New in the Lending Library - Read with us!
Introducing Poet and Writer - Fernando António Nogueira Pessoa
Fernando António Nogueira Pessoa was a poet and writer whom I was not familiar with until two wonderful visitors from Portugal walked into Chez Alpha Books. We were the first stop on their trip in Dakar, and they came to donate Fernando Pessoa's I AM THE SIZE OF WHATEVER I SEE.
It is sometimes said that the four greatest Portuguese poets of modern times are Fernando Pessoa. The statement is possible since Pessoa, whose name means ‘person’ in Portuguese, had three alter egos who wrote in styles completely different from his own. In fact, Pessoa wrote under dozens of names, but Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis and Álvaro de Campos were, their creator claimed, full-fledged individuals who wrote things that he himself would never or could never write. He dubbed them ‘heteronyms’ rather than pseudonyms, since they were not false names but “other names”, belonging to distinct literary personalities. Not only were their styles different, but they thought differently, they had different religious and political views, different aesthetic sensibilities, and different social temperaments. And each produced a large body of poetry. Álvaro de Campos and Ricardo Reis also signed dozens of pages of prose.
The critic Harold Bloom referred to him in the book The Western Canon as the most representative poet of the twentieth century, along with Pablo Neruda. When he died, his room revealed a treasure trove: a trunk full of thousands of unpublished pages that proved his genius and cemented his legacy as a literary legend who loved his city in the most wonderfully strange way and who led a wildly imaginative life inside his head, dreaming up his whole crew of alter egos.
It is sometimes said that the four greatest Portuguese poets of modern times are Fernando Pessoa. The statement is possible since Pessoa, whose name means ‘person’ in Portuguese, had three alter egos who wrote in styles completely different from his own. In fact, Pessoa wrote under dozens of names, but Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis and Álvaro de Campos were, their creator claimed, full-fledged individuals who wrote things that he himself would never or could never write. He dubbed them ‘heteronyms’ rather than pseudonyms, since they were not false names but “other names”, belonging to distinct literary personalities. Not only were their styles different, but they thought differently, they had different religious and political views, different aesthetic sensibilities, and different social temperaments. And each produced a large body of poetry. Álvaro de Campos and Ricardo Reis also signed dozens of pages of prose.
The critic Harold Bloom referred to him in the book The Western Canon as the most representative poet of the twentieth century, along with Pablo Neruda. When he died, his room revealed a treasure trove: a trunk full of thousands of unpublished pages that proved his genius and cemented his legacy as a literary legend who loved his city in the most wonderfully strange way and who led a wildly imaginative life inside his head, dreaming up his whole crew of alter egos.
The Lending Library at Chez Alpha Books
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Reading is Fundamental
"The true university of these days is a collection of books". Thomas Carlyle
Some may ask, “Why read a book?” In response, books allow us to travel without leaving the house; we can slip them in our bags and crack them open as we wait for the bus or read quietly while enjoying the last glass of attaya. Books connect us to the diversity in the world around us, exposing us to new ideas and experiences. Compared to the cost of a college course, one book is relatively inexpensive and our library loan program allows books to circulate
throughout the community.
Originally established solely as a new bookstore the lending library was organized later to provide the community much needed access to a wide range of books in English. Consisting of almost 2000 fiction and non-fiction books for readers of all ages, the lending library members include individual students, families and Chez Alpha also works collaboratively with various educational institutions providing them access to English books. Students utilize the library in order to complete required assignments while other readers drop by for a quick visit, become hooked and continue to stop by for a monthly supply of good reading materials. Some library members travel great distances for the pleasure of borrowing books. Other visitors are merely in Dakar for a two week vacation and having heard about Chez Alpha feel the need to come and read just for the afternoon. Whatever your reason for visiting the library, we share your addiction to books and welcome passionate readers from around the world!
Some may ask, “Why read a book?” In response, books allow us to travel without leaving the house; we can slip them in our bags and crack them open as we wait for the bus or read quietly while enjoying the last glass of attaya. Books connect us to the diversity in the world around us, exposing us to new ideas and experiences. Compared to the cost of a college course, one book is relatively inexpensive and our library loan program allows books to circulate
throughout the community.
Originally established solely as a new bookstore the lending library was organized later to provide the community much needed access to a wide range of books in English. Consisting of almost 2000 fiction and non-fiction books for readers of all ages, the lending library members include individual students, families and Chez Alpha also works collaboratively with various educational institutions providing them access to English books. Students utilize the library in order to complete required assignments while other readers drop by for a quick visit, become hooked and continue to stop by for a monthly supply of good reading materials. Some library members travel great distances for the pleasure of borrowing books. Other visitors are merely in Dakar for a two week vacation and having heard about Chez Alpha feel the need to come and read just for the afternoon. Whatever your reason for visiting the library, we share your addiction to books and welcome passionate readers from around the world!
LENDING LIBRARY AT CHEZ ALPHA BOOKS
“The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.” ― Albert Einstein
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Chez Alpha Books-Cite Africa (Ouakam) Behind YumYums / +221 77576 0784 +77 6426383
