Man I almost hesitate to reveal this but I did some time in LA county jail and one of the only people I got along with had a copy of this book. He left it with me and after reading it I went back to it anytime I felt like I was going to crumble under the pressure in there. The passages flowed like silk through the dry caverns of my hollow mind. In a place cold and oppressive, Pessoa brought me outside of the walls by gnawing at the pulp of my soul. I felt understood.
Pessoa helped me in times of sorrow, but your story relates to mine in the terms of my stay in a psycho ward after one of my suicide atempts, in my case was dostoyevski´s work that elevated me behind that place and gave me wings to fly into the sun, maybe to close. Being portuguese we study pessoa´s work, but we don´t really read it until we are prepared to live the "fado" of live. Literature is saving my life day by day. Thanks for your story!
Because of your recommendation, I bought The Book of Disquiet, and A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe, a collection of Pessoa’s poetry. Then I got a flight over to Lisbon, visited Pessoa’s home (which is now a gorgeous wee museum and library) and walked the streets, composing a few bits of poetry. I also sat and drank a coke in his favourite Cafe. Sadly, never got to Sintra, but I’ll be going back. Thanks for that, Mr Sargent. Andrew.
If there is one thing I'm grateful for having been born in Brasil is that I can read Pessoa, Saramago, Clarice Lispector, Guimarães Rosa, Valter Hugo Mãe and tons of other great writers in this beautiful mother tongue of mine...
I'm a native Spanish speaker who studied linguistics, also French from an early age and I can say that am as well equipped to read your great Literature exponents in Portuguese. :P
We have many great poets. Unfortunately they tend to be better known in Portugal, Brazil, the Portuguese language countries and by those more interested about Portuguese literature. Here is my pick: 1. Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) 2. José Régio (1901-1969) 3. Mário de Sá-Carneiro (1890-1916) 4. Jorge de Sena (1919-1978) All of them deserved to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, but I think José Régio and Jorge de Sena were the only nominated.
I read this book sparingly, mostly because it's too good to finish in one go. So I savor it and carry it with me only when I'm travelling. Another reason is that Pessoa's thoughts rattle me to the core. Some of his entries ring so true to my identity, that I often feel unreal; as if I have been imagined by Pessoa himself. The Book of Disquiet is aptly named. I will, no doubt, be reading it over and over again for years to come.
I felt the same when reading it. Pessoa's writing and thoughts made me question my reality, and it literally made me depressed, that I had to read something zany, and humorous on the side to sort of balance out my reading experience. This book is not for the faint of heart.
I had to sift through a sea of young booktubers reviewing Twilight and other YA fantasy to finally find someone with Marquis de Sade on his desk. Great book, interesting video. Definitely subscribed.
BookTube is a platform for everybody.And, because of these young BookTubers who read/review YA fiction we have now BookTube as a Community. And as a BookTuber who read Pessoa i am grateful for them.
I found this book in a bookshop today. opened it on three separate pages on complete random and read 1 sentence from each- That was all I needed to know that I not only have to read this book but that everyone should read it.
I know Pessoa mainly as a poet. I still haven't read The Book of Disquiet, this review reminded me to finally go for it. If you want to read some of Pessoa's fantastic poetry, I recommend you get this selection: Fernando Pessoa & Co. Selected Poems. Translated by Richard Zenith. Published by Grove Pr. It's one of my most praised books. I've been reading and re-reading it for years. Here's one he wrote as Fernando Pessoa: I'm sorry I don't respond But it isn't, after all, my fault That I don't correspond To the other you loved in me. Each of us is many persons. To me I'm who I think I am, But others see me differently And are equally mistaken. Don't dream me into someone else But leave me alone, in peace! If I don't want to find myself, Should I want others to find me?
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As a portuguese, it makes me so happy when people talk about Fernando Pessoa. I love Sintra :) Love your videos. Keep doing them if you can!
@@arthurplatinnifernandesgue1795 Como assim? A obra dele, embora seja universal, está tão entrelaçada com o seu país que seria impossível não saberem que Pessoa é português.
@@arthurplatinnifernandesgue1795 Incorrer no erro de pensar que Pessoa era brasileiro continua a ser uma grosseria; um "brasileiro" que não escreveu quase nada sobre o Brasil.
Great review. Actually, Fernando Pessoa only published a single book during his lifetime ("Message") in 1934, just one year before he died. He had been publishing some of his poems in magazines, like the pivotal modernist journal "Orpheu". All the rest has been posthumously published, from the exhumation of the 25.000 handwritten pages included in the 3 famous trunks. The Book of Disquiet is not really a book. There aren't any indications left by Pessoa about its intended sequence and structure, only the hints left by Bernardo Soares and Vicente Guedes semi-heteronyms. It was first published in 1982 and there are still editoral wars concerning which edition reflects a more coherent take on assembling the fragments. Anyway, since there are no starting nor ending point, you may read it randomly. Its a disturbing, deep, chaotic and beautiful work of of art. Pretty much like Pessoa's universe was.
If you liked the "book of disquiet" I would leave you a suggestion. There is a prodigious writer who will be, after her death, a cult author. This writer is Agustina Bess-Luís. She managed to create a new, unique, writing where she combines the aphorism and a torrential narrative about the nature of their characters. In her narrative she reveals unsettling truths and a psychological analysis of an acuity taken to extremes. She is an extremely ironic author, who goes unnoticed in the media because she inspires fear. She reveals truths in her books about human nature that are taken as coming from a wicked, dangerous and prophetic women. This partly explains why people are resisting in reading her books. She is ahead of its time, but it is indisputable that she will be part of the great authors, time will tell. Maybe she will gain the Nobel Prize, who knows?! before she dies. Their main influences are Dostoyevsky, Soren Kierkegaard and Kafka. Her most translated and known book is “the Sibyl”. In her books she covers everything, power, sex, humiliation, vanity, hatred in a powerful and disconcerting way.
Justin Case noooooo. I did not enjoy that book, at all. To be fair, I was 14 or 15 when I had to read it (for school), maybe if I read it now I might enjoy it but Portuguese literature has so much to offer... I prefer Saramago!!
She is the greatest writer I have ever come across and I say that as an English speaker/reader who has had to hunt high and low for years to find what little of her work I could that has actually been translated into English. One of the most consistent oversights in all of translation, especially as she has been translated into so many other languages. Yet I try to console myself by remembering that it took almost 500 years to get an English translation of Bernardim Ribeiro's classic work "Menina e moça" (aka "Maiden and Modest"), so I guess she hasn't been all that badly neglected after all. Anyway, until there are some substantial English translations of Agustina (something I gather which is actually and finally being worked on) I would recommend that Cliff takes up the recently translated "Geography of Rebels" trilogy, the magnum opus of the similarly great Maria Gabriela Llansol.
Fernando Pessoa it's one of my favorite authors, and it is so satisfying to see you speaking about him in a way that shows that you actually research about it. Fernando Pessoa have not just write precious books and poems, but had a life that makes everything else even more surreal! Thank you so much for the video, your channel it's now one of me favorites, I love how u express yourself! Great job ❤️
I remember how my mind was blow in HS when I learned about Fernando Pessoa, I couldn't comprehend how someone could create such complex personalities and styles. Alberto Carneiro is my favourite persona of his and I recommend you give it a go.
Thank you for sharing the works of Fernando Pessoa. I’ve only recently found him myself and it’s been mesmerizing. “ I’m not rich enough to be a dreamer thus I always feel like I’m on the verge of waking up”
As a result of your review I picked this up and was totally blown away by it! Thanks so much for the recommendation. I just wrapped up a book chat and didn't forget to give you credit for introducing me to this work of genius :) Thanks again!
