(Coco)nuts philosophy

The Prof occasionally sends me interesting passages from the philosophy books he’s reading. This one (below) must surely come close to being one of the worst sentences ever written in English. Or in any language ever?

A barren nonsemiotic island of coconuts and sand still manifests these objects to us as specific features of the landscape — the coconut appearing “as” coconut rather than as grapes, and not simply retreating into the silent execution of its coconut-effect.