Compiled by the translator richard zenith, fernando pessoas the book of disquiet is a fulgent tribute to the imagination of man. The modernist master fernando pessoas work remained largely unnoticed during his lifetime. Jull costas first translation of fernando pessoas the book of disquiet, still in print, was done in 1991 for serpents tail. Each version has been forced to grapple with the ordering of the fragments, developing their own systems of categorization, chronology, and omission. A newly published english translation, by margaret jull costa, is called the book of disquiet. Sometime in the earlymid nineties, in a longgone bookshop in the disquietrelevant basement of the fishergate shopping centre, just over the road from preston railway station, i picked up a copy of the serpents tail edition of the book of disquiet. It feels like the novel rilke would have wrote if he had the talent for prose. She returned to the work for the new complete edition to be published by new directions in august. A modernist masterwork that has now taken on a similar iconic status to ulysses, the trial or in search of lost time, fernando pessoas the book of disquiet is edited and translated with an introduction by richard zenith in penguin modern classics.
Ironically for a man whose real name was pessoa, which translates from portuguese into english as person, he wrote in a variety of heteronyms. Portuguese translation in poetry with fernando pessoa. An autobiography or diary containing exquisite melancholy observations, aphorisms, and ruminations, this classic work grapples. In this edition, scott esposito and bradley babendir discuss fernando pessoas the book of disquiet. In the best translation ever, the complete book of disquiet is an incomparable. Excerpt from the book of disquiet stage adaptation translation may 29, 2011 9. The book of disquiet by fernando pessoa, paperback. The complete edition, takes the text originally translated by margaret jull. The book of disquiet is the portuguese modernist master fernando pessoas greatest literary achievement. They read like diary entries, short essays, epigrams, visions, stray thoughts and prose poems. The translation is at once penetrating and delicately observant of pessoas astute melancholy. In the early 1990s four translations of the book of disquiet appeared.
It is thrilling, confusing, upsetting, joyous, tedious and profound. The hunt for a complete edition of fernando pessoas. The latest, expanded edition from serpents tail, the book of disquiet. Maybe it is true that books find you when you need them. The prizewinning, complete and unabridged translationthe best englishlanguage version we are likely to see. O n august 29th, new directions will publish the first complete, chronological english translation of fernando pessoas the book of disquiet. The prizewinning, complete and unabridged translation the best englishlanguage version we are likely to see for a long time, if ever the guardianof a work of unclassifiable genius. Fernando pessoa and co selected poems, which won the 1999 american pen award for poetry in translation. There have been at least four distinct english translations of the book of disquiet dating back to 1991, and many more editions have been published since. It comprises hundreds of sections, most less than a page long. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the book of disquiet. The prizewinning translation the best englishlanguage version we are likely to see for a long.
I want pessoa to be as great as the version zenith presents. The book of disquiet is the weirdest autobiography ever. It was to bernardo soares that pessoa ascribed his book of disquiet, first made available in english in a briefer version by richard zenith in 1991. Posted in fernando pessoa, introductory thoughts, the book of disquiet, translations from portuguese into english. The book offers a reading experience unlike any other. A selfdeprecating reflection on the sheer distance between the loftiness of feelings and the humdrum reality of life, the book of disquiet is a classic of existentialist literature. Fernando pessoa, one of the founders of modernism, was born in lisbon in 1888. I cant tell which of the three englishlanguage editions of the book of disquiet ive read.
An assembly of sometimes linked fragments, it is a mesmerising, haunting novel without parallel in any other culture. Disquiet definition of disquiet by the free dictionary. An assembly of sometimes linked fragments, it is a. The book of disquiet contains much of his prose writing of which this edition has around half of them. In this series, writers present the books theyre finally making time for. Disquiet refers to a feeling of anxiety, and this story has plenty of unease for both its narrator and readers.
The book of disquiet sat on my shelf for at least a year before i took it down, sometime in february. Fernando pessoa and the book of disquiet others can write better, and truer, things about fernando pessoa than i can, but the salient facts for these purposes are that pessoa 18881935 was a portuguese writer who published very little during his lifetime. For interviews with margaret jull costa, one of the more recent translators of the book of disquiet, click here and here. The hunt for a complete edition of fernando pessoas fragmentary. My impression was that the zenith from penguin is the most complete. So far its been a little bumpy as my translation by margaret jull costa serpernts publication is siginificantly shorter than hers and the fragments appear to be. Soares himself, in the only moment of being seen from the outside, looks like those who hope for nothing because its perfectly useless to hope.
This is one of the most startling, electrifying books i have ever read. The book of disquiet is funny, lifeaffirming, and, of course, desperately sad. Double take is our literary criticism series wherein two readers tackle a highlyanticipated book s innermost themes, successes, failures, trappings, and surprises. Hi, my girlfriend and i are in a long distance relationship for a couple of months and we decided to read a book at the same time to have something to sort of share and bond over, and we chose pessoas the book of disquiet. The hardcover is fat and dense, and the text is, like a drug, rather moodaltering, so i was still working my way through it as things began to change, and am. The book of disquiet by fernando pessoa book chat duration. His translations include galicianportuguese troubadour poetry. The book of disquiet, on the other hand, is the work of someone who knows himself well, and cares only about reaching a kind of existential purity. Now, for the first time the texts are presented chronologically, in a complete english edition by master translator margaret jull costa. Translated from the portuguese by margaret jull costa. The book of disquiet the prizewinning, complete and unabridged translation the best englishlanguage version we are likely to see for a long time, if ever the guardianof a work of unclassifiable genius. This almostautobiographical story tells of the sombre majesty of splendours no one knows in the very private life of its hero and offers. Published posthumously, the book of disquiet is a fragmentary lifetime project, left unedited by the author.
Selected poems, which won the academy of american poets harold morton landon. Fernando pessoas the book of disquiet is aptly titled. Its reluctance to accommodate the reader, the scorn it showers on such seemingly fundamental aspirations as romantic happiness and personal accomplishment, its prickliness and hostility. Searching online for a copy of the book disquiet by fernando pessoa, i found there were several translations to choose from by margaret jull costa, richard zenith, alfred mac adam, and iain watson.
For more figures in portuguese translation, click here. An autobiography or diary containing exquisite melancholy observations, aphorisms, and ruminations, this classic work grapples with all the eternal questions. Anyone who knows the history of the book of disquiet will know what. The narrator, perhaps a standin for pessoa himself, is clearly a distant literary relative of shakespeares hamlet or eliots prufrock. For the first timeand in the best translation everthe complete book of disquiet, a masterpiece beyond comparison. Ive read the book of disquiet a couple of times, and i still have a hard time when it comes to the matter of categorizing this book. He says he is timid, with no aptitude for life and wants never to be a protagonist.
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