In Light of India [Hardcover]

Octavio Paz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 1997

“One of the most brilliant and original essayists in any language” (Washington Post Book World) reflects on the six years he spent in India as Mexican ambassador-and reveals how the people and culture of that extraordinary land changed his life. Translated by Eliot Weinberger.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Anyone who knows India, or simply dreams of her, will find Octavio Paz's fascinating new book In Light of India spellbinding. Paz was Mexico's Ambassador to India from 1962 until 1968; during his six years in that ancient and multicultural country, he befriended poets, politicians, and ordinary Indians, and soaked up quite a bit of India's history and tragedy in the process. The eleven essays collected here are framed by an introduction and a farewell, and divided among three sections entitled "Religions, Castes, Languages," "A Project of Nationhood," and "The Full and the Empty." In each, Paz weaves the strands of religion, art, culture, and politics as he takes the reader on a tour of India's past and present.

Paz writes with great authority on a variety of subjects, from architecture and poetry to the history of Hindu-Muslim relations on the subcontinent. But some things are beyond the comprehension of an outsider. Though he makes a heroic attempt to explain the intricacies of the caste system, the tragedy of the untouchables remains problematic. This book conveys an India at once seductive and perilous, one that will hold your interest and inspire your wanderlust until the very last page.

From Library Journal

The Nobel laureate and ambassador to India in the Sixties, Paz infuses these three essays on India's history and culture with "perceptive comparison...between India and his native Mexico."
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1st edition (March 25, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151002223
• ISBN-13: 978-0151002221
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,334,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that bridges continents, December 21, 2000

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Light of India (Paperback)

"In Light of India" is a book-length, multi-part essay in which Mexican poet Octavio Paz discusses the complex political, religious, and artistic worlds of India. Paz, who had served as his nation's ambassador to India, writes with insight and obvious affection for his subject.

Paz is a masterful prose writer. His style is smooth and clear, and full of sage-like statements. Consider this observation: "Dialogue between a poet and a saint is difficult because a poet, before speaking, must hear others--that is to say, the language, which belongs to everyone and to no one. A saint speaks with God or with himself, two forms of silence" (p. 118).

Paz covers many topics: India's ancient history, the conflict between Hindus and Muslims, the caste system, classical Sanskrit poetry, and more. But, as he notes, the book is not meant to be an exhaustive scholarly treatise. Rather, it is a very personal view of India: "this book. . . is the child not of knowledge but of love" (33). And as such, the book is rich in interesting anecdotes and fascinating insights, from Paz' account of his meeting with the guru Mother Ananda Mai to his reflection on the influence of Rabindranath Tagore upon Pablo Neruda.

"In Light of India" is a marvelous companion volume to Salman Rushdie's "The Jaguar Smile": in that volume of essays, a writer from the Indian subcontinent reflects upon a Latin American country (the reverse of Paz' project). But on its own, Paz' book is a wonderful volume both for fans of Latin American literature and for those interested in India.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just brilliant., October 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: In Light of India (Hardcover)

A welcome change to see things through a great poet's eye. Brilliant comparisons of the cultures of two great countries Mexico and India, a culture that died and a culture that still lives and is thriving.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging yet Uncertain, April 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: In Light of India (Paperback)

Kudos to Paz for discoursing on India's nationhood, religion and caste. Uncertainty is the underlying theme in this book. Unlike Mexico, India proves to be a bigger (and alien) challenge to Paz's analytical and intellectual ability and at the start of the book the reader wonders - will this be the Indian Labyrinth of Solitude?

Paz's love for India and his desire to find answers to (paradoxical?)questions engages him in a duel that is serendipitous for him and cahallenging yet enjoyable to the reader. His bafflement is typical in a land where `one man's ceiling is another man's floor'. You can contest every assertion he makes - but wait! A few paragraphs later he himself is left questioning his earlier assertions. What starts out as an exercise in `jnana yoga' (comprehension through knowledge) in the end turns out to be a discourse without conclusions. But as Paz mulls and ponders, his vexations and observances transform itself into a wonderful literary offering of bhakti- an expression of love and admiration for India and its richness and complexity - an offering of devotion that supersedes comprehension.