 Reaction to The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H. was mixed . Anthony Burgess in The Observer called it " astonishing " , Christopher Booker of The Daily Telegraph described it as a " powerful piece " , and English author A. S. Byatt said it was a " masterpiece " . In Explaining Hitler , Ron Rosenbaum called The Portage " A Frankenstein story " , referring to Steiner 's fictive Hitler has having taken on a life of its own . Writing in Time magazine , Otto Friedrich described the book " a philosophic fantasy of remarkable intensity " , adding that by not refuting Hitler 's speech , Steiner deviates from the horrors of traditional Holocaust literature and ends the book " on a note of bleak ambiguity " . 
 Reaction to The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H. was mixed . Anthony Burgess in The Observer called it " astonishing " , Christopher Booker of The Daily Telegraph described it as a " powerful piece " , and English author A. S. Byatt said it was a " masterpiece " . In Explaining Hitler , Ron Rosenbaum called The Portage " A Frankenstein story " , referring to Steiner <a href='null_genetive' title='1'><mark>'s</mark></a>fictive Hitler <a href='been_done' title='2'><mark>has</mark></a> <a href='been_done' title='3'><mark>having</mark></a> taken on a life of its own . Writing in Time magazine , Otto Friedrich described the book " a philosophic fantasy of remarkable intensity " , adding that by not refuting Hitler <a href='null_genetive' title='4'><mark>'s</mark></a>speech , Steiner <a href='uninflect' title='5'><mark>deviates</mark></a> from the horrors of traditional Holocaust literature and <a href='uninflect' title='6'><mark>ends</mark></a> the book " on a note of bleak ambiguity " . 
Reaction to The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H. was mixed . Anthony Burgess in The Observer called it " astonishing " , Christopher Booker of da Daily Telegraph described it as a " powerful piece " , and English author A. S. Byatt said it was a " masterpiece " . In Explaining Hitler , Ron Rosenbaum called TdaPortage " A Frankenstein story " , referring to Steiner  fictive Hitler done done taken on a life of its own . Writing in Time magazine , Otto Friedrich described the book " a philosophic fantasy of remarkable intensity " , adding that by not refuting Hitler  speech , Steiner deviate from the horrors of traditional Holocaust literature and end the book " on a note of bleak ambiguity " .