In Light of India (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "In 1951 I was living in Paris..." (more)
Key Phrases: karmic law, New York, United States, Congress Party (more...)

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: 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 (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #447,567 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Michael J. Mazza (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

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

By A Customer

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An amusing but miguided adventure., June 4, 1998

By	Jayendran Rajamony([e-mail]) (Rhode Island, USA) - See all my reviews

Paz's comments on Indian literature are eminently enjoyable. His commentary of ancient sanskrit poetry is very entertaining.

His opinions on politics and nationalism seem to indicate prejudices formed from other Western interpretations of India. A country which may have some amusing aspects, but which is by and large populated by the ignorant and the poor. And if at all there is anything good in India, it must have come from Europe. Paz too recites the same idiocies. Gandhi is portrayed more as a product of Western thought, than of Indian philosophy. While Indian nationalists are likened to religious fanatics, Tamils (of whom I am one), Paz says, "are separatists." The only thing I would like to be separate from are such pathetically ignorant statements.

Misinformed commentaries on the Gita can be classified into two --- those that insult the reader's intelligence and those that reflect the writer's ignorance. Paz's comments on the Gita probably fall in the latter category. While he accepts Krishna's words that the Self neither kills nor dies, he seems to worry about the "suffering" that war brings. Paz seems unable to comprehend that the Self which cannot die or kill can also not suffer. Gita is about "save himself, not how to save others" for Paz, because he fails to see the underlying Advaita. It is surprising that someone as perceptive as Paz missed the point about how "himself" and "others" are really the same.