“Breathe Underwater” to Understand the Sea and its Changes

The American cover of Underjungle (Atlantide, pp. 268, euro 19), the bold novel by James Sturz set entirely at the ocean depths, features an image that at first glance seems to be that of an alien or some science fiction creature, but which is actually the eye of a fish in extreme close-up. The optical effect is a sensible choice for what is in fact a fantasy novel: Underjungle tells the story of a marine civilization composed of tribes in perpetual conflict that live hidden at the bottom of the sea.

The novel, written by a profound expert on the ocean as well as a master diver, is also a story in which humans are the aliens and the Earth is another world. Sturz's provocation is all too clear: “The ocean is perfect because it is the only one there is. Maybe our seas aren’t all that exist on earth, but they are all that matter,” we read in the final pages of the volume.

THE BOOK THAT, as the great American biologist Carl Safina wrote, seems to “breathe underwater,” is an invitation not only to take care of the sea – still sadly far from our climate agenda – but to learn from the sea and its inhabitants to take care of one another. After all, on this planet divided between land and oceans, we are the other world, we are the aliens, the invaders.

Read the full article from Italy’s Il Manifesto here.