He looked about thirty, thin, rather above average height, exaggeratedly bent over when seated but less so when he stood up, dressed with a certain negligence, which was not entirely negligence. It happened that when I would come in to eat at around seven o'clock, I would almost always see an individual whose appearance at first did not interest me but little by little did begin to interest me. These second-story eateries, usually empty except on Sundays, frequently contain curious types whose faces are not interesting but who constitute a series of digressions from life.ĭuring a certain period of my life, a desire for peace and low prices made me a regular at one of these second-story restaurants. In Lisbon there are a few restaurants or eating houses located above decent-looking taverns, places with the heavy, domestic look of restaurants in towns far from any rail line.

Pessoa invented short-story writers, translators, philosophers, an astrologer, a baron who committed suicide, and a hunchbacked, lovelorn woman by the name of Maria Jose - more than 72 creations, by some accounts. He invented a prolific critic, whose writings in English promoted Portuguese literature. Pessoa not only created poets he also gave them their champions. He created poets who wrote in French and in English, one of whom wrote sonnets that were described by the Times of London as more Shakespearean than Shakespeare. The fourth was 'Fernando Pessoa,' another invention, according to the author.Įach of Pessoa's writers was distinctive and different.

One invented writer was a doctor and classicist a second was an unlettered genius, a paesano who lived in the country a third was a naval engineer and bisexual dandy who traveled the world. Arguably, the four greatest poets in the Portuguese language were all Pessoa using different names.

The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa