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Title: The Labyrinth of Solitude: The Other Mexico, Return to the Labyrinth of Solitude, Mexico and the United States, the Philanthropic Ogre
ISBN: 080215042X
Author:
Octavio Paz
Publicate Date: 1994-01-12
Publish: 1994-01-12
List Price: $14.50
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $8.10
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| Customer Review: |
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1: A beautiful book that belied by the truth
This is a beautifully wrought attempt to unearth and examine some of the deep differences between Mexican and Anglo-American cultures. When I first read it-and before I went to Mexico or knew many Mexicans-it seemed like this was the undiscovered key to understanding Mexico.
In some ways, it still is a valuable tool for interpreting Mexican public culture. What Paz calls 'the Mexican's willingness to contemplate horror' is still very much on display. Paz' description of Mexican language in The Sons of La Malinche' and his meditation on retributive justice in 'The Day of the Dead' are classics of anthropology, poetry and maybe even social science fiction.
More seriously, the moment in time-the post-revolutionary, pre-electronic decades from which Paz is speaking-is gone. Mexico has a substantial middle class that is connected to the world and whose view of things has undergone a profound transformation. The bourgeoisie that Paz so actively despised has won the day.
In fact, this sort of cultural summing up, attractive as it may be, has always stumbled on the disorderly facts of the multiplicity of individual lives.
So: read this and prize it for the insights it may give into this grand thing called Mexican Civilization, but don't be disappointed when the Mexico you meet rarely corresponds.
Lynn Hoffman, author of bang BANG
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2: A man of electric intelligence
Octavio Paz was a spirit who united an originality of vision with an intellectual rigor; a poet and political essayist deeply read in Western/Eastern thought as he was in the philosophical traditions (indispensable for knowledge). His razor-sharp mind immediately captured my attention with his witticisms, his irreverent reflections, his arbitrary opinions, his culture, and his valiant, insolent sincerity. This is the first of various books of caustic and penetrating essays of his country and fellow countrymen. Perhaps is too prolix for a foreigner who is not interested in all the details of Mexican politics, nonetheless it contains remarkable passages that illuminate the history of modern Mexico with another light, crueler but more real. Some of his passages are like the corridors of a lavish, sinister, and endless dream. This is somehow his philosophical and moral testament that is both moving and makes us reflect.
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3: Classic text but badly outdated
Prior reviewer Scott Henson is correct, this book does not adequately reflect modern Mexico of the 1990's to present. Some elements of Mexican character as described by Paz remain true, but generally this book does not describe modern middle class Mexicans very well at all, who, while still small as a class, are nevertheless very Western in their general lives.
Reading this now without an actual awareness of life in today's Mexico, you would think that the country is still populated by stoic indigenous peoples at the mercy of fates they don't understand.
While that is true for some sectors of the population, the country has become as modern as many European countries. In fact, Modern Mexico reminds me of post WWII Italy in so many ways. One foot in the future and one foot in the past, and struggling to keep their balance.
Try reading this book and then watching Y tu mama tambien or solo con tu pareja to see the differences, as well as the continuities, with Paz' essay...
Worth a read, but no longer so relevant as it was once. And don't be fooled into thinking that this is the Mexico you will find upon visiting.
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4: Interesting Book
The writing in this book is a bit thick and meandering, but it does give some interesting insight into a culture many Americans have a hard time understanding at a time when we need to understand the most. If you can handle the frequent revisiting of the same topics throughout the essays, you will learn quite a bit.
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5: Well Done, Octavio Paz!
Looking at this book through a young American male, undergraduate student, double-majoring in Integrated Social Studies (Education) and History's eyes, this book was challenging to read. However, as I once read recently in an education text, "if anything is odd, inappropriate, confusing, or boring, it's probably important" (Developing Readers and Writers in the Content Areas: K-12/Moore, Moore, Cunningham, and Cunningham, 2003, p. 28).
I am currently in a Latin American history class, and decided to read this book for an assignment. Not having a background in this area made reading some sections difficult and dare I say, boring (important)! However, I enjoyed reading the original book "The Labyrinth of Solitude" and his "Mexico and the United States" essay.
Some aspects that sparked my interest in particular in "The Labyrinth of Solitude" include his discussion of the following: the characteristics of Mexican men and women in comparison to their American counterparts, democracy, socialism, the Mexican economy in the late 1960s, love, and wealth in relation to birth.
The other section that captured my interest was his prose comparing the U.S. and Mexico. In this work, Paz writes about several of the major general differences between the U.S. and Mexico, including the subjects of religion, history, economics, their different ties with European countries, language, and the men/women of the two countries.
Hence, looking at The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings from an American viewpoint, there appears to be much of interest for the reader to learn about not only American culture and possibly some things wrong with it, but why Mexicans act the way they do and is their society as big of a mess as it seems from the outside looking in?
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