The Book of Disquiet (Penguin Modern Classics)
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Review
"This superb edition of The Book of Disquiet is . . . a masterpiece." --John Lanchester, The Daily Telegraph
"Pessoa's rapid prose, snatched in flight and restlessly suggestive, remains haunting, often startling. . . . There is nobody like him." --W. S. Merwin, The New York Review of Books
"Extraordinary . . . a haunting mosaic of dreams, autobiographical vignettes, shards of literary theory and criticism and maxims." --George Steiner, The Observer
"I plan to use this book every year in my course at Yale. Thanks for making it available." --K. David Jackson, Yale University
"Pessoa's rapid prose, snatched in flight and restlessly suggestive, remains haunting, often startling. . . . There is nobody like him." --W. S. Merwin, The New York Review of Books
"Extraordinary . . . a haunting mosaic of dreams, autobiographical vignettes, shards of literary theory and criticism and maxims." --George Steiner, The Observer
"I plan to use this book every year in my course at Yale. Thanks for making it available." --K. David Jackson, Yale University
John Gray, New Statesman, 28 May 2001
'. . . readers of Zenith's edition will find it supersedes all others in its delicacy of style, rigorous scholarship...'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
I was born in a time when the majority of young people had lost faith in God, for the same reason their elders had had it - without knowing why. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I was born in a time when the majority of young people had lost faith in God, for the same reason their elders had had it - without knowing why. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Fernando Pessoa remains one of the most enigmatic writers of the 20th Century. Thanks to the recovery of a trunk, full of unpublished manuscripts, and the recognition of the poet's genius, we are slowly beginning to build up a picture of his marvellous universe. Thanks especially to Richard Zenith.
For those familiar with Kierkegaard will recognise the idea of using a false personage to write a piece. In Kierkegaard's case, his numerous alter egos were ways of articulating a subtle and sophisticated truth of our condition. Pessoa, in an imaginary world, read Kierkegaard and went one step further. He invented not just masks (pseudonyms) to write through but gave up authorship to his 'heteronyms', partial personalities who existed with some autonomy and distance from Pessoa himself and had very different views and experiences of life.
Bernando Soares, the eponymous author of The Book of Disquiet, a book-keeper in Lisbon, records his observations of everyday life as if we were walking through an art gallery. He takes a simple gesture, a familiar place and transforms it magically into something more.
It is not a book of desolation (as one reviewer would have it). It is full of delight, mystery and wonder.
Thoroughly recommended.
For those familiar with Kierkegaard will recognise the idea of using a false personage to write a piece. In Kierkegaard's case, his numerous alter egos were ways of articulating a subtle and sophisticated truth of our condition. Pessoa, in an imaginary world, read Kierkegaard and went one step further. He invented not just masks (pseudonyms) to write through but gave up authorship to his 'heteronyms', partial personalities who existed with some autonomy and distance from Pessoa himself and had very different views and experiences of life.
Bernando Soares, the eponymous author of The Book of Disquiet, a book-keeper in Lisbon, records his observations of everyday life as if we were walking through an art gallery. He takes a simple gesture, a familiar place and transforms it magically into something more.
It is not a book of desolation (as one reviewer would have it). It is full of delight, mystery and wonder.
Thoroughly recommended.
48 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I happened upon "The Book of Disquiet" quite by accident in a branch of Waterstones close to where I work, and thought I would pick it up, not really expecting anything momentous from it. After I had spent the first day with it I realised I had been very wrong indeed.
What Pessoa has accomplished is a kind of anti-bible. "The Book of Disquiet" is a hymn to defeatism, obscurity and monotony. Far from being anyone's worst idea of what to write a book about, it is instead a truthful, often painful portrayal of the commonality of all human experience.
It is in my opinion and experience quite unparalled in its insight and ruthless honesty. Utterly unlike anything else in the medium, "The Book of Disquiet" will continue to reverberate long after most works masquerading as "literature" are so many worthless collections of words.
What Pessoa has accomplished is a kind of anti-bible. "The Book of Disquiet" is a hymn to defeatism, obscurity and monotony. Far from being anyone's worst idea of what to write a book about, it is instead a truthful, often painful portrayal of the commonality of all human experience.
It is in my opinion and experience quite unparalled in its insight and ruthless honesty. Utterly unlike anything else in the medium, "The Book of Disquiet" will continue to reverberate long after most works masquerading as "literature" are so many worthless collections of words.
47 of 55 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It's hard to say anything about this book. it's a book that you must read at a certain point, or points, in your life. For me, it's like a cup of cocoa, a nightcap, an antidote. At other times (the wrong times), it's like a suicide pact, a kiss goodbye - all the most pointless thoughts I ever had, justified. This isn't a book to read from beginning to end. That would not work. Instead, it sneaks into ones' subconciousness,twisting and dragging you down(if that is the state the reader is verging on) or up(if that is the state the reader is aiming for). Within all its' 'disquiet', I found an affirmation of life, that, despite all the protestations of the futility of everything, hje still found the time to write. He still found the desire to spread the message that undoubtably, he felt he had to say. And this is where the negativity loses its' push. This is where we find the true Pessoa. He did not want you think that you wanted to die. He did not want you to think that life was futile.He did not want you to go down. All he wanted was for people to see the other side of the fence. The side you are afraid to even LOOK over. Although a consistantly ignored writer as far as English speaking readers are concerned,his desperation of the human state remains universal. So does mine; but at least he's made me laugh at it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Dark Philosophical Fragments Upon Which to Muse
I read this book a few years back now but still take it off the bookshelf from time to time to remind myself of its rich, majestic ideas and faultless prose. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Lesley Tingle
DISQUIET - The inability to find contentment, solace or meaning in our...
Most works of fiction and non fiction celebrate and propagate success! Success in your chosen profession. Success in the amount of money you make. Read more
Published 9 months ago by ajay
Drivel
Imagine Sue Townsend had begun writing Adrian Mole & then suddenly had a massive sense of humour bypass. Now you have some idea what a terrible load of drivel this is. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Crispy
The Book of Disquiet
Doing a review on Fernando Pessoa is extremely difficult, or better it is not absolute possible caught up in words his 72 fictive identities, they posses distinct temperaments,... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mr. Italo Perazzoli
Drivel
I very rarely give up on a book, but after slogging through 100 pages of this I had to throw in the towel. Boring, pretentious, often nonsensical... Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2010 by I. Hingle
A disappointing fragment
Unfortunately I do not agree with the positive reviews of this book. I am disappointed by the fragmentary nature of the book, most of which are stray thoughts noted down by the... Read more
Published on 8 Aug 2009 by C. J. Eales
the best book ive ever read
This is a difficult book to describe. It isnt a story and doesnt really have any plot or theme. This is like reading the journals of a madman and a genius and a poet rolled into... Read more
Published on 17 April 2009 by Dennis B. Jewell
the literary hand
To give you an example of Pessoa's thinking: on one solitary page of The Book of Disquiet the author remarks that there is nothing more difficult, it is said, to describe a spiral... Read more
Published on 26 Oct 2008 by Mr. D. Ahmed
Nothing else I've ever read comes close
This is not a great work of fiction, so look elsewhere if that's what you want. What this book is is quite simply the most honest description of the human condition I've ever read... Read more
Published on 18 April 2008 by concerned
A necessary poison
For me, to write is self-deprecating, and yet I can't quit doing it. Writing is like a drug I abhor and keep taking, the addiction I despise and depend on. Read more
Published on 13 July 2007 by G Iozzi
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