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A Review of the book '''Real Presences''' written 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