Interesting review.... I just got my copy on Amazon for my Kindle Oasis.... I read a bit, then I have to put it down, as Fernando Pessoa's mind is so much to digest. My brain can't take it for too long, then after awhile, I go back to it... hauntingly beautifully thought out and written...xo
I just found your channel, this is the second video I've watched and made me subscribe. Being portuguese I was always aware of Pessoa's existence and studied some of his poetry in school.. Álvaro de Campos is my favorite of his heteronyms. Last year I've read The Book of Disquiet and I have been telling everyone to read it. As you said, it's the most beautiful sad book I've ever read. It's the only book I couldn't stop underlining and marking the pages. Your review makes me want to read it again.
ive read it in parts several times, it dosent have a beginning or ending so you can start reading it at the end and go back, it has a kafka feel to it, and its a experience to think about for sure.
Thank you for this beautiful review! To be honest i've never had a favorite author or a book but after reading just a few pages of this book i was mesmerized, i love this book so much.
Pessoa was so complex that thru his words and different 'selves' each one of us, humanity, is laid bare, revealed, and reborn. The man was simply put, a literary genius!
This might be my favorite review yet. I identified so much with the passages you read that it's quite worrying actually... I've never read anything by Pessoa but I will definitely get this one now.
I'm brazilian and I've been reading this book for years. I haven't finish it yet but I also have got back tons of time to pages and quotes that are remarkable for me. Fernando Pessoa is my favorite author and this is my favorite book, for sure.
I'm Portuguese, grew up, live and work in Sintra and studied in Lisbon. Thank you for talking about one of my country's national treasures :) I'm new to your channel, so I don't know if your familiar with Camões, but if you liked Pessoa, try reading his "Mensagem" in parallel with Camões' Os Lusíadas. Its something we study in highschool here, and I find quite interesting.
Its great, I love hiking in the woods which is a great way for burning the calories from all the pastries we have here :) And as you mention Sintra is full of literary references: Lord Byron, Milton, H. C. Andersen, Camões, Dante, Eça de Queirós. This time of the year, which is the low-season tourism wise, all the kids are doing field-trips to the palaces and places they read about at school. We have this fountain at the edge of town called Fonte da Sabuga which, according to legend, if you drink from it, you'll never want to leave Sintra. I don't know if someday i'll move out, but i have drank from it...
João Varanda All it took for me was getting lost under Quinta de regaleira and I was infatuated (ginja at Byron’s bar helped). Yes, your food is astounding. Would you meet up and show us around when we return?
I heard of Pessoa some time ago. It wasn't until I found an edition of The Book of Disquiet mis-shelved in a local book store that I made the purchase and went home to read. Thank you for, at the very least, indicating through your review that I am not alone in my confusion and fascination with this staggering and oblique genius.
What a delight finding this channel. As a Brazilian, it's nice to see Pessoa is that known and admired outside of the Lusosphere. I actually have the book on my shelf, never got the courage to open it. Will do now.
hey... you consistently review books that have formed my image of the world. This is intended as a celebration of your taste. From a fellow reader. cheers!
Hey man I just wanted to thank you so much for this recommendation because without it, who knows how long it would have taken for me to have known about it's existence. I was having a hard time deciding what 2 audiobooks to download for free for my audible trial and combing through your channel I remembered being highly interested and intrigued by Book of Disquiet, and Pessoa as a writer in general. So I grabbed The Book of Disquiet and man, so far it's been super thought-provoking, altogether very funny, very perceptive, sometimes heartbreaking but not overly dramatic on the sadness. He can have you laughing out loud from sheer observational finesse, then the next "entry" is a punch to your heart, him writing about the very early loss of both his mother and father. It's pretty incredible how engaging the writing is considering it's mostly just the inner musings of a man writing about going to work as a bookkeeper, coming home and writing, visiting a café occassionally. His observations on just the plain condition of existence, of being an "existing animal", the tensions and give-and-take, the imperfections and constantly shifting mood and feelings about things. I get the feeling this is the introvert's bible lol. Either way, I'm enjoying it especially as this is my first go at listening to an entire audioook. The only downside so far with the medium of an audiobook is that I will go on a thought tangent about a concept while listening, and as a result miss a bunch of sentences completely. So that's kind of a bummer because with a book I can easily just take a pause and think about whatever, then return to where I stopped. But other than that, it's certainly allowing me to have a vivid image painted to me, it's kinda nice to have a story read to you. Anyway, onward I tread. Thanks for all the hard work my friend!
That's the look of a man that have is first awareness of the Book of Disquiet. If this is a book (maybe it's not even a book, it's some strange piece of art with only one specimen), it's most than likely the best book ever writen. But you can't even compare it with any book. It's something diferent
One of the advantages of being Portuguese is that I get to read this in my native language. It's a book that I have no idea if I have read it all or there is something missing as I have never read it in cronological order. It just sits on my shelve and every now and again I just open it randomly to read one paragraph or 50 pages and it's always good and perfect and inspiring and bittersweet and yes, for people who want to be a writer it can be a heartbroker as Pessoa is one of those writers that set the standards really high and it humbles you as you realise that you will never write something with so much clarity, precision, fluency of words and thoughts that have layers over layers of meaning all capable of triggering life changing ephiphanies in your mind.
One of his poems appeared on the portuguese national exam this year, and I was incredibly relieved that it ended up being from Alberto Caero since he was the one I was the most familiarized with. Had it been from any of his other heteronyms I'm positive it wouldn't have gone as smoothly.
As far as I remember from my teen years reading Pessoa, most of his bitterness came to be after his wife and kid died of Spanish flu in a final sequence that threw his soul into complete loneliness and sorrow. Btw, I was so happy that I found him in my teen years and also we share the same favourite dishes, the "dobrada" literally stomach of beef stew. Ps: I am writing from my wife's account, I am Brazilian and was blissed to read Pessoa in the original
This book changed my life. "Vivir es ser otro", which from spanish to english, I think it translates to: "To live, is to be another". It was remarkable to me to feel such a lonely person be so willing to be in another's conscience, to be able to be others just seeing. He embodied empathy without considering himself a man that took action. I would recommend his ode "Salute to Walt Whitman", which Pessoa signed with the Heteronym Alberto Caeiro. Pessoa, considered Whitman to be the person who freed him in his early days as as writer, especially when he had an epiphany reading Whitman's words: "Do I contradict myself? / Very well then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes)".
Love from Portugal. I really enjoyed your review of our greatest poet. If you want to read more portuguese authors I recommend José Saramago, our only Nobel prize winner. Some of his books require knowledge of portuguese culture and literature to fully understand. But book like Blindness or Death with Interruptions are incredible and I think you would like them. I personally love them. Congrats for this amazing channel. Sorry if my English isn't the best.
I know it's been 9 years but I feel like I should say this. The Book of Disquiet does not come from different heteronyms. It comes from a single semi-heteronym, Bernardo Soares. Pessoa called him "semi" because he says Soares had the closest personality to Pessoa's. If the fragments came from different heteronyms it would be easily noticeable, since the heteronyms have very distinct personalities.
I'm portuguese and i'm studying Pessoa. This was the best review that i've seen to this masterpiece. I don't Know if you ha've read one Álvaro de Campos, one of Pessoa's "personas", if you don't Please do, it's sublime.
Congratulations on your courage to read this book. As a native (Brazilian) Portuguese speaker, I know he is incredibly complex in my native tongue, not to say in another language.
