Fernando Pessoa

This is more so I remember than anything else. I'm probably about to get quite pissed, and this is the kind of thing I'd forget under these circumstances.

I was talking with a friend today, and he was reading The book of disquiet by Fernando Pessoa. It ties in with a number of things I've been thinking about. It's very exciting. I love how these things come along just when they are needed.

He had as many as 75 heteronyms (as opposed to pseudonyms – see here), who each had their own biography, interests, styles, and even horoscopes. My favourite is the one who died from TB in 1915, but who kept on producing poetry until 1930.

Funnily enough, I'd just been chatting to another friend, and in the course of that wide-ranging discussion had mentioned that we are not singular, unified selves, but a conglomeration of warring factions. And then along comes Pessoa, who took that idea to its logical extreme.

The book of disquiet looks like a good read. It's made up of fragments, originally written on scraps of paper and not in any particular order. Flicking through it, I came across quite a number of quotable quotes. Being an idiot, however, I didn't note any down.

Unfortunately, even if the library has it, I owe them too much money to take it out right now. This is probably a good thing, come to think of it, as I should really be concentrating on my essay at the moment – and getting ready for our crit next week, the only one we have this semester.