Living The Book of Disquiet
Every so often, I sit down and write a letter to Fernando Pessoa, the Portuguese poet and writer.
I not only write but also send each letter to the postal address where Pessoa spent the last fifteen years of his life before dying at the age of 47 with cirrhosis of the liver - most likely due to alcoholism.
He hasn't written back to me yet, even though I put my own name and address on every missive I send (Steve W., 111 Ruskin Gardens, Kenton, London, HA3 9PY).
One day he, or someone very much like him, will perhaps write back.
I live in hope.
- Update frequency
- every 16 days
- Average duration
- 29 minutes
- Episodes
- 11
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2024
Schubert's Ghost: Essence and Nihility (Fragment 363)
This episode is about Schubert's awful and awesome bohemian life/music/death; a Victor Hugo sonnet from "Les Contemplations" ("La mort et la beauté sont deux choses profondes"); K.G. Nishitani on Nih…
Fragment 88: The Father of My Soul
A "Father Archetype" soul collage for Pessoa’s Fragment 88: “Who am I, finally, when I’m not playing? A poor orphan left out in the cold among sensations, shivering on the street corners of Reality…
Fragment 307: Basic Trust (The Song Thrush)
An audio-visual Soul Collage created in response to Fernando Pessoa’s Fragment 307 (from The Book of Disquiet): “AESTHETICS OF DISCOURAGEMENT Since we can’t extract beauty from life, let’s at leas…
Fragment 32: Lucid Dreaming
“An episode chiefly inspired by 10 seconds of animation by Alyssa on her YouTube channel.
Check out THE FULL TWELVE SECOND video here.
Also inspired by the following quote from fragment 32 of Fer…
Fragment 31: Beyond The Pleasure Principle
“The clock in the back of the deserted house (everyone’s sleeping) slowly lets the clear quadruple sound of four o’clock in the morning fall. I still haven’t fallen asleep, and I don’t expect to. The…
Fragment 29: Don't Dream It's Over
In today's missive of disquietude (Fragment 29), Fernando talks about waking to a rain-washed dawn that gives way to “triumphant” blue skies—a beautiful morning in which he feels melancholic rather t…
Fragment 144: Sunday Mornin' Coming Down
In today's fragment of Disquiet, Fernando describes waking to a rain-cleansed Sunday, unveiling blue skies—a lovely morning that evokes melancholy as well as joy. He wanders aimlessly, the various Su…
Living (The Book of) Disquiet: Desassossego, Saudade, Tedio
In this episode I re-interrogate my reasons for creating a Book of Disquet cover-version by exploring some of the nuances between the word "desassossego" (restlessness, uneasiness, anxiety) in Portug…
Fragments 12-28
Fragment 12: Pessoa sees his random writings as an unimportant autobiography and a way to unwind like solitaire.
Fragment 13: Pessoa feels his writings are as insignificant as his life next to the v…
Intro: Resonating With The Book of Disquiet
My aspirations for how we might “live” Fernando Pessoa's The Book of Disquiet together.