Consider me proof of success because those were some wonderful passages. And the length of the review is justified simply by that alone. Not enough people are willing to make enough nonsense over books these days. Well, that's extreme statement. But very happy to know about Fernando Pessoa and Book of Disquiet, thank you.
this is the first video of yours that I've watched (about to watch one of your more recent videos on Rachel Cusk because I loved Outline, & then will see where the night takes me), but i'm already jumping to Patreon to become a patron. regarding The Book of Disquiet, I noticed you read the Penguin Classics edition (translated & edited by Richard Zenith). have you read the New Directions edition (translated by Margaret Jull Costa, edited by Jeronimo Pizarro) since this video? outside of the obvious discrepancies typically found in a translator's intentions & style, the ND edition attempts to piece together Pessoa's fragments in chronological order. I just ordered the Zenith version & plan on reading that one as soon as next week, despite finishing the Jull Costa/Pizarro version just the other day. you weren't joking about finishing it & then starting back at page one. the winter months are always a difficult time for me (total cliche, I know), but Pessoa cut right into my vulnerable core & wrapped me up within his tendrils in a way that felt as though I had a reliable confidant, always just an arm's length away, who could understand many of the same internal/external struggles I have been experiencing, except w/ the ability to atomize them in a language that made me feel warmth rather than augment the oppressing cold. even before finishing the novel I've been trying to impress on my few friends that The Book of Disquiet is the best masterpiece they've never heard of. looking forward to comparing the Jull Costa/Pizarro & Zenith versions.
best channel about literature in the plataform. thank you so much. extra thanks for doing real reviews, with criticism, ideas, reflections. you bring worldwide literature, and i love your special care for autors like clarice lispector and fernando pessoa, people need to read them more. also love that you bring the feelings of the books to your behavior in the video, just as you did in this one. you have a very hard supporter here. please keep doing it! books and coffee for life!
I've always avoided book reviews, as the ones I've read before all seemed miles apart from what I felt while reading the books, and I could never personally identify to the way most critics have of perceiving them. It seemed to me they were always trying too hard to interpret and were always almost too shy to dare to feel the damn books. Now, back to the school bench, and studying Literature in French, I had to adapt to their way of doing "commentaires composés", and your reviews have been incredibly helpful and insightful, and a great way to start tackling books under a new perspective (even if doing so in English may be kind of cheating). I cannot thank you enough, not only for reconciling me with book reviews, but by also helping me write better commentaires composés. A review on The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, by Saramago, maybe? That'd be almost annoyingly awesome.
Another great review! Here are some recommendations: The Catcher in the Rye, Quiet Days at Clichy, Fight Club, The Stranger, The Dharma Bums. Keep up the good work (please)
The full John Waters quote. Genius, Mr S. I was given the colorful covered hardback for this past year's Birthday, on 23 December, and absolutely LOVE the book and 'review'.
There's nothing quite like writing something profound while thinking to yourself, "I have no idea what I'm saying." I must get this book ... and maybe pull my trunk full of old manuscripts and writings out of my closet? Perhaps it's time to fill it with new scribblings.
sometimes i feel like our poets and writers aren't valued enough because we, in Portugal, don't value them enough. we have briliant writers but sometimes i feel like reading them demands a lot of sensibility and a kind of emotional inteligence that we dont really have, or dont really show. i wish you could speak portuguese because, believe me, there are somethings you cant translate. also, i would like to recommend you something from José saramago. maybe "as intermitências da morte" (im sorry but i dont know if there is an english translation to that book) or "o memorial do convento", which i havent read yet but will have to read for school. im not recommending poetry because i dont know what has been translated and im scared of what the transalators might have done. also, if you like existentialist novels (which im assuming you do) there is a book by Vergílio Ferreira called aparição (apparition in english, probably) that is... just... beautiful.
Hey, I just discovered your channel and subscribed to it right away. Great reviews! I hope you keep it up. I'm glad that there's at least one book reviewer who can actually say something interesting and insightful about all of these great books and doesn't only read young adult/generic disposable bestseller sagas like all the other people on UA-cam. I'm currently reading John Fante's The Wine of Youth and I'm quite enjoying it. I'm also glad that you read books from authors from outside the English-speaking world; one of my main complaints about English-speaking book reviewers is that often they disregard translations as if there were no good authors outside of the USA or the UK. I'd like to recommend you Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo - probably the best Mexican novel of all time. If you have already read that, you should check out Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli - in my opinion, the most interesting mexican novelist alive as of today. They're both rather short but incredible books. Cheers from Mexico City!
Battshit Crazy I read The Book of Disquiet a few months ago and was absolutely blown away by it. I still haven't read his poetry, though; I've heard it's great too.
Javier Torres fante is great... his poetry is... great. pessoa is from kafkas generation, they all got inspired by the philosophy masters, pessoa lived in Mozambique and south africa so he read all the english german classics... the most amazing thing about the book of disquiet is you can pick it at any time, any page and start Reading and its like a horoscope its teaches you something, try it, it will always seem new, like you never had read the book before, pessoa was a mistic obcessed with astrology, horoscopes, occultism, etc he was friend with aleister crowley, he even came to lisbon to meet pessoa and do a occult black magic mass session... for example i opened the book now and it reads: ''art consists in making others feel what we feel, in releasing them from themselves, proposing our personality for that special release...''
Battshit Crazy I had never thought about reading it that way but it is a great suggestion; I already have the bad habit of reading my horoscope compulsively every time I find a magazine that may include it... might as well replace it with reading from The Book of Disquiet. Normally I prefer reading a book over watching a movie, but I do watch some every now and then. I'll check it out, man. Thanks!
Keep up the good job man, I love your videos. You are the only book reviewer on UA-cam I know of who reviews good books and isn't pretentious about it. I'd recommend you 'A personal matter' by Kenzaburo Oe.
Really hope you kept up the meditation, whatever form you do it in. Once you get comfortably skilled at it, man oh man, a full hour of meditation can put me in a sharp, golden state of mind full of resilience, calm, tranquility, quick wit, and contentedness for a whole damn week. It truly is one of the greatest tools for mental health currently known, I would say with great confidence. Also you've made me want to read this book so damn bad but I can't find it locally, I guess I'll have to order it off Amazon.
This book is quiet something to read. Sometimes I am reading one of his passages, and I don't understand him at all. That means I cannot even agree or disagree but around some of his thoughts, I feel like able to discuss with him, when the actual pleasure starts. I will certainly, during my whole life always read into this book of his thoughts here and then, because only then I feel like getting the best out of it
I'm so happy I found this review! Its one of my favorite books too. And I'll recommend you two related books: Pessoa's short story "The Anarchist Banker" (it's subversive and funny), and Saramago's "The Year Of The Death Of Ricardo Reis", in wich Saramago invents the story of Pessoa's heteronym Ricardo Reis, as if we was a real person who knew Fernando Pessoa. It's melancholic and beautiful.
this is one of my favorite books. I'm more familiar with pessoa's poetry though, particularly his poetry under the name alberto caeiro. it's llfe changing stuff. if you want to read more portuguese-language literature, I recommend the hour of the star by brazilian clarice lispector. some other brazilian greatness: barren lives by graciliano ramos, grande sertão: veredas by guimarães rosa, captains of the sand by jorge amado. there's other incredible stuff, but I don't think most of it is translated to english.
best of portuguese literrature like Samago, but also the Giant LOBO ANTUNES and the amazing Vergilio Ferreira. Wow How can Portugal, a small country produced so many great writers??
