From Publishers Weekly
"I am not writing my memoirs," claims Nobel laureate Paz in this posthumously published autobiographical essay, though in charting the development of his political convictions, the Mexican poet and writer furnishes readers with a rich history of his intellectual life. Though he was born into a privileged family in the early years of the Mexican Revolution, a brief period spent in Los Angeles when his Zapatista father was forced to flee the country gave Paz a taste of what it was like to be an outsider. Perhaps as a result, international Communism attracted him as a young man, and he enthusiastically supported the movement until Stalin's excesses forced him to make a painful break with youthful ideals and friends like Communist stalwart Pablo Neruda. Paz's belief that there is a fundamental difference between systemic revolutions (like Communism) and popular revolts (like the Mexican Revolution) grounds much of his work; personally, he felt a similar divide between mind and soul, and came to believe that only criticism, "our sole moral compass in private and in public life," gives us the tools to reconcile reason and passion. The long essay "Itinerary" is bookended by two shorter pieces, one an essay explaining Paz's best-known work, The Labyrinth of Solitude, the other a letter in which he describes the town of Mixcoac, where he grew up. Supplemented by a foreword by Charles Tomlinson and an afterword by translator Wilson, these three texts constitute a valuable overview of a distinguished career. Though the book may be read as an introduction to Paz, the essays presuppose some prior knowledge of his oeuvre and will be best appreciated by those already familiar with his major work. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
"Itinerary is somewhat autobiographical," says Paz, "for it is the story of the evolution of my political ideas." This is the final work of the Nobel prize winner, who died in 1998. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"A brilliant stylist balancing the tension of East and West, art and criticism, the many and the one in the figures of his writing."-The Nation


Book Description
Itinerary is somewhat autobiographical, for it is the story of the evolution of my political ideas. An intellectual biography but also a sentimental and even passionate one: what I thought and think about my time is inseparable from what I felt and feel. Itinerary is the story and description of a journey through time, from one point to another, from my youth to my present moment. The line that traces this plan is neither straight nor circular but a spiral that turns back ceaselessly and ceaselessly distances itself from the point of departure. What we are living today brings me close to what I lived seventy years back and, simultaneously, irremediably and definitively distances me. Strange lesson: there is no turning back but there is no point of arrival. We are in transit. Itinerary is the final work of a great thinker and magnificent writer.



Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish


About the Author
Octavio Paz was born in 1914 and died in 1998. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990 and is the author of The Labyrinth of Solitude. Charles Tomlinson is a leading British poet and translator. Jason Wilson is a professor of Latin American Literature at University College, London.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

From the Nobel Prize-winning essayist and poet, a memoir - the story of the evolution of Octavio Paz's political ideas.

"Itinerary is somewhat autobiographical, for it is the story of the evolution of my political ideas. An intellectual biography but also a sentimental and even passionate one: what I thought and think about my time is inseparable from what I felt and feel. Itinerary is the story and description of a journey through time, from one point to another, from my youth to my present moment. The line that traces this plan is neither straight nor circular but a spiral that turns back ceaselessly and ceaselessly distances itself from the point of departure. What we are living today brings me close to what I lived seventy years back and, simultaneously, irremediably and definitively distances me. Strange lesson: there is no turning back but there is no point of arrival. We are in transit."

Itinerary is the final work of a great thinker and magnificent writer.

About the Author:

Octavio Paz was born in 1914 and died in 1998. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990 and is the author of The Labyrinth of Solitude.

Charles Tomlinson is a leading British poet and translator.
Jason Wilson is a professor of Latin American Literature at University College, London.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

"I am not writing my memoirs," claims Nobel laureate Paz in this posthumously published autobiographical essay, though in charting the development of his political convictions, the Mexican poet and writer furnishes readers with a rich history of his intellectual life. Though he was born into a privileged family in the early years of the Mexican Revolution, a brief period spent in Los Angeles when his Zapatista father was forced to flee the country gave Paz a taste of what it was like to be an outsider. Perhaps as a result, international Communism attracted him as a young man, and he enthusiastically supported the movement until Stalin's excesses forced him to make a painful break with youthful ideals and friends like Communist stalwart Pablo Neruda. Paz's belief that there is a fundamental difference between systemic revolutions (like Communism) and popular revolts (like the Mexican Revolution) grounds much of his work; personally, he felt a similar divide between mind and soul, and came to believe that only criticism, "our sole moral compass in private and in public life," gives us the tools to reconcile reason and passion. The long essay "Itinerary" is bookended by two shorter pieces, one an essay explaining Paz's best-known work, The Labyrinth of Solitude, the other a letter in which he describes the town of Mixcoac, where he grew up. Supplemented by a foreword by Charles Tomlinson and an afterword by translator Wilson, these three texts constitute a valuable overview of a distinguished career. Though the book may be read as an introduction to Paz, the essays presuppose some prior knowledge of his oeuvre and will be best appreciated by those already familiar with his major work. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal