I'm nearly a month behind, Nicie (the last couple weeks hiding out on Maine islands), but wanted nevertheless to say you really hit a sweet spot for me with this sad and lovely postcard from the threshold of Pessoa's world. It's a fine writer who finds the nexus where Joni, Pessoa's Disquiet, hard grief, and hard walking meet. There's an echo perhaps of Pessoa's own multiplicity, his heteronyms, as we work our way down streets of sorrow, alleys of small joys, and unending paths where our eyes are all we have left. (Listen to Dylan's Dirt Road Blues for a version of the latter.)Then again, maybe that's just travel.
Pessoa's voice was manifold, by design, but in recalling the voice in Disquiet (which now I think I have to read again) the glib phrase which just came to mind is 'shaman without a cause.' There's the great depth and great presence of his voice, and the written fragments like torn corners of dreams arriving in a disorder (despite the editors'/translators' efforts) which nonetheless feels like intangible order, but all in service of what exactly? Given my current writerly view of the world, I suppose I could call him a voice in the desert of Anthropocene purposelessness, perhaps, or a mournful shipping clerk unclear on why we're all rowing in the direction of the Great Acceleration, though that all sounds a bit too cute.
Anyway, this is all to say I loved this post. Thanks for all you're doing, and look after yourself as you walk through the grief. Be well.
Dear Jason, Good for you. Summer hideouts are the best! Thanks for the kind words and I will absolutely check out Dirt Road Blues. "all in service of what exactly?" is a perfect question for that book, which I didn't have the space to get into. His narrator in this book says things that are literally inimical to what I think of as my core values, and it was kind of bracing to let myself embrace those ideas (politics is useless, activism is a performative farce, community, friendship -- meh) ever so briefly in a time of trial, frustration, and sadness. And then let them go. Loved your last post, BTW. Have a great rest of summer!
I'm nearly a month behind, Nicie (the last couple weeks hiding out on Maine islands), but wanted nevertheless to say you really hit a sweet spot for me with this sad and lovely postcard from the threshold of Pessoa's world. It's a fine writer who finds the nexus where Joni, Pessoa's Disquiet, hard grief, and hard walking meet. There's an echo perhaps of Pessoa's own multiplicity, his heteronyms, as we work our way down streets of sorrow, alleys of small joys, and unending paths where our eyes are all we have left. (Listen to Dylan's Dirt Road Blues for a version of the latter.)Then again, maybe that's just travel.
Pessoa's voice was manifold, by design, but in recalling the voice in Disquiet (which now I think I have to read again) the glib phrase which just came to mind is 'shaman without a cause.' There's the great depth and great presence of his voice, and the written fragments like torn corners of dreams arriving in a disorder (despite the editors'/translators' efforts) which nonetheless feels like intangible order, but all in service of what exactly? Given my current writerly view of the world, I suppose I could call him a voice in the desert of Anthropocene purposelessness, perhaps, or a mournful shipping clerk unclear on why we're all rowing in the direction of the Great Acceleration, though that all sounds a bit too cute.
Anyway, this is all to say I loved this post. Thanks for all you're doing, and look after yourself as you walk through the grief. Be well.
Dear Jason, Good for you. Summer hideouts are the best! Thanks for the kind words and I will absolutely check out Dirt Road Blues. "all in service of what exactly?" is a perfect question for that book, which I didn't have the space to get into. His narrator in this book says things that are literally inimical to what I think of as my core values, and it was kind of bracing to let myself embrace those ideas (politics is useless, activism is a performative farce, community, friendship -- meh) ever so briefly in a time of trial, frustration, and sadness. And then let them go. Loved your last post, BTW. Have a great rest of summer!
Photos are exquisite.
Are you familiar with Pilot Imposter by James Hannaham, which is, in part, a response to Pessoa? It's SO interesting!
Never heard of it! Thanks so much, Rebecca. Will definitely look. I think there is also this Saramago response. https://twitter.com/polostya/status/1530529713466245121?s=21&t=ZKKUbWpLxzYYX_iwd-bJwA
There's a David Naimon interview with Hannaham on Pilot Imposter that is wonderful (naturally) -- a great follow-up after reading it or further motivation to pick it up. Thanks for the Saramago tip! https://tinhouse.com/transcript/between-the-covers-james-hannaham-interview/
Oh, fantastic. David's interviews are so rich.