Do not forget Eça de Queirós, the best portuguese novelist, and one of the 3 great masters that the portuguese literature have. Fernando Pessoa, Luis Vaz de Camões and Eça de Queirós. Portugal did have great writers, but this 3 are way way above all the rest.
***** Sorry I don't agree with Eça, his novels are boring plain and predictable. Any low quality 19th century russian has done better. The Maias is a dull book..I did't finish it. Dont get all the fuss
nacht98 I believe you are portuguese, and you are forced to read Os maias in school. reading books in school is bad, but Os Maias is just plain murder. You don't want to read, you pick up a 800 pages book, and the first 8 pages is descriving a house, and the first 3 pages the panel by the gate in front of the house. How can someone enjoy that book? But make a favour to yourself, one of these days, pick up the book, and just read it. And while you read the book (nevermind the main story) think to yourself in any caracter, who do you think it reminbers you. And all the things they talk about, make the reboot to our days, and see the genious of the book. it just put the portuguese society in is most ridiculous and funny look. I understand people that say the book is dull, they never read it besides when they where forced to do it. in that mind yes, it's impossible to enjoy it. But the book is a masterpiece, probably the greatest masterpiece of all the novels. And still hilarious, and so much actual. It puts our country exposed to all his ridiculos forms. And nothing changed in more than 130 years!! Well... somethings changed, the dumb people don't listen to fado anymore, they listen to pimba, and the people are not dumbded down by touradas, but futebol insted, but besides some minor details, the core of it, it's still the same
Well as someone famous said "Countries don't change, people don't change" Sorry, I gave Eça a try years ago, and I can't get it. At 34 you don't need to read stuff that you don't like anymore...waste of time.
You are a really good reader of Pessoa because you know there is a large degree of fraud in our daily affairs. And you just let it play through your thoughts like, maybe, music on the radio. No harm done. I enjoyed every second of this review.
Enjoyed the review immensely. I am only 70 pages in to this extraordinary work but already I feel like this Pessoa is beyond the realm of genius. I have a week off which I've decided to use purely to read. I think - and I'm glad you mentioned something like this - I might intersperse reading this with something else (Martin Duberman's Jews Queers Germans) which is a much more surface work (well, it's a - as the book calls itself - 'novel/history'). This is not something I would ever normally do. Submerging oneself into a book is always the aim but, having had to mutlitask at university on my Comparative Literature degree, I realised one can truly do it. What are you thoughts about reading more than one book at a time - especially when it's something so profound as Pessoa?
Tudo o que não é meu, por baixo que seja, teve sempre poesia para mim. Nunca amei senão coisa nenhuma. Nunca desejei senão o que nem podia imaginar. À vida nunca pedi senão que passasse por mim sem que eu a sentisse. Do amor apenas exigi que nunca deixasse de ser um sonho longínquo.
I'm thrilled that you rewied a book by a portuguese author Cliff.So may I suggest you another one? Valter Hugo Mãe is a personal favourite of mine. Keep the great work. (Sorry for the poor english, it's not my first language.)
I can't quite recall how I came across Pessoa years ago but he captured my imagination as did Marquez years before that. I haven't finished the Book of Disquiet yet. It lies there waiting for me. Think I'll get back to it now.
The library wanted this back when I was half through. Perhaps I will try the second half. Its not a book that can be read quickly so pensive and convoluted are its thoughts. The introverted justification for abject lack of action was moribund. Forgotten pearls among shucked shells. Made me think if the Book of Leaves which had a trunk of unpublished effort too. Is it fair to compare the author with his fictional work as if his character is the same?
It's pretty ironic that out of all his writing his must quoted passage is "No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it"
he created more than 100 characters as far as i know, but im not sure if he was a virgin, because there's a book of correspondence beetween him and a lover, not sure if it was a platonic thing or not, since i havent read it yet.
You really should check out Philipp Mainlander's book "The Philosophy of Redemption" the first volume was finally translated into English; been a long time coming.
Happened upon this vid somewhat randomly tonight here in Mesopotamia while reading Antonio Lobo Antune's The Natural Order of Things, which Richard Zenith translated & who as well speaks passionately about Pessoa. Great vibe!
Hi! Have you ever read Saramago? I think you would enjoy it. If not, I would recommend Death with Interruptions. Not his most famous work, but my personal favourite. I love the humour and the fact the main character is death :)
Man I almost hesitate to reveal this but I did some time in LA county jail and one of the only people I got along with had a copy of this book. He left it with me and after reading it I went back to it anytime I felt like I was going to crumble under the pressure in there. The passages flowed like silk through the dry caverns of my hollow mind. In a place cold and oppressive, Pessoa brought me outside of the walls by gnawing at the pulp of my soul. I felt understood.
☺️ that's how I felt living in my own prison in an oppressive regime in Iran.
Pessoa helped me in times of sorrow, but your story relates to mine in the terms of my stay in a psycho ward after one of my suicide atempts, in my case was dostoyevski´s work that elevated me behind that place and gave me wings to fly into the sun, maybe to close. Being portuguese we study pessoa´s work, but we don´t really read it until we are prepared to live the "fado" of live. Literature is saving my life day by day. Thanks for your story!
This beautiful man, glad you had that experience. This resonates with me as well. Best of luck in your life friend
the comment section here is awesome, good to be around you
Thanks for sharing this awesome experience with us, best of luck brother.
Because of your recommendation, I bought The Book of Disquiet, and A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe, a collection of Pessoa’s poetry. Then I got a flight over to Lisbon, visited Pessoa’s home (which is now a gorgeous wee museum and library) and walked the streets, composing a few bits of poetry. I also sat and drank a coke in his favourite Cafe. Sadly, never got to Sintra, but I’ll be going back.
Thanks for that, Mr Sargent.
Andrew.
Wow thats amazing!! Did you ever got to see Sintra before covid?
So Wholesome
Only reading this comment has wamred my heart. So nice you could pursue such a journey and experience
Which is his favorite cafe? I’d love to see it
@@orbit5311 Martinho da Arcada , at Terreiro do Paço, Lisboa, but i was also a big client of A Brasileira (Chiado, Lisboa).
If there is one thing I'm grateful for having been born in Brasil is that I can read Pessoa, Saramago, Clarice Lispector, Guimarães Rosa, Valter Hugo Mãe and tons of other great writers in this beautiful mother tongue of mine...
Dude, i think the same way.. Think about the music also.. Jorge Ben, Criolo, Belchior...
I'm a native Spanish speaker who studied linguistics, also French from an early age and I can say that am as well equipped to read your great Literature exponents in Portuguese. :P
And Lobo Antunes
I envy you!
Português é a lingua!
Q. Who are the four greatest Portuguese poets of the 20th century? A. Fernando Pessoa.
In order
Ricardo Reis
F. Pessoa ortônimo
Álvaro de Campos
Alberto Caeiro
Hahahahaha
@@Lucasp110 Alberto Caeiro
Fernando Pessoa
Álvaro de Campos
Ricardo Reis
We have many great poets. Unfortunately they tend to be better known in Portugal, Brazil, the Portuguese language countries and by those more interested about Portuguese literature. Here is my pick:
1. Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935)
2. José Régio (1901-1969)
3. Mário de Sá-Carneiro (1890-1916)
4. Jorge de Sena (1919-1978)
All of them deserved to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, but I think José Régio and Jorge de Sena were the only nominated.
@@Lucasp110 SIM, SIM, SIM, SIM!
