The Book of Disquiet
Published on 19. September 2002
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-1-85242-758-0 (ISBN)
Description
'In the middle of the conversations with myself that make up this book, I often feel a sudden need to talk to someone else, so I address the light hovering, as it does now, above the roofs of houses...' Seated at his desk in the Lisbon's Rua Dos Douradores, Bernardo Soares, an assistant book-keeper, writes his diary - a self-deprecating reflection on the sheer distance between the loftiness of his feelings and the humdrum reality of his everyday life. This is the first translation of a classic of existential literature - a book acknowledged by the critics as 'the most beautiful diary of the century' and voted by a panel of leading writers as one of the top 100 books of all time.
Reviews / Votes
It could not have been written in England: there is too much thought racing hopelessly around. The elegance of the style, well conveyed in what seems to be a more than adequate translation, is an important component and a very ironic one. The diary disturbs from beginning to end... There is a distinguished mind at work beneath the totally acceptable dullness of clerking. The mind is that of Pessoa. We must be given the chance to learn more about him -- Anthony Burgess * Observer * Pessoa's near-novel is a complete masterpiece, the sort of book one makes friends with and cannot bear to be parted with. Boredom informs it, but not boringly. Pessoa loved the minutiae of what we care to deem the ordinary life, and that love enriches and deepens his art -- Paul Bailey * Independent * It was a real bonus when Serpent's Tail published The Book of Disquiet, a meandering, melancholic series of reveries and meditations. Pessoa's amazing personality is as beguiling and mysterious as his unique poetic output. We cannot learn too much about him -- William Boyd * TLS Books of the Year * Many British reviewers have pegged Pessoa as a great long-lost modernist, but he also calls up echoes of Beckett's exquisite boredom; the dark imaginings of Baudelaire; Melville's evasive confidence man; the dreamscapes of Borges; even the cranky hermeticism of Witold Gombrowicz * VLS * This is an astonishing novel, one which batters you, pierces you, awakens and numbs you * Independent on Sunday * This book has moved me more than anything I have read in years. I have rarely encountered such exhilarating lugubriousness -- Paul Bailey * Daily Telegraph * [A] classic of existential literature -- Emma Tennant * Independent on Sunday * Portugal's greatest poet * Times * In a time that which celebrates fame, success, stupidity, convenience and noise, here is the perfect antidote -- John Lanchester * Daily Telegraph * A haunting mosaic of dreams, psychological notations, autobiographical vignettes, shards of literary theory and criticism and maxims -- Observer * George Steiner * Beyond classification... the insomniac's perfect companion -- Philip Pullman * The Times *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Profile Books Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
185 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-85242-758-0 (9781852427580)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Previous edition
Fernando Pessoa
The Book of Disquiet
Book
09/1991
Serpent's Tail
€32.37
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Fernando Pessoa, one of the founders of modernism, was born in Lisbon in 1888. He grew up in Durban, South Africa, where his stepfather was Portuguese consul. He returned to Lisbon in 1905 and worked as a clerk in an import-export company until his death in 1935.
Most of Pessoa's writing was not published during his lifetime: The Book of Disquiet first came out in Portugal in 1982. Since its first publication, it has been hailed as a classic.
Most of Pessoa's writing was not published during his lifetime: The Book of Disquiet first came out in Portugal in 1982. Since its first publication, it has been hailed as a classic.