p. 196.

11 C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle (Fontana 1985), title of Chapter 14

#C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle (Fontana 1985), title of Chapter 14

[[Category: Languages and Literature]]

[[Category: Languages and Literature]]

[[Category: Philosophy]]

[[Category: Philosophy]]