I read this book sparingly, mostly because it's too good to finish in one go. So I savor it and carry it with me only when I'm travelling. Another reason is that Pessoa's thoughts rattle me to the core. Some of his entries ring so true to my identity, that I often feel unreal; as if I have been imagined by Pessoa himself.
The Book of Disquiet is aptly named. I will, no doubt, be reading it over and over again for years to come.
Me too. I finish it like 2 years ago and I’m sill having it beside my bed rereading it, this book relief me. Masterpiece
I felt the same when reading it. Pessoa's writing and thoughts made me question my reality, and it literally made me depressed, that I had to read something zany, and humorous on the side to sort of balance out my reading experience. This book is not for the faint of heart.
I had to sift through a sea of young booktubers reviewing Twilight and other YA fantasy to finally find someone with Marquis de Sade on his desk.
Great book, interesting video. Definitely subscribed.
celifacejones Welcome literary seafarer. Be at ease and know you shan't here find bullshit. Thanks for watching.
BookTube is a platform for everybody.And, because of these young BookTubers who read/review YA fiction we have now BookTube as a Community. And as a BookTuber who read Pessoa i am grateful for them.
which marquis de sade book is that?
@@anejaG55 Juliette
Marquis de Sade also brought me to this channel.
I found this book in a bookshop today. opened it on three separate pages on complete random and read 1 sentence from each- That was all I needed to know that I not only have to read this book but that everyone should read it.
Dit you read tabacaria? Tô me the most beatiful thing ever writen
Passage 342 is one of the most crushingly powerful passages I've ever read
try passage 319, 363, 397, 433
317 my favorite
Monday: "I should really save money for bills and shit."
Friday: (Better Than Food posts a book review). "Fuck it."
I know Pessoa mainly as a poet. I still haven't read The Book of Disquiet, this review reminded me to finally go for it.
If you want to read some of Pessoa's fantastic poetry, I recommend you get this selection:
Fernando Pessoa & Co. Selected Poems. Translated by Richard Zenith. Published by Grove Pr.
It's one of my most praised books. I've been reading and re-reading it for years.
Here's one he wrote as Fernando Pessoa:
I'm sorry I don't respond
But it isn't, after all, my fault
That I don't correspond
To the other you loved in me.
Each of us is many persons.
To me I'm who I think I am,
But others see me differently
And are equally mistaken.
Don't dream me into someone else
But leave me alone, in peace!
If I don't want to find myself,
Should I want others to find me?
As a portuguese, it makes me so happy when people talk about Fernando Pessoa.
I love Sintra :)
Love your videos. Keep doing them if you can!
Booksteps * pessoa is one my all time favorite writer. Not only this book all his poems are pure gem.!!
@@arthurplatinnifernandesgue1795 Como assim? A obra dele, embora seja universal, está tão entrelaçada com o seu país que seria impossível não saberem que Pessoa é português.
@@arthurplatinnifernandesgue1795 Quando disse "seu", referia-me a Pessoa, não a ti/você.
@@arthurplatinnifernandesgue1795 Incorrer no erro de pensar que Pessoa era brasileiro continua a ser uma grosseria; um "brasileiro" que não escreveu quase nada sobre o Brasil.
Great review. Actually, Fernando Pessoa only published a single book during his lifetime ("Message") in 1934, just one year before he died. He had been publishing some of his poems in magazines, like the pivotal modernist journal "Orpheu". All the rest has been posthumously published, from the exhumation of the 25.000 handwritten pages included in the 3 famous trunks. The Book of Disquiet is not really a book. There aren't any indications left by Pessoa about its intended sequence and structure, only the hints left by Bernardo Soares and Vicente Guedes semi-heteronyms. It was first published in 1982 and there are still editoral wars concerning which edition reflects a more coherent take on assembling the fragments. Anyway, since there are no starting nor ending point, you may read it randomly. Its a disturbing, deep, chaotic and beautiful work of of art. Pretty much like Pessoa's universe was.
And that's a lie. Pessoa published 4 books during his lifetime. One in Portuguese "Message" and 3 poetry books in English.
If you liked the "book of disquiet" I would leave you a suggestion. There is a prodigious writer who will be, after her death, a cult author. This writer is Agustina Bess-Luís. She managed to create a new, unique, writing where she combines the aphorism and a torrential narrative about the nature of their characters. In her narrative she reveals unsettling truths and a psychological analysis of an acuity taken to extremes. She is an extremely ironic author, who goes unnoticed in the media because she inspires fear. She reveals truths in her books about human nature that are taken as coming from a wicked, dangerous and prophetic women. This partly explains why people are resisting in reading her books. She is ahead of its time, but it is indisputable that she will be part of the great authors, time will tell. Maybe she will gain the Nobel Prize, who knows?! before she dies. Their main influences are Dostoyevsky, Soren Kierkegaard and Kafka. Her most translated and known book is “the Sibyl”. In her books she covers everything, power, sex, humiliation, vanity, hatred in a powerful and disconcerting way.
oh god, I hate Agustina Bessa-Luís! "A sibila" killed me!
Marlon Ribeiro Thx for the recommendation.
Justin Case noooooo. I did not enjoy that book, at all. To be fair, I was 14 or 15 when I had to read it (for school), maybe if I read it now I might enjoy it but Portuguese literature has so much to offer... I prefer Saramago!!
She is the greatest writer I have ever come across and I say that as an English speaker/reader who has had to hunt high and low for years to find what little of her work I could that has actually been translated into English. One of the most consistent oversights in all of translation, especially as she has been translated into so many other languages. Yet I try to console myself by remembering that it took almost 500 years to get an English translation of Bernardim Ribeiro's classic work "Menina e moça" (aka "Maiden and Modest"), so I guess she hasn't been all that badly neglected after all. Anyway, until there are some substantial English translations of Agustina (something I gather which is actually and finally being worked on) I would recommend that Cliff takes up the recently translated "Geography of Rebels" trilogy, the magnum opus of the similarly great Maria Gabriela Llansol.
How do I get my hands on an english translation?
this book strikes you right in the guts without any mercy
Thank the holy lord you finally reviewed The Master himself. This is by far one of your best reviews.
Fernando Pessoa it's one of my favorite authors, and it is so satisfying to see you speaking about him in a way that shows that you actually research about it. Fernando Pessoa have not just write precious books and poems, but had a life that makes everything else even more surreal! Thank you so much for the video, your channel it's now one of me favorites, I love how u express yourself! Great job ❤️
I remember how my mind was blow in HS when I learned about Fernando Pessoa, I couldn't comprehend how someone could create such complex personalities and styles. Alberto Carneiro is my favourite persona of his and I recommend you give it a go.
Thank you for sharing the works of Fernando Pessoa. I’ve only recently found him myself and it’s been mesmerizing. “ I’m not rich enough to be a dreamer thus I always feel like I’m on the verge of waking up”
As a result of your review I picked this up and was totally blown away by it! Thanks so much for the recommendation. I just wrapped up a book chat and didn't forget to give you credit for introducing me to this work of genius :) Thanks again!
You're very welcome - thanks a lot for watching
forever my favorite. "Maybe the saddest beautiful book ever written."
Interesting review.... I just got my copy on Amazon for my Kindle Oasis.... I read a bit, then I have to put it down, as Fernando Pessoa's mind is so much to digest. My brain can't take it for too long, then after awhile, I go back to it... hauntingly beautifully thought out and written...xo
Yes I find it’s like a very rich meal. Superb, but have too much and it ruins it.
