This collection of essays recalls the author's days in India, first as an attache in the Mexican Embassy, then 11 years later as Mexico's ambassador. He brings insight into India's landscape, culture and history in a series of discourses. "The Antipodes of Coming and Going" is a remembrance of the sights, sounds and smells of the subcontinent. "Religions, Castes, Languages" gives a survey of Indian history". "A Project of Nationhood" is an examination of modern Indian politics, comparing the respective Islamic, Hindu and Western civilizations through the course of history. "The Full and the Empty" is an exploration into what Paz calls the soul of India, its art, literature, music and philosophy, and an indictment of the self-centred materialism of Western society. Octavio Paz is the author of "The Double Flame: Essays in Love and Eroticism".
- ISBN10 1860464254
- ISBN13 9781860464256
- Publish Date 1 November 1997 (first published 12 January 1990)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 8 March 2005
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Vintage Publishing
- Imprint The Harvill Press
- Format Paperback (UK Trade)
- Pages 224
- Language English