Jump to content

Search the Community

Showing results for tags 'fernando pessoa'.

  • Search By Tags

    Type tags separated by commas.
  • Search By Author

Content Type


Forums

  • The Office
    • Announcements & News
    • Rules (Please Read Before Posting!)
  • Readers' Hub
    • Book Blogs - Discuss your reading!
    • Group Reads
    • Reading Challenges
    • General Book Discussions
    • Book Search and Reading Recommendations
    • Competitions & Give Aways
  • Specials
  • The Library Shelves
    • Author Interviews and Forum Visits
    • General Fiction
    • Horror / Fantasy / SF
    • Crime / Mystery / Thriller
    • Historical Fiction
    • Women's Fiction / Chick Lit
    • The Classics
    • Children's / Young Adult
    • Poetry, Plays & Short Stories
    • Non Fiction
  • The Lounge
    • Forum Updates
    • Introductions
    • General Chat
    • Christmas and Winter Holidays
    • Writers' Corner
    • Using the Board

Categories

  • Fantasy/ Science Fiction/ Horror
  • Classics
  • General Fiction
  • Crime/ Mystery/ Thriller
  • Women's Fiction/ Chick Lit
  • Children's/ Young Adult
  • Poetry, Plays and Short Stories
  • Non-Fiction
  • Historical Fiction
  • BCF Book Club's Books

Find results in...

Find results that contain...


Date Created

  • Start

    End


Last Updated

  • Start

    End


Filter by number of...

Joined

  • Start

    End


Group


Twitter Username


BookCrossing Username


LibraryThing Username


Website URL


Reading now?


Location:


Interests

Found 1 result

  1. Not sure where to put this. This forum doesn't appear to encourage individual book reviews (apparently preferring blogs, but few people will see those in my opinion). Anyway, the book of disquiet is quite simply one of the most beautiful things I have ever read. Written in 1935 over many years but not published across Europe until the '80s and '90s.There's no narrative to speak of, no plot, only a man giving his thoughts on the world and the human condition. It feels like a diary, and many of the chapters do, indeed, have dates, but most don't and even the ones that do aren't chronologically ordered, but rather placed, haphazardly, in any order. You might read several entries from 1932 only to find, many chapters later, that you're reading his thoughts from 1916. Not that it matters, the whole book could be read in any order, in any way, starting at the middle and moving backwards, or picking any random chapter you wanted. It makes no difference at all.Pessoa writes using the heteronym 'Bernardo Soares', and tells us very little about himself other than where he works, his boss, the errand boy, with a few occasional references to the streets and the weather. More than anything, he concerns himself with the nature of existence, the tedium of life, the mystery of being alive. He writes beautifully, almost poetically, and is always accompanied by a sense of melancholy and, perhaps, even despair. The book reminded me of 'Journey to the end of the night' by Celine in its low opinion of humanity. Yet he also sees the beauty in life, and adores nature and art. He ponders the meaning of things and the emptiness too. It's exquisite.I wouldn't recommend this book lightly. If you're someone who prefers a narrative, then this might not be your cup of tea. But if, like me, you enjoy books where opinions are given, ideas explored, and thoughts are allowed to spiral into the darkness, then this is a glorious example of that. The book was published long after he died which, given that he spends a moment towards the end of the book contemplating being rediscovered as a writer by later generations, fills me with joy. The book is an exhaustive list of wonderfully quotable thoughts such as... There is so much sadness in the character. And you can just picture him, gazing from his window at night, seeking out a small piece of light. 9/10
×
×
  • Create New...