I just found your channel, this is the second video I've watched and made me subscribe. Being portuguese I was always aware of Pessoa's existence and studied some of his poetry in school.. Álvaro de Campos is my favorite of his heteronyms.
Last year I've read The Book of Disquiet and I have been telling everyone to read it. As you said, it's the most beautiful sad book I've ever read. It's the only book I couldn't stop underlining and marking the pages. Your review makes me want to read it again.
ive read it in parts several times, it dosent have a beginning or ending so you can start reading it at the end and go back, it has a kafka feel to it, and its a experience to think about for sure.
Pessoa is and will always be my favourite author. To surrender ourselves completely to life. ❤
I've never enjoyed a book review this much! You've got yourself a new subscriber.
Thank you for this beautiful review! To be honest i've never had a favorite author or a book but after reading just a few pages of this book i was mesmerized, i love this book so much.
Very glad to hear it, thanks for watching
Thank you for making this video about Fernando Pessoa. I'm portuguese, and I' very proud of our great writer an poet. Thank you.
+Lucinda Cunha You should be proud. You're very welcome.
Pessoa was so complex that thru his words and different 'selves' each one of us, humanity, is laid bare, revealed, and reborn. The man was simply put, a literary genius!
This might be my favorite review yet. I identified so much with the passages you read that it's quite worrying actually...
I've never read anything by Pessoa but I will definitely get this one now.
Book of Disquiet has been on my radar for nearly 8 years and you've convinced me it's time.
I'm brazilian and I've been reading this book for years. I haven't finish it yet but I also have got back tons of time to pages and quotes that are remarkable for me. Fernando Pessoa is my favorite author and this is my favorite book, for sure.
I'm Portuguese, grew up, live and work in Sintra and studied in Lisbon. Thank you for talking about one of my country's national treasures :) I'm new to your channel, so I don't know if your familiar with Camões, but if you liked Pessoa, try reading his "Mensagem" in parallel with Camões' Os Lusíadas. Its something we study in highschool here, and I find quite interesting.
I would like to read it, thank you for stopping by! I LOVE Sintra - that is my favorite place on earth, how do you like living there?
Its great, I love hiking in the woods which is a great way for burning the calories from all the pastries we have here :) And as you mention Sintra is full of literary references: Lord Byron, Milton, H. C. Andersen, Camões, Dante, Eça de Queirós. This time of the year, which is the low-season tourism wise, all the kids are doing field-trips to the palaces and places they read about at school. We have this fountain at the edge of town called Fonte da Sabuga which, according to legend, if you drink from it, you'll never want to leave Sintra. I don't know if someday i'll move out, but i have drank from it...
João Varanda All it took for me was getting lost under Quinta de regaleira and I was infatuated (ginja at Byron’s bar helped). Yes, your food is astounding. Would you meet up and show us around when we return?
Absolutely :) Yeah, Regaleira is quite fun to explore
João Varanda thanks!
this is a book you aproach slowlly, but then BANG...it has swallowed you! Impossible to stop. Amazing text.
I heard of Pessoa some time ago. It wasn't until I found an edition of The Book of Disquiet mis-shelved in a local book store that I made the purchase and went home to read. Thank you for, at the very least, indicating through your review that I am not alone in my confusion and fascination with this staggering and oblique genius.
goose bumps when you read the prophetic piece. A wonderful review. Thank you, I look forward to more!
What a delight finding this channel. As a Brazilian, it's nice to see Pessoa is that known and admired outside of the Lusosphere. I actually have the book on my shelf, never got the courage to open it. Will do now.
hey... you consistently review books that have formed my image of the world. This is intended as a celebration of your taste. From a fellow reader. cheers!
Congrats man! I love your channel so I'm so glad that you've grown your audience by so much! Here's to the next 100,000!
Hey man I just wanted to thank you so much for this recommendation because without it, who knows how long it would have taken for me to have known about it's existence. I was having a hard time deciding what 2 audiobooks to download for free for my audible trial and combing through your channel I remembered being highly interested and intrigued by Book of Disquiet, and Pessoa as a writer in general.
So I grabbed The Book of Disquiet and man, so far it's been super thought-provoking, altogether very funny, very perceptive, sometimes heartbreaking but not overly dramatic on the sadness. He can have you laughing out loud from sheer observational finesse, then the next "entry" is a punch to your heart, him writing about the very early loss of both his mother and father. It's pretty incredible how engaging the writing is considering it's mostly just the inner musings of a man writing about going to work as a bookkeeper, coming home and writing, visiting a café occassionally. His observations on just the plain condition of existence, of being an "existing animal", the tensions and give-and-take, the imperfections and constantly shifting mood and feelings about things.
I get the feeling this is the introvert's bible lol. Either way, I'm enjoying it especially as this is my first go at listening to an entire audioook. The only downside so far with the medium of an audiobook is that I will go on a thought tangent about a concept while listening, and as a result miss a bunch of sentences completely. So that's kind of a bummer because with a book I can easily just take a pause and think about whatever, then return to where I stopped. But other than that, it's certainly allowing me to have a vivid image painted to me, it's kinda nice to have a story read to you. Anyway, onward I tread.
Thanks for all the hard work my friend!
this is an great review of a memorable and distinct work by pessoa. keep up your good work mr. sargent. "better than food" is a great channel, man.
+Pedro Lemos Ferreira Thank you very much Mr. Ferreira, glad to have you on board for the voyage.
this book is strange in the best way possible. it's the smell of rain on pavements.
I haven't seen a man stoned on a book before. I definitely have to read it now :)
That's the look of a man that have is first awareness of the Book of Disquiet. If this is a book (maybe it's not even a book, it's some strange piece of art with only one specimen), it's most than likely the best book ever writen. But you can't even compare it with any book. It's something diferent
One of the advantages of being Portuguese is that I get to read this in my native language. It's a book that I have no idea if I have read it all or there is something missing as I have never read it in cronological order. It just sits on my shelve and every now and again I just open it randomly to read one paragraph or 50 pages and it's always good and perfect and inspiring and bittersweet and yes, for people who want to be a writer it can be a heartbroker as Pessoa is one of those writers that set the standards really high and it humbles you as you realise that you will never write something with so much clarity, precision, fluency of words and thoughts that have layers over layers of meaning all capable of triggering life changing ephiphanies in your mind.
One of his poems appeared on the portuguese national exam this year, and I was incredibly relieved that it ended up being from Alberto Caero since he was the one I was the most familiarized with. Had it been from any of his other heteronyms I'm positive it wouldn't have gone as smoothly.
As far as I remember from my teen years reading Pessoa, most of his bitterness came to be after his wife and kid died of Spanish flu in a final sequence that threw his soul into complete loneliness and sorrow.
Btw, I was so happy that I found him in my teen years and also we share the same favourite dishes, the "dobrada" literally stomach of beef stew.
Ps: I am writing from my wife's account, I am Brazilian and was blissed to read Pessoa in the original
He was never married, nor had any kids.
This book is so thought provoking and lovely. One of my favourites.
This book is officially one of my favorite especially the author.
haha you got the lynch voice spot on
This book changed my life. "Vivir es ser otro", which from spanish to english, I think it translates to: "To live, is to be another". It was remarkable to me to feel such a lonely person be so willing to be in another's conscience, to be able to be others just seeing. He embodied empathy without considering himself a man that took action.
I would recommend his ode "Salute to Walt Whitman", which Pessoa signed with the Heteronym Alberto Caeiro. Pessoa, considered Whitman to be the person who freed him in his early days as as writer, especially when he had an epiphany reading Whitman's words: "Do I contradict myself? / Very well then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes)".
