For its entire four hundred plus pages it offers a philosophy of a melancholic life, a philosophy of dreaming, and a philosophy of art. Livro do desassossego the book of disquiet, fernando pessoa the book of disquiet is a work by the portuguese author fernando pessoa 18881935. Soares himself, in the only moment of being seen from the outside, looks like those who hope for nothing because. The book of disquiet, by fernando pessoa, a portuguese epic written by a thoroughly disabused narrator who is. The book of disquiet is funny, lifeaffirming, and, of course, desperately sad.
The book of disquiet can seem like a quintessentially manicdepressive epic. What would a truly finished the book of disquiet look like. This edition includes notes on the reconstruction of the text, appendices containing material omitted from the final version and letters which pessoa intended to incorporate into the text. The book of disquiet ebook written by fernando pessoa.
Ill even go so far to say, this book is the definitive work on creative poetic genius. Apr 15, 2020 in this series, writers present the books theyre finally making time for. It nails you down, and it can wipe away all the joy in you. The book of disquiet is the portuguese modernist master fernando pessoas greatest literary achievement. The portuguese writer fernando pessoa once described his book. An assembly of sometimes linked fragments, it is a mesmerising, haunting novel without parallel in any other culture. Was 18 march 1914 the most extraordinary date in modern literature. The book of disquiet is the autobiography of fernando pessoa and includes many moving confessions of loneliness and neglect one of these intimate passages says. In other words, there is not one the book of disquiet, but many. In this series, writers present the books theyre finally making time for. This book includes some fragments of his diary, short reflections, and adages. There are flashes of sly humour, too, moments when the book of disquiet reads like an existential diary of a nobody. And he insisted that narratives, like an arson or a murder, require active investigation. The book of disquiet was left in a trunk which might never have been opened.
The second page, along with lots of additional praise, contains. An assembly of sometimeslinked fragments, the book of disquiet is a mesmerising, haunting novel without parallel in any other culture. The book of disquiet serpents tail classics series by fernando pessoa. Maybe it is true that books find you when you need them. Jull costa, who first took a crack at the book of disquiet early in her career, gorgeously renders soaress melancholy descriptions. Sitting at his desk, bernardo soares imagined himself free forever of rua dos douradores, of his boss vasques, of moreira the book keeper, of all the other employees, the errand boy, the post boy, even the cat. The book of disquiet the prizewinning, complete and unabridged translation the best englishlanguage version we are likely to see for a long time, if ever the guardian of a work of unclassifiable genius. Dec 25, 2009 book of disquiet reveals a reclusive authors soul author fernando pessoa may have been a loner who lived most of his life in a single room in lisbon, portugal. The final edition of this book was published in 2010.
And im doomed always to feel, like the worlds great damned men, that its better to think than to live. The book of disquiet by fernando pessoa, paperback. The book of disquietude was various books yet ultimately one book, with various authors yet ultimately one author, and even the word disquietude changes meaning as time passes. The book of disquiet by fernando pessoa is one such modern masterpiece that i read last week. The book of disquiet, by fernando pessoa, a portuguese epic written by a thoroughly disabused narrator who is highly intelligent and couldnt be more. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read.
However, it can also give unpredictable happiness for souls who prefer loneliness like me most of the time. Each entry in this fictional diary of one bernardo soares represents an attempt to create a distinct biography, for soares lives according to the maxim. The book of disquiet penguin modern classics ebook. Finding pessoas book of disquiet was like finding a piece of myself. In the pages of this poetic novel you will find honesty, often selfdisparaging, and you will find beauty in the smallest observation.
This is one of the most startling, electrifying books i have ever read. From what i understand this book is a collection of prose snippets from over 40 years that were compiled after the portuguese poets death. Jan 28, 2019 these quotes from the book of disquiet are true works of art. Its floating boundaries expand and contract, lazily animated by the horror of making our soul a fact. I love this strange work of fiction and i love the inventive, harddrinking, modest man who. Its pages, like pessoas trunk, are thick with thoughts.
Pessoas rapid prose, snatched in flight and restlessly suggestive, remains haunting, often startling, like the touch of a vibrating wire, elusive and persistent like the poetry. The fragmentary, the incomplete is of the essence of pessoas spirit. The book of disquiet penguin modern classics kindle edition. Buy the book of disquiet by fernando pessoa online at alibris. It feels like the novel rilke would have wrote if he had the talent for prose. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the book of disquiet. The book of disquiet also translated as the book of disquietude has a format somewhat like a journal or diary and is also a collection of vignettes and reflections. The book of disquiet was found, in fragments, only after pessoas death. Aug 30, 2016 the book of disquiet is funny, lifeaffirming, and, of course, desperately sad. Reviewing the book is like trying to make up a new language in the middle of a conversation. How could we whittle down our list to just 10 books. Part of what makes this enthralling, and as you said, one of the greatest literary works to ever emerge out of modernism, is that incompleteness feels intrinsic to its project. But this book is, like so much about pessoa, an object of mystery.
