Pessoa: An Experimental Life
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- Create Date：2021-08-13 07:51:26
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Richard Zenith
- ISBN：0241534135
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Summary
'A revelation。 Such a revolutionary literary discovery seems unlikely to be on offer again。 It's that good' Sunday Times
'Definitive and sublime。 Zenith has written the only kind of biography truly permissible， an account of a life that plucks at the very borders and burdens of the notion of a self' New York Times
For many thousands of readers Fernando Pessoa's The Book of Disquiet is almost a way of life。 Ironic， haunting and melancholy， this completely unclassifiable work is the masterpiece of one of the twentieth century's most enigmatic writers。
Richard Zenith's Pessoa at last allows us to understand this extraordinary figure。 Some eighty-five years after his premature death in Lisbon， where he left over 25，000 manuscript sheets in a wooden trunk， Fernando Pessoa （1888-1935） can now be celebrated as one of the great modern poets。 Setting the story of his life against the nationalistic currents of European history， Zenith charts the heights of Pessoa's explosive imagination and literary genius。
Much of Pessoa's charm and strangeness came from his writing under a variety of names that he used not only to conceal his identity but also to write in wildly varied styles with different imagined personalities。 Zenith traces the back stories of virtually all of these invented others， called 'heteronyms'， demonstrating how they were projections， spin-offs or metamorphoses of Pessoa himself。
Zenith's monumental work confirms the power of Pessoa's words to speak prophetically to the disconnectedness of modern life。 It is also a wonderful book about Lisbon， the city which Pessoa reinvented and through which his different selves wandered。
'Completely superb and magisterial。 Finally， this extraordinary poet gets the great biography he deserves。 Unsurpassable' William Boyd
'Definitive and sublime。 Zenith has written the only kind of biography truly permissible， an account of a life that plucks at the very borders and burdens of the notion of a self' New York Times
For many thousands of readers Fernando Pessoa's The Book of Disquiet is almost a way of life。 Ironic， haunting and melancholy， this completely unclassifiable work is the masterpiece of one of the twentieth century's most enigmatic writers。
Richard Zenith's Pessoa at last allows us to understand this extraordinary figure。 Some eighty-five years after his premature death in Lisbon， where he left over 25，000 manuscript sheets in a wooden trunk， Fernando Pessoa （1888-1935） can now be celebrated as one of the great modern poets。 Setting the story of his life against the nationalistic currents of European history， Zenith charts the heights of Pessoa's explosive imagination and literary genius。
Much of Pessoa's charm and strangeness came from his writing under a variety of names that he used not only to conceal his identity but also to write in wildly varied styles with different imagined personalities。 Zenith traces the back stories of virtually all of these invented others， called 'heteronyms'， demonstrating how they were projections， spin-offs or metamorphoses of Pessoa himself。
Zenith's monumental work confirms the power of Pessoa's words to speak prophetically to the disconnectedness of modern life。 It is also a wonderful book about Lisbon， the city which Pessoa reinvented and through which his different selves wandered。
'Completely superb and magisterial。 Finally， this extraordinary poet gets the great biography he deserves。 Unsurpassable' William Boyd
Reviews
Matthew Inard
，
"For Pessoa as for Campos， who in this case served as his creator’s faithful spokesman， the self’s true emotions cannot be intelligibly known， much less expressed， and the self is unreliable， its reality forever fluid， contingent on its changing relations with the surrounding environment。 Self-knowledge， or individuality， is， therefore， a matter of attitude， of acting。 The great artist， or great anything， is a great pretender。"This is a masterpiece of a biography about a writer who always seems "For Pessoa as for Campos， who in this case served as his creator’s faithful spokesman， the self’s true emotions cannot be intelligibly known， much less expressed， and the self is unreliable， its reality forever fluid， contingent on its changing relations with the surrounding environment。 Self-knowledge， or individuality， is， therefore， a matter of attitude， of acting。 The great artist， or great anything， is a great pretender。"This is a masterpiece of a biography about a writer who always seems to elude the reader of his true self， despite this fact， Richard Zenith gives an extremely comprehensive look at not just Pessoa's life and mind frame but his social clique and the early 20th-century history of Portugal。 No matter how much detail and insight Zenith the reader might struggle to understand Pessoa as a person。 He was a writer that can't be explained as simply shy and introverted but as one hesitant to share the full extent of his imaginative and intellectual life。 From a young age， he made heteronyms， these fictional personalities based on the many selves of Pessoa， he read the works of Milton， Percy Shelley， and Shakespeare in the original because of his education of the English language in South Africa。 He had many languages at his disposal， an active and imaginative mind to become extremely famous in his lifetime like T。S Eliot and James Joyce but Pessoa was a silent genius in a way。 Yes， he did publish some poems but most of his works remained unpublished during his lifetime。 He shared his limited but active social with many modernist writers at the same time。 Many people encouraged him to publish but he often refused at times or failed to acquire a publisher。 Even when one of his works gain recognition in 1934 many critics found him too cerebral and unemotive， mystical due to his interest in astrology and religious cults。 He often failed to complete works of fiction and poetry， he refused to have set work hours（he did translations and business letters for a living）， get himself in serious debt but didn't he seem panicked at that fact and was never intimate with most of his friends。In my aim to understand one of my favorite modernist writers，I have come back full circle with a sense that yes I understand him a bit more but he remains alien。 His obsession with mystical pracitices， his disregard for ordinary people， and his unwillingness to be practical in most areas of life。 In a way， he was all too human， desperate for meaning in a meaningless world， a world becoming secular by the moment， his interest was also shared by WB Yeats and Rilke in his search for religious meaning。 I connect to him for I privilege the life of the mind as one of the most things a civilized society can protect if there is no time or money for the life of the mind there is no real freedom， I think he would have agreed with me on that point。 I share his love for literature and philosophy， with writers like Percy Shelley and Milton's fascination with language and meaning。 The best of writers you have to feel this connection that you both care about the important things of life， a common culture exists among many dead/alive writers and their readers。 I hope to reread Pessoa's works（the ones I have access to） and see his works in a new light。 。。。more
Myles
，