A time, when there was no intro as today.. Love your book reviews..
Love from Portugal. I really enjoyed your review of our greatest poet. If you want to read more portuguese authors I recommend José Saramago, our only Nobel prize winner. Some of his books require knowledge of portuguese culture and literature to fully understand. But book like Blindness or Death with Interruptions are incredible and I think you would like them. I personally love them.
Congrats for this amazing channel. Sorry if my English isn't the best.
pessoa is an ethereal giant
I know it's been 9 years but I feel like I should say this. The Book of Disquiet does not come from different heteronyms. It comes from a single semi-heteronym, Bernardo Soares. Pessoa called him "semi" because he says Soares had the closest personality to Pessoa's. If the fragments came from different heteronyms it would be easily noticeable, since the heteronyms have very distinct personalities.
I'm portuguese and i'm studying Pessoa. This was the best review that i've seen to this masterpiece. I don't Know if you ha've read one Álvaro de Campos, one of Pessoa's "personas", if you don't Please do, it's sublime.
Congratulations on your courage to read this book. As a native (Brazilian) Portuguese speaker, I know he is incredibly complex in my native tongue, not to say in another language.
Consider me proof of success because those were some wonderful passages. And the length of the review is justified simply by that alone. Not enough people are willing to make enough nonsense over books these days. Well, that's extreme statement. But very happy to know about Fernando Pessoa and Book of Disquiet, thank you.
this is the first video of yours that I've watched (about to watch one of your more recent videos on Rachel Cusk because I loved Outline, & then will see where the night takes me), but i'm already jumping to Patreon to become a patron.
regarding The Book of Disquiet, I noticed you read the Penguin Classics edition (translated & edited by Richard Zenith). have you read the New Directions edition (translated by Margaret Jull Costa, edited by Jeronimo Pizarro) since this video? outside of the obvious discrepancies typically found in a translator's intentions & style, the ND edition attempts to piece together Pessoa's fragments in chronological order. I just ordered the Zenith version & plan on reading that one as soon as next week, despite finishing the Jull Costa/Pizarro version just the other day. you weren't joking about finishing it & then starting back at page one.
the winter months are always a difficult time for me (total cliche, I know), but Pessoa cut right into my vulnerable core & wrapped me up within his tendrils in a way that felt as though I had a reliable confidant, always just an arm's length away, who could understand many of the same internal/external struggles I have been experiencing, except w/ the ability to atomize them in a language that made me feel warmth rather than augment the oppressing cold. even before finishing the novel I've been trying to impress on my few friends that The Book of Disquiet is the best masterpiece they've never heard of. looking forward to comparing the Jull Costa/Pizarro & Zenith versions.
best channel about literature in the plataform. thank you so much. extra thanks for doing real reviews, with criticism, ideas, reflections. you bring worldwide literature, and i love your special care for autors like clarice lispector and fernando pessoa, people need to read them more. also love that you bring the feelings of the books to your behavior in the video, just as you did in this one. you have a very hard supporter here. please keep doing it! books and coffee for life!
I've always avoided book reviews, as the ones I've read before all seemed miles apart from what I felt while reading the books, and I could never personally identify to the way most critics have of perceiving them. It seemed to me they were always trying too hard to interpret and were always almost too shy to dare to feel the damn books.
Now, back to the school bench, and studying Literature in French, I had to adapt to their way of doing "commentaires composés", and your reviews have been incredibly helpful and insightful, and a great way to start tackling books under a new perspective (even if doing so in English may be kind of cheating). I cannot thank you enough, not only for reconciling me with book reviews, but by also helping me write better commentaires composés.
A review on The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, by Saramago, maybe? That'd be almost annoyingly awesome.
Thank you! Yes Saramago on the way, we will get there...Glad you're finding the channel useful.
We've been passing these reviews around secretly - if I post this in the Céline review, we might get caught. You'll see some very shy likes though.
Ha! That's brilliant - Thank you for telling me, keep in touch and send recommendations when you have them.
Another great review! Here are some recommendations: The Catcher in the Rye,
Quiet Days at Clichy, Fight Club, The Stranger, The Dharma Bums.
Keep up the good work (please)
Thanks for reviewing one of my favorite books ever!
The full John Waters quote. Genius, Mr S. I was given the colorful covered hardback for this past year's Birthday, on 23 December, and absolutely LOVE the book and 'review'.
There's nothing quite like writing something profound while thinking to yourself, "I have no idea what I'm saying." I must get this book ... and maybe pull my trunk full of old manuscripts and writings out of my closet? Perhaps it's time to fill it with new scribblings.
sometimes i feel like our poets and writers aren't valued enough because we, in Portugal, don't value them enough. we have briliant writers but sometimes i feel like reading them demands a lot of sensibility and a kind of emotional inteligence that we dont really have, or dont really show. i wish you could speak portuguese because, believe me, there are somethings you cant translate. also, i would like to recommend you something from José saramago. maybe "as intermitências da morte" (im sorry but i dont know if there is an english translation to that book) or "o memorial do convento", which i havent read yet but will have to read for school. im not recommending poetry because i dont know what has been translated and im scared of what the transalators might have done. also, if you like existentialist novels (which im assuming you do) there is a book by Vergílio Ferreira called aparição (apparition in english, probably) that is... just... beautiful.
Hey, I just discovered your channel and subscribed to it right away. Great reviews! I hope you keep it up. I'm glad that there's at least one book reviewer who can actually say something interesting and insightful about all of these great books and doesn't only read young adult/generic disposable bestseller sagas like all the other people on UA-cam. I'm currently reading John Fante's The Wine of Youth and I'm quite enjoying it.
I'm also glad that you read books from authors from outside the English-speaking world; one of my main complaints about English-speaking book reviewers is that often they disregard translations as if there were no good authors outside of the USA or the UK. I'd like to recommend you Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo - probably the best Mexican novel of all time. If you have already read that, you should check out Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli - in my opinion, the most interesting mexican novelist alive as of today. They're both rather short but incredible books.
Cheers from Mexico City!
Javier Torres fante... if you like bukowski then read pessoa its like 2 notches above in abstraction but one below in comedy
Battshit Crazy I read The Book of Disquiet a few months ago and was absolutely blown away by it. I still haven't read his poetry, though; I've heard it's great too.
Javier Torres fante is great... his poetry is... great. pessoa is from kafkas generation, they all got inspired by the philosophy masters, pessoa lived in Mozambique and south africa so he read all the english german classics... the most amazing thing about the book of disquiet is you can pick it at any time, any page and start Reading and its like a horoscope its teaches you something, try it, it will always seem new, like you never had read the book before, pessoa was a mistic obcessed with astrology, horoscopes, occultism, etc he was friend with aleister crowley, he even came to lisbon to meet pessoa and do a occult black magic mass session... for example i opened the book now and it reads: ''art consists in making others feel what we feel, in releasing them from themselves, proposing our personality for that special release...''
Javier Torres you like movies? i uploaded from another channel a movie called clean, shaven from 1994 and its great a 90s underground cinema movie...
Battshit Crazy I had never thought about reading it that way but it is a great suggestion; I already have the bad habit of reading my horoscope compulsively every time I find a magazine that may include it... might as well replace it with reading from The Book of Disquiet.
Normally I prefer reading a book over watching a movie, but I do watch some every now and then. I'll check it out, man. Thanks!
"She still holds the spring she was given, and her eyes are sad like all the things in my life I've missed out on."
