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[heraclitus]

I drive now. My father has a 1998 silver Ford Taurus SE which I get at night time. He is capable of driving at night, but only just due to iriditis, which is some sort of congenital inflammation of the iris, and because one of his retinas briefly detached itself from his eye, and because he has cataracts. None of this is sufficient to get his

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[vexed_vitality]

Having driven for about three and a half years now, and being similarly given to such ruminations, I cannot but thoroughly agree with this excellent reflection on the "phenomenology of driving," if you will. That said, if your car runs out of windshield solvent periodically, why should it be unexpected? :-) But I nitpick. Good to see you posting again, even if only occasionally ( and unexpectedly!).

Have you read anything by the 20th century Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa? If not, it is a matter of absolute urgency that you read The Book of Disquiet. I stumbled upon and bought it by chance a few weeks ago. I'm most of the way through it and it's one of the greatest things I've ever read. His poetry is really good too. Once I've read and digested a satisfactory amount of his material I'll almost certainly write a long, detailed post about him. I've already been trying to spread word of Pessoa's awesomeness to anyone who will listen. Hardly anyone I know seems to have heard of him, and it's a travesty that he's not much better known, though it gladdens me to learn that since the 1990s there's been a rediscovery of him, of sorts. If you already are familiar with him I'd love to hear any thoughts you may have.

[heraclitus]

I've heard of Pessoa, but never read him. I'll check him out.

Also, the car runs out of windshield fluid periodically but unexpectedly because I usually forget how long it's been since I filled the fluid up.

Recommended places to start

[vexed_vitality]

The Book of Disquiet, translated and edited by Richard Zenith: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Disquiet-Penguin-Classics/dp/0141183047/sr=8-1/qid=1171924620/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5002875-9371114?ie=UTF8&s=books

There are a handful of translations of Pessoa's magnum opus around, but Richard Zenith seems to be the preeminent Pessoa scholar, and he even lives in Lisbon. I will be recommending his translations throughout.

A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe: Selected Poems: http://www.amazon.com/Little-Larger-Than-Entire-Universe/dp/0143039555/ref=pd_sim_b_3/104-5002875-9371114

I own this too and I haven't read much yet, but I already love what I've read. If you can't find that, Zenith did this a few years ago, which seems to be a slightly less expansive collection with much of the same stuff, but I haven't gotten around to comparing their contents, so it's possible this has some stuff that A Little Larger Doesn't: Fernando Pessoa & Co: Selected Poems: http://www.amazon.com/Fernando-Pessoa-Co-Selected-Poems/dp/0802136273/ref=pd_sim_b_4/104-5002875-9371114

The Selected Prose of Fernando Pessoa: http://www.amazon.com/Selected-Prose-Fernando-Pessoa/dp/0802139140/ref=pd_sim_b_2/104-5002875-9371114

I'm borrowing this from the NSU library right now. It includes a lot of the major prose from Pessoa's other heteronyms. I haven't gotten to read much yet but I'm sure I will enjoy it, based on everything else.

Just so it doesn't seem like I'm a Zenith-zealot who has no perspective, I have read some of the following translation of his poetry, by Edwin Honig and Susan M. Brown, but I didn't like it as much as Zenith's: http://www.amazon.com/Poems-Fernando-Pessoa/dp/0872863425/ref=pd_sim_b_4/104-5002875-9371114

I hope you end up as amazed by him as I am!