October 16th, 2009 / 7:49 am
Excerpts
Christopher Higgs
Excerpts
Fernando Pessoa
Man shouldn’t be able to see his own face – there’s nothing more sinister. Nature gave him the gift of not being able to see it, and of not being able to stare into his own eyes.
Only in the water of rivers and ponds could he look at his face. And the very posture he had to assume was symbolic. He had to bend over, stoop down, to commit the ignominy of beholding himself.
The inventor of the mirror poisoned the human heart.
–from The Book of Disquiet
Tags: fernando pessoa, the book of disquiet
christopher higgs! isn’t fernando pessoa a ‘realist’?
christopher higgs! isn’t fernando pessoa a ‘realist’?
ha. ‘realist’ my ass. F.P’s the undisputed king of meta.
ha. ‘realist’ my ass. F.P’s the undisputed king of meta.
Can anyone recommend a translation?
Can anyone recommend a translation?
Penguin put together a really great primer/selection:
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Larger-Than-Entire-Universe/dp/0143039555/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255705616&sr=1-2
It was edited and translated by Richard Zenith (what a last name!). It’s a great place to start.
Penguin put together a really great primer/selection:
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Larger-Than-Entire-Universe/dp/0143039555/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255705616&sr=1-2
It was edited and translated by Richard Zenith (what a last name!). It’s a great place to start.
did anyone elses soul explode after reading that exerpt?
did anyone elses soul explode after reading that exerpt?
Great excerpt. But couldn’t he also see his refection in someone else’s eyes? And in unintentionally polished rocks?
Great excerpt. But couldn’t he also see his refection in someone else’s eyes? And in unintentionally polished rocks?
haaa
haaa
Hey Matthew,
No, I don’t consider Pessoa a “realist” — as I understand his entire project, “realism” would be the antithesis of his objective.
He delighted in creating multiple personalities, in destabilizing the totalizing idea of “reality” — whereas realists tend to believe that reality exists and can be mimicked or transcribed in literature, Pessoa did not. His was a career of multiplying realities, inventing realities, proliferating multiple realities.
Not to mention the enormous role that dream plays in his work. In addition to the multiple realities argument, I’m certain someone could argue (or maybe/probably already has argued) that Pessoa’s work is all dreamscape.
But your comment did give me a smile. It was as if you thought you had caught me with my hand in the cookie jar. :)
Hey Matthew,
No, I don’t consider Pessoa a “realist” — as I understand his entire project, “realism” would be the antithesis of his objective.
He delighted in creating multiple personalities, in destabilizing the totalizing idea of “reality” — whereas realists tend to believe that reality exists and can be mimicked or transcribed in literature, Pessoa did not. His was a career of multiplying realities, inventing realities, proliferating multiple realities.
Not to mention the enormous role that dream plays in his work. In addition to the multiple realities argument, I’m certain someone could argue (or maybe/probably already has argued) that Pessoa’s work is all dreamscape.
But your comment did give me a smile. It was as if you thought you had caught me with my hand in the cookie jar. :)
i have been meaning to read this for ages.
i like the extract.
i think i’ll finally read it.
i have been meaning to read this for ages.
i like the extract.
i think i’ll finally read it.
Mi Michael,
I have the 1998 Exact Change edition, translated by Alfred Mac Adam — I like most everything Exact Change produces, so I’m happy with it.
I haven’t gotten the Penguin edition David Peak mentions below, but I have heard good things about it.
Mi Michael,
I have the 1998 Exact Change edition, translated by Alfred Mac Adam — I like most everything Exact Change produces, so I’m happy with it.
I haven’t gotten the Penguin edition David Peak mentions below, but I have heard good things about it.
word to pessoa
word to pessoa
He’s right.
He’s right.
sections like this are why it, along with The Unnamable, is my bible.
this is the best version of it: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Disquiet-Penguin-Classics/dp/0141183047
sections like this are why it, along with The Unnamable, is my bible.
this is the best version of it: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Disquiet-Penguin-Classics/dp/0141183047
This book punched me in the gut so many times.
It’s my favorite.
I keep it next to my bed.
This book punched me in the gut so many times.
It’s my favorite.
I keep it next to my bed.
oh snap!
oh snap!
i picked up both translations with naive hope that the two would mate and produce a whole batch of little book of disquiets that i could then sell and give away and thus add a little more goodness and truth to the world.
i picked up both translations with naive hope that the two would mate and produce a whole batch of little book of disquiets that i could then sell and give away and thus add a little more goodness and truth to the world.
excerpts of the richard zenith edition can be read here:
http://heheheheheheheeheheheehehe.com/2007/12/book-of-disquiet-by-fernando-pessoa.html
i like the richard zenith edition, it contains more than the other ones i think
excerpts of the richard zenith edition can be read here:
http://heheheheheheheeheheheehehe.com/2007/12/book-of-disquiet-by-fernando-pessoa.html
i like the richard zenith edition, it contains more than the other ones i think
Yes. Or fractured slightly. I could have been a saint if not for mirrors!
Yes. Or fractured slightly. I could have been a saint if not for mirrors!
See this, too – a Pessoa “notebook that never was”:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/article.html?id=237752
See this, too – a Pessoa “notebook that never was”:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/article.html?id=237752
from entry 377 of the original 1982 publishing by Atica:
“Anyone reading the earlier part of this book will doubtless have formed the opinion that I’m a dreamer. If so, they’re wrong.”
from entry 377 of the original 1982 publishing by Atica:
“Anyone reading the earlier part of this book will doubtless have formed the opinion that I’m a dreamer. If so, they’re wrong.”