Keep up the good job man, I love your videos. You are the only book reviewer on UA-cam I know of who reviews good books and isn't pretentious about it. I'd recommend you 'A personal matter' by Kenzaburo Oe.
Really hope you kept up the meditation, whatever form you do it in. Once you get comfortably skilled at it, man oh man, a full hour of meditation can put me in a sharp, golden state of mind full of resilience, calm, tranquility, quick wit, and contentedness for a whole damn week. It truly is one of the greatest tools for mental health currently known, I would say with great confidence. Also you've made me want to read this book so damn bad but I can't find it locally, I guess I'll have to order it off Amazon.
This has to be one of my favorite videos on the internet
Possibly, Pessoa is the greatest 150 poets (or more) of all time. You know this by reading the master of all of them, Alberto Caeiro. Nice review!
Highly recommend reading Mensagem by him, great book that perfectly describes the state of inertia and contemplation Portugal still is to this today
Do you have any interest in the upcoming biography of Pessoa by Richard Zenith?
This book is quiet something to read. Sometimes I am reading one of his passages, and I don't understand him at all. That means I cannot even agree or disagree but around some of his thoughts, I feel like able to discuss with him, when the actual pleasure starts. I will certainly, during my whole life always read into this book of his thoughts here and then, because only then I feel like getting the best out of it
I'm so happy I found this review! Its one of my favorite books too. And I'll recommend you two related books: Pessoa's short story "The Anarchist Banker" (it's subversive and funny), and Saramago's "The Year Of The Death Of Ricardo Reis", in wich Saramago invents the story of Pessoa's heteronym Ricardo Reis, as if we was a real person who knew Fernando Pessoa. It's melancholic and beautiful.
Is this channel presenting Pessoa to English native speakers? Wow, I couldn't be happier!
Just bought this book, just waiting for delivery. Look forward to read it 😍
this is one of my favorite books. I'm more familiar with pessoa's poetry though, particularly his poetry under the name alberto caeiro. it's llfe changing stuff.
if you want to read more portuguese-language literature, I recommend the hour of the star by brazilian clarice lispector. some other brazilian greatness: barren lives by graciliano ramos, grande sertão: veredas by guimarães rosa, captains of the sand by jorge amado. there's other incredible stuff, but I don't think most of it is translated to english.
best of portuguese literrature like Samago, but also the Giant LOBO ANTUNES and the amazing Vergilio Ferreira. Wow How can Portugal, a small country produced so many great writers??
Do not forget Eça de Queirós, the best portuguese novelist, and one of the 3 great masters that the portuguese literature have. Fernando Pessoa, Luis Vaz de Camões and Eça de Queirós.
Portugal did have great writers, but this 3 are way way above all the rest.
***** Sorry I don't agree with Eça, his novels are boring plain and predictable. Any low quality 19th century russian has done better. The Maias is a dull book..I did't finish it. Dont get all the fuss
nacht98 I believe you are portuguese, and you are forced to read Os maias in school. reading books in school is bad, but Os Maias is just plain murder. You don't want to read, you pick up a 800 pages book, and the first 8 pages is descriving a house, and the first 3 pages the panel by the gate in front of the house. How can someone enjoy that book?
But make a favour to yourself, one of these days, pick up the book, and just read it. And while you read the book (nevermind the main story) think to yourself in any caracter, who do you think it reminbers you. And all the things they talk about, make the reboot to our days, and see the genious of the book. it just put the portuguese society in is most ridiculous and funny look. I understand people that say the book is dull, they never read it besides when they where forced to do it. in that mind yes, it's impossible to enjoy it. But the book is a masterpiece, probably the greatest masterpiece of all the novels. And still hilarious, and so much actual. It puts our country exposed to all his ridiculos forms. And nothing changed in more than 130 years!!
Well... somethings changed, the dumb people don't listen to fado anymore, they listen to pimba, and the people are not dumbded down by touradas, but futebol insted, but besides some minor details, the core of it, it's still the same
Well as someone famous said "Countries don't change, people don't change" Sorry, I gave Eça a try years ago, and I can't get it. At 34 you don't need to read stuff that you don't like anymore...waste of time.
You are a really good reader of Pessoa because you know there is a large degree of fraud in our daily affairs. And you just let it play through your thoughts like, maybe, music on the radio. No harm done. I enjoyed every second of this review.
Enjoyed the review immensely. I am only 70 pages in to this extraordinary work but already I feel like this Pessoa is beyond the realm of genius. I have a week off which I've decided to use purely to read. I think - and I'm glad you mentioned something like this - I might intersperse reading this with something else (Martin Duberman's Jews Queers Germans) which is a much more surface work (well, it's a - as the book calls itself - 'novel/history'). This is not something I would ever normally do. Submerging oneself into a book is always the aim but, having had to mutlitask at university on my Comparative Literature degree, I realised one can truly do it. What are you thoughts about reading more than one book at a time - especially when it's something so profound as Pessoa?
Excellent review. Would really like to see you review some Faulkner.
Hey, you still read these comments from the old videos ? Fernando is my favorite writer. His 80 plus personas baffle me.
I purchased this book, in 2014......i read it 4 times.....i had to purchase a new copy, as i had worn out the first one.....
What shirt is that
What an amazing literary tale, just wow ... thx, again, for the TBR turn on, so great ...
You will like The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton. The two were of a type.
Truly the most moving piece I have ever read.
Fernando Pessoa (and all "him") is my favorite poet(s).
Tudo o que não é meu, por baixo que seja, teve sempre poesia para mim. Nunca amei senão coisa nenhuma. Nunca desejei senão o que nem podia imaginar. À vida nunca pedi senão que passasse por mim sem que eu a sentisse. Do amor apenas exigi que nunca deixasse de ser um sonho longínquo.
I'm thrilled that you rewied a book by a portuguese author Cliff.So may I suggest you another one? Valter Hugo Mãe is a personal favourite of mine. Keep the great work. (Sorry for the poor english, it's not my first language.)
Marcela Martins Of course! Thank you for watching, I will check it out.
I can't quite recall how I came across Pessoa years ago but he captured my imagination as did Marquez years before that. I haven't finished the Book of Disquiet yet. It lies there waiting for me. Think I'll get back to it now.
The library wanted this back when I was half through. Perhaps I will try the second half. Its not a book that can be read quickly so pensive and convoluted are its thoughts. The introverted justification for abject lack of action was moribund. Forgotten pearls among shucked shells. Made me think if the Book of Leaves which had a trunk of unpublished effort too. Is it fair to compare the author with his fictional work as if his character is the same?
Hard book to read (and I am portuguese speaker!) but definetely worth the trip!
It's pretty ironic that out of all his writing his must quoted passage is "No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it"
he created more than 100 characters as far as i know, but im not sure if he was a virgin, because there's a book of correspondence beetween him and a lover, not sure if it was a platonic thing or not, since i havent read it yet.
I've already read it twice and soon I'll be reading it the third time. It is so good of a book. You become trance...if that makes sense😮.
You really should check out Philipp Mainlander's book "The Philosophy of Redemption" the first volume was finally translated into English; been a long time coming.
Happened upon this vid somewhat randomly tonight here in Mesopotamia while reading Antonio Lobo Antune's The Natural Order of Things, which Richard Zenith translated & who as well speaks passionately about Pessoa. Great vibe!
Hi! Have you ever read Saramago? I think you would enjoy it.
If not, I would recommend Death with Interruptions. Not his most famous work, but my personal favourite. I love the humour and the fact the main character is death :)
henry miller tropic of cancer?
Picked up this book in Lima Peru. This book will always be tied to that trip for me.