Conjunctions and Disjunctions

In a series of reflective essays, the Mexican-born Nobel laureate shares his observations on