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lizetteratura's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
i didn't really hit it off with pessoa as i thought i would, but i only liked his odes under Alvaro de Campos
amenaelkayal's review
3.0
It has some really nice poems and a few lovely quotes but it's mostly repetitive
paromita_m's review against another edition
I try to separate art and artist, however the vicious misogyny and certain disturbing actions by Pessoa as delineated in his biography have unfortunately bled into his fiction for me and left me unable to practice this separation.
I therefore leave this book unrated.
I therefore leave this book unrated.
sundayblues's review against another edition
4.0
“I didn't know then that I was happy.
I know it now, because I no longer am”
I know it now, because I no longer am”
jaimieee's review
5.0
4.5 - what to say? pessoa is a portuguese icon and his works are heavily steeped in saudade… this huge collection is something to read slowly, given the enormous amount of existential angst that pessoa explores through his personas. because of this, it can also become very repetitive in theme, but wow. so many Feelings.
yuefei's review
3.0
Didn't vibe with Pessoa and his countless heteronyms as much as I'd hoped I would – more than slightly disappointed. Might just be a matter of taste (or laziness), but I really cannot stand the (seemingly convoluted) wordplay and literality (not to mention use of symbolism long overused). But what paradoxically redeems his poetry for me is that all the points I previously mentioned in criticism also protrude sorely to make me reconsider my taste for poetry in how it pushes literality and convention to the point of unconventionality. But it still remains that most of the poetry, although interestingly written, failed to provoke any desire to unravel them from the tangles of metaphysical wordplay and tired existentialism.
But in spite of all of this, there were definitely more than a few gems that resonated and, more crucially, allowed a glimpse of the "forms of expression... which, as it breaks the limits of definite thought... violate the rules of logical meaning."
But in spite of all of this, there were definitely more than a few gems that resonated and, more crucially, allowed a glimpse of the "forms of expression... which, as it breaks the limits of definite thought... violate the rules of logical meaning."
lookhome's review
5.0
-To think about God is to disobey God,
Since God wanted us not to know him,
Which is why he didn't reveal himself to us... (15-Alberto Caeiro)
-I lack the divine simplicity
Of being only my outer self (25-Caeiro)
-My mysticism is not wanting to know.
It's living and nothing thinking about it (33-Caeiro)
-What was is nothing, and to remember is not to see (40-Caeiro)
-I try to forget the way I was taught to remember (42-Caeiro)
Maybe this is the same reason Pessoa didn't really publish all that often under his own name... It feels odd reading this collection and not to worry, this did take a very long time to read and to calm those jumping to conclusions, I'll say that it's not because it wasn't good but rather because it is excellent.. I'm not sure where to begin.
The poems are funny, philosophical and varied. They consist of compelling images and odd juxtapositions. The varied voices capture here are all fantastic poets though I had a very hard time reading Alvaro De Campos's longer poems and took a hiatus as a result.
Overall, the poetry in the collection are consistently surprising, questioning, searching and bursting open doors and windows, obliterating whole rooms of tired, dry or non-engaging poetry.
- I made the journey, bought the useless, found the indefinite (230-De Campos)
Will add more excerpts when time permits.
Since God wanted us not to know him,
Which is why he didn't reveal himself to us... (15-Alberto Caeiro)
-I lack the divine simplicity
Of being only my outer self (25-Caeiro)
-My mysticism is not wanting to know.
It's living and nothing thinking about it (33-Caeiro)
-What was is nothing, and to remember is not to see (40-Caeiro)
-I try to forget the way I was taught to remember (42-Caeiro)
Maybe this is the same reason Pessoa didn't really publish all that often under his own name... It feels odd reading this collection and not to worry, this did take a very long time to read and to calm those jumping to conclusions, I'll say that it's not because it wasn't good but rather because it is excellent.. I'm not sure where to begin.
The poems are funny, philosophical and varied. They consist of compelling images and odd juxtapositions. The varied voices capture here are all fantastic poets though I had a very hard time reading Alvaro De Campos's longer poems and took a hiatus as a result.
Overall, the poetry in the collection are consistently surprising, questioning, searching and bursting open doors and windows, obliterating whole rooms of tired, dry or non-engaging poetry.
- I made the journey, bought the useless, found the indefinite (230-De Campos)
Will add more excerpts when time permits.
not_a_bagel's review
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Because of the heteronyms used by Pessoa, there's a wide variety of styles. I liked some way more than others, like how I really enjoyed Alvaro Campos but didn't like Ricardo Reis's poetry, despite it all really being the same person.
eren_reads's review
reflective
4.0
“To love is to think.
And from thinking of her so much, I almost forget to feel.”
And from thinking of her so much, I almost forget to feel.”