Huellas del peregrino. Vistas del México independiente y revolucionario. (Pilgrim Tracks

The centenary of the Mexican Revolution has not been as well received as might have been expected. Despite enormous cost and extravagant public displays in the Mexican capital and provinces last September, the impact of the revolution seems to have faded or inspired a combination of indifference and disgust. There is no longer a national project at work, although Mexico remains a deeply nationalistic country, thanks to the work and vision of generations of Mexican intellectuals who emerged in the aftermath of the 1910 revolution. Nobel Prize laureate Paz was the product of this watershed event. During the revolution, his father sided with Emiliano Zapata, whose assassination had serious repercussions for this once well-off family. Although Paz viewed himself principally as a poet, his essays and prose show his great ability for lucid reflection on themes dealing with Mexico's ambivalent sense of itself. Paz's El laberinto de la soledad (Labyrinth of Solitude) remains a classic text for making sense of the impact both Native American/Indigenous and Spanish legacies had on Mexico's psyche and political development. In the prolog of this handsome collection, Jean Meyer, the distinguished French historian of all things Mexican, writes of Paz's great capacity for historical analysis. The essays, criticism, articles, and excerpts are presented in chronological order, demonstrating Paz's acute power of observation regarding Mexico's intellectuals and the many factors that influenced the country's development. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries, as well as general bookstores.—Catherine Rendón, Savannah, GA