A review by spaghettification
The Complete Works of Alberto Caeiro: Bilingual Edition by Fernando Pessoa

challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

There's not much I can say about Alberto Caeiro that hasn't already been said more eloquently by Pessoa scholars so I will say this - Caeiro is my favorite Pessoa heteronym. I love the way he's a contradiction; a keeper of sheep without any formal education who simply wants to commune with nature without analyzing it...and yet, all he does is analyze it - in fact, he analyzes it like someone who's read a lot of poetry before! Plus, as someone who suffers from depression, Caeiro hits all the right spots for me...He believes that thinking is suffering and that we would all be happier if we simply felt and observed what's around us and let those sensations guide us instead of letting our brains slowly destroy us. Pessoa almost certainly created Caeiro as a way to cope with his own suffering and overthinking and it's easy to see how it would've helped him through his feelings. If you like the wonderfully bucolic Walt Whitman you'll definitely like Caeiro just as much, if not more!