Soares himself, in the only moment of being seen from the outside, looks like those who hope for nothing because its perfectly useless to hope. In that sense, to get back to the central question, i suppose it feels to me most like an essay. The book of disquiet is caught up in the steady drumbeat of ordinary life and all its detritus. Sep 26, 2017 in other words, there is not one the book of disquiet, but many. Book of disquiet reveals a reclusive authors soul author fernando pessoa may have been a loner who lived most of his life in a single room in. In lisbon there are a few restaurants or eating houses located above decentlooking taverns, places with the heavy, domestic look of restaurants in towns far from any rail line.
The book of disquiet the prizewinning, complete and unabridged translationthe best englishlanguage version we are likely to see for a long time, if ever the guardianof a work of unclassifiable genius. In the book of disquiet, pessoa came as close as he would to autobiography. Reading the book of disquiet by fernando pessoa as it appeared on the 2002 world librarys greatest books of all time list. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. Pessoas achievement, deliberate or inadvertent, is to show how the. The hardcover is fat and dense, and the text is, like a drug. Sitting at his desk, bernardo soares imagined himself free forever of rua dos douradores, of his boss vasques, of moreira the bookkeeper, of all the other employees, the errand boy, the post boy, even the cat. The book of disquiet fernando pessoa elif the reader. Similar books to the book of disquiet penguin modern classics. When i first encountered disquiet, i felt like laundry the book. Written over the course of fernando pessoas life, it was first published in 1982, pieced together from the thousands of individual manuscript pages left behind by pessoa after his death in 1935. The book of disquiet is the weirdest autobiography ever electric. This fragmentary novel was published 47 years after the death of 20thcentury portuguese author and poet fernando pessoa. Left on disordered scraps of paper in a trunk, the fragments that make up the book of disquiet have no fixed sequence, and therefore each reader must make out of them a different text.
May 30, 2002 the book of disquiet ebook written by fernando pessoa. However, be forewarned, this is not a book that should be picked up with the idea of light reading in mind. The book of disquiet was various books yet ultimately one book. I can say that the book of disquiet is the most dangerous book i have ever read. Andre aciman would like to demote virginia woolf from the. And what of lesserknown works things like the rings of saturn or bluets or nono boy or the book of disquiet. In a novel almost entirely stripped of plot and secondary. May 31, 2018 the book of disquiet is the work of someone who knows himself well, and cares only about reaching a kind of existential purity.
Shakespeare seemed like a given, but how to choose between hamlet and the sonnets, between a midsummer nights dream and king lear. Left an orphan by fortune, i wanted like all orphansto be the object of someones affection. Aug 29, 2017 the book of disquiet is caught up in the steady drumbeat of ordinary life and all its detritus. Explore free books, like the victory garden, and more browse now. One section describes how the office boy left today, the phrase repeated. Rabih alameddine describes pessoas work, the book of disquiet, as one of lifes. The book of disquiet is one of the great literary works of the twentieth century. The book of disquiet is a diary, but of a self that is several and precarious, and always more potential than actual. Oct 16, 2010 there are flashes of sly humour, too, moments when the book of disquiet reads like an existential diary of a nobody. Im the gap between what id like to be and what others have made of me.
It grieved me that i was treated with indifference. Soares himself, in the only moment of being seen from the outside, looks like. Dangerous books are rarely encountered in ones literary life. Great quotes from the book of disquiet exploring your mind. The book of disquiet penguin classics 9780141183046 by pessoa, fernando and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. It is in the book of disquiettranslated, beautifully, by margaret jull costathat pessoa found himself most truly. The book of disquiet is the weirdest autobiography ever. An autobiography or diary containing exquisite melancholy observations, aphorisms, and ruminations, this classic work grapples with all the eternal questions. The book of disquiet stays with you, doesnt want to be consumed all in a rush. The book is an aggregation of disparate diary entries that are abstract, dense, and at times, eccentric. The complete edition from the worlds largest community of readers. This wonderful text is considered fernando pessoas best book of prose and was published after his death. The book of disquiet sat on my shelf for at least a year before i took it down, sometime in february.
252 695 369 51 415 1337 826 1226 852 683 292 411 752 400 739 582 1085 602 290 827 1515 1489 1278 1508 1374 521 456 1084 1187 99 436 933 1264 1008 591 981 673 386