It is interesting to note how the psychology of great artists varies to extremes. In common, their sincerity. But how they differ, for example, in the vision they have of their own work! On one hand, examples such as Kafka and Flaubert, in whom the work seems not only bad, but it hurts them, it afflicts them to have to create it and to see it, because they are guided by something like a necessity. On the other hand, there are figures like Nietzsche and Pessoa, where the discouragement in front of the mirror not only seems non-existent, but often we notice a striking immodesty. What to conclude? It is evident that great art is a destination to which multiple paths lead.
Tag: literature
The Book of Disquiet, by Fernando Pessoa
I reread this formidable The Book of Disquiet and feel compelled to toast it with a few words. Impresses not only its originality, but also the poet’s unique ability to sustain the atmosphere that is characteristic of him. Alternating descriptions and thoughts, revealing an entire inner universe of a very ordinary “bookkeeper’s assistant” from Lisbon, there are three hundred and fifty harmonious, rhythmic pages that express a meditative mental state and a very refined perception. The poet manages to be acute, powerful, and sometimes cruel without seeming so, in a prose so beautiful that it blinds itself against any repulsive sentiment and soothes the reader’s spirit. Great art, great philosophy, immortal pages. Hail, Pessoa!
The Agreement With the Poet
Thanks to Pessoa, I open a volume on astrology. The author, already in the introduction, warns me: “If you don’t believe in the principles of what will be exposed in this work, then it will be of no use to you.” I gratefully close the volume and move on to the next. There is no doubt that astrology works: one just has to open a dating app. But, in short, a belief? Studying to confirm, to support a belief? Why not the opposite? Despite my efforts, the agreement with the poet does not seem to come. It is in dismay that I notice: the mosquito of belief has not bitten me.
It Is Impossible to Read Latin Without Being in an Absolute State of Concentration
It is interesting to note how impossible it is to read Latin without being in an absolute state of concentration, without the mind turning entirely to understanding the text. The eyes, if they run dispersed through Latin lines, do nothing but waste their time. And what about these classics? Add to the need for uninterrupted effort any kind of divine illumination—this, of course, after a few years of daily study. Oh, language…