Quotes from the book of disquiet by fernando pessoa. Ever in actions dream, in the false stress of purposed action never set to be. Full text of fernando pessoa as english reader and writer. Subtitled a factless autobiography, it purports to be the writings of bernardo soares,an assistant bookkeeper in a fabrics company in downtown lisbon. Today, during one of those periods of daydreaming which, though devoid of either purpose or dignity, still constitute the greater part of the spiritual substance of my life, i imagined myself free forever of rua dos douradores, of my boss vasques, of.
But the book of disquiet, made up of hundreds of short texts that constitute a sort. Fernando pessoa describes his work the book of disquiet as being an autobiography lacking facts. The book of disquiet is the portuguese modernist master fernando pessoas greatest literary achievement. Fernando pessoa 18881935 was born in lisbon and brought up in durban, south africa. Like a fierce beast selfpenned in a baitlair, my will to act binds with excess my action. Published posthumously, the book of disquiet is a fragmentary lifetime project, left unedited by the author, who introduced it as a factless autobiography.
If all this sounds rather vague then that is because pessoa wished it so. The complete edition by pessoa, fernando, jull costa, margaret from amazons fiction books store. Full text of fernando pessoa as english reader and writer see other formats. There is thus no single author of this version of the book of disquiet, which is in truth a palimpsest of the various voices of narrator bernardo soares, writer fernando pessoa, translator margaret jull costa, and editor jeronimo pizarro, giving rise to a rich and unique configuration of the book. 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. Future editors, as obsessed as they are with completionism, included more than the author intended sometimes depending on the version. Livro do desassossego fernando pessoa pages 301 350. It is sometimes said that the four greatest portuguese poets of modern times are fernando pessoa.
On that morning the sky was balm, a pale and whitish blue. In this occasion, brazil, among other 190 countries, signed a pact in which they would commit themselves to achieve the goals. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Richard zenith lives in lisbon, where he works as a freelance writer, translator and critic. 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. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg.
A prolific writer, ascribing his work to a variety of personas or heteronyms, pessoa published little in his lifetime and supported himself by working as a commercial translator. A modernist masterwork that has now taken on a similar iconic status to ulysses, the trial or in search of lost time, fernando pessoas the book of disquiet is edited and translated with an introduction by richard zenith in penguin modern classics. The book of disquiet by fernando pessoa translated from the portuguese this remarkable book consists of 476 separate notes written between 19 and 1934 the year before pessoa died. An assembly of sometimes linked fragments, it is a mesmerising, haunting novel without parallel in any other culture. The book of disquiet, written by fernando pessoa, a portuguese poet, is considered an early classic of existential writing. Buy the book of disquiet penguin modern classics new ed by pessoa, fernando, zenith, richard isbn. This fragmentary novel was published 47 years after the death of 20thcentury portuguese author and poet fernando pessoa. He wrote of holding inside himself all the dreams of the world and wanting to experience the whole of the universe its reality inside himself. Imagination, reality and the pleasure of masking and dreaming rodica grigore1 the portuguese writer fernando pessoa complicates the idea of fictionality, by underscoring the fact that the personality of soares the fictional author of the book of disquiet is neither his own nor com.
Pessoa was mostly a poet and the book of disquiet can be read, if you wish, as a series of notes for poems as yet unwritten. Was 18 march 1914 the most extraordinary date in modern literature. The book of disquiet penguin classics pessoa, fernando, zenith, richard, zenith, richard on. Im always speaking banally to someone, with a contrived smile on my face. Pessoas book does give few concrete facts about the writer or the world of the writer. There are flashes of sly humour, too, moments when the book of disquiet reads like an existential diary of a nobody.
Im always out in the evenings doing something, the purpose of which eludes me. When i should be asleep to mine own voice in telling thee how much thy loves my dream, i find me listening to myself. The book of disquiet by fernando pessoa online literature. Even if there is not a soul here your dazzling light even if time forgot you nothing needs to change even if you lose sight of oneself. To read and then contemplate him is to be lifted a little bit above the earth in a floating bubble. Thus in the prose of carlyle or of ruskin, or of jenny taylor there are fine passages of poetry poetically coloured. Livro do desassossego the book of disquiet, fernando pessoa the book of disquiet is a work by the portuguese author fernando pessoa 18881935. His translations include galicianportuguese troubadour poetry, novels by antnio lobo antunes and fernando pessoa and co. Buy book of disquiet by fernand pessoa from waterstones today. Fall 2015 283 thedocument thatfollowsthisintroduction is titled fernandopessoa and,untilthediscoveryofthejennings literaryestate,had no knownauthor.
An autobiography or diary containing exquisite melancholy observations, aphorisms, and ruminations, this classic work grapples with all the eternal questions. 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. Disquiet refers to a feeling of anxiety, and this story has plenty of unease for both its narrator and readers. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Tank speaks to the artist about her gestural, abstract paintings and why she sees herself as racially multiple ed fornieles. They stood before the great gateway, all around an empty and open countryside, ugly countryside, flat mudploughed fields. The book of disquiet by fernando pessoa librarything.
My worst sorrows have evaporated when ive opened the window on to the street of my dreams and forgotten myself in what i. The statement is possible since pessoa, whose name means person in portuguese, had three alter egos who wrote in styles completely different from his own. 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. It is probably difficult to separate the part each of them had in the origin of the movement, and certainly quite useless to determine it. Perhaps the most occult writer of the twentieth century and the one who best lived up to rimbauds dictum about becoming a medium was fernando pessoa. The book of disquiet is a hodgepodge of different fragmentary ideas, and though there is some editorial freedom in such a concept, fernando pessoa did include some notes on which parts he wanted. It is written by character senhor soares, who is assumed to be an alter ego for pessoa. The first installation of the book of disquiet which includes the preface and notes 15 well, the first of what will likely be hundreds of installments. Smashwords about fernado pessoa, author of 35 sonnets.
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