
Purchase
Exact Change
February 2004
On Sale: February 2, 2004
304 pages ISBN: 1878972278 EAN: 9781878972279 Paperback
Add to Wish List
Fiction
Fiction. Autobiography. Translated from the Portuguese with
an introduction and translator's notes by Alfred Mac Adam.
These short, aphoristic paragraphs, ranging in size from a
few sentences to a few pages, comprise the "autobiography"
of Bernardo Soares, one of Fernando Pessoa's many
devastatingly captivating literary alter egos. Pessoa
(1888-1935) was a multitude of writers in one: his works
were composed by what he named "heteronyms," alter egos with
distinct biographies, ideologies, influences, horoscopes.
THE BOOK OF DISQUIET was found after Pessoa's death, on
disordered scraps of paper in a trunk, and was finally
published nearly 50 years later. "A fractured assemblage of
quasi-symbolist reveries, cynical epigrams, musings on
quotidian torpor, and gorgeously wrought depressive fits,
the book is probably as close as Pessoa could ever come to
writing an autobiography." (--VOICE LITERARY SUPPLEMENT) "I
was a genius more than in my dreams and less than in life.
This is my tragedy. I was the runner who fell almost at the
tape, and when I was almost there, I was the first." If
genius consists of complicated and heartfelt musings,
delightful and incisive use of language (not to mention
magnificent translation), and brilliance of mind and
expression, then certainly this book is an act (or
perpetration?) of genius.
Comments
No comments posted.
Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!
|