W.G Sebald.

http://winninly-lo-fi.blogspot.com/2010/07/caught-by-river-nature-book-reader.html

I had one lecture with Sebald, very sadly shortly before he was killed in a car accident. It was before I had read any of his books, and if my recollection serves me right, it was based around the concepts of the power of narrative and its sometimes fraught relationship with translation. I remember the sense of surprise (as lectures rarely gripped me in my 1st year of uni) and inspiration I felt as I left the big lecture theatre at UEA (just opposite the library). It sadly took me a while to actually sit down and read his books properly and by then, I felt even sadder that he wasn't able to write anymore. I heartily recommend him to you.. and by the sounds of it, so does Dan.