Lisbon, the Liminal City

“Here the sea ends and the earth begins.” - José Saramago

In my mind, Lisbon is famous for two things. Two of the most important things in life: good food, and good literature. I made sure to get my fill of both while I was there. Lisbon made it easy for me, as the city clearly idolizes its writers. Quotes by the poet Fernando Pessoa and the novelist José Saramago were proudly displayed on banners along the sidewalks around Commerce Square. 

Pessoa (1888-1935) is probably the most famous Portuguese-language poet, and author of  The Book of Disquiet, which baffled me when I attempted to read it in uni. He seemed to have lived a life detached from politics and ordinary human affairs. Saramago (1922-2010), on the other hand, was a Nobel-prize winning novelist as well as a vocal member of the Portuguese Communist Party.

It was shockingly easy to find traces of Lisbon’s literary history. On our uphill trek back to our hostel, an odd statue caught our attention. It resembled a giant man with a book for a head. On closer inspection, we noticed that the front cover of the book was inscribed with “Pessoa,” while the back was inscribed with “Lisboa.” A plaque on the wall behind the statue informed us that the poet Fernando Pessoa was born in that building on June 13th, 1888. 

There is a second monument to Pessoa nearby, a lifelike statue of the poet sitting outside the lively Cafe a Brasileira, which had been one of his favorite haunts. There is an empty chair at Pessoa’s table, inviting anyone who passes by to sit with him. 

There are also museums dedicated to both Pessoa and Saramago in Lisbon, and we visited the José Saramago Foundation near the waterfront. None of us had actually read any of his writing yet, but it was still fascinating to learn how impactful and far-reaching his work has been. 

Saramago’s subversive ideologies are evident in his novels, and he faced censorship from the Portuguese government, which prevented him from winning a literary prize. He became a ‘literary refugee,’ and spent the last years of his life in the Canary Islands. 

On the top floor of the Foundation, there is a library full of Saramago’s works. On the table, we found a long list of books which have been banned by the governments of various countries around the world. It seems the Foundation is doing its part to continue Saramago’s legacy by advocating against literary censorship. 

On the touristy Pink Street, we found a quiet bookshop-bar called “Menina e Moca,” where we could rest for a while, surrounded by books. I purchased a copy of The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by Saramago there, and we enjoyed some heavenly-warm pastel de natas with espressos. We flipped through a collection of translated poems by Pessoa, curious to see what all the hype was about.

We were swiftly seduced by the mysterious and contemplative mood of his poetry. Here is one of my favorite fragments:

…I see the last star glowing

above the stub in my ashtray

I smoked life away. How uncertain

All I saw or read!

And the whole world, a vast open book,

Smiles at me in an unknown language.

-Fernando Pessoa

Pessoa was famous for investigating the nature of existence and identity. The poet believed that identity was fluid and fragmented. During his life, he existed like a ghost, adopting various alter-egos. One of these was Ricardo Reis, who Saramago later used as the protagonist of his novel, The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis.

 In the novel, the ghost of recently-deceased Pessoa haunts Reis. Pessoa and Reis are simultaneously one shared identity, and two separate beings. Reis outlives Pessoa by one year, observing the turbulent political climate of the 1930’s from a detached, outside perspective.

Next door to Menina e Moca is a little seafood restaurant which was visited by another famous writer; Anthony Bourdain. The celebrity writer/chef may not have shared much in common with the esoteric novelist Saramago, but Bourdain also found Lisbon inspiring. He was particularly fond of its offerings of pork and fresh seafood. 

This restaurant is Sol e Pesca, where diners select their dishes from a shelf of canned seafood. 

We sat at a little table and ordered smoked sardines in a pool of oil, codfish cornbread, and a squid-ink linguine with tuna and vegetables, served cold. The flavors were the perfect balance of briny and refreshing, evocative of the estuary that Lisbon is built on…as Anthony Bourdain might say.  

After our meal at Sol e Pesca, we ventured uphill through the nocturnal city, following the gleaming lines of the tram tracks. My head was reeling a little, still drunk on scrumptious food and vino verde. It was after 9pm, but the oldest bookshop in the world, Bertrand Chiado, was still open. The bookshop has a large selection of books in different languages, which was entertaining to explore. It wasn’t anything too unusual to look at in itself, but its history is testament to Lisbon’s long legacy of booksellers and writers. 

As soon as I began reading The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, I understood how much Lisbon must have inspired Saramago’s writing. His prose perfectly captures the surreal atmosphere of this labyrinthine, colorful, yet decayed city. 

Lisbon is a liminal city that spills downhill towards the sea, frequently awash in a veil of mist and rain. It lies on the often-blurred border between land and sea. This makes it the perfect dreamlike setting for the story of Ricardo Reis, a man in-between life and death, dreaming and waking. Which is why leaving Lisbon on a rainy morning just like the one described at the beginning of Saramago’s novel, felt like waking up from a delightful dream. 

Blog Updates:

It’s time to get serious guys! 

In the coming months, I will be improving the blog and turning this site into a writers’ portfolio, with links to my published work. I plan to start updating the blog on a monthly basis. I am also starting a Substack, where I will post more regularly on a variety of topics around travel, living abroad, and literature. 

Substack is a really cool site with a lot of talented writers. When you subscribe to a writer’s site, you get their content sent directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe to mine here:  https://substack.com/@audreyherrin

Also, my piece “Blood and Sand,” about attending a bullfight in Granada, has been picked up by Intrepid Times magazine! I am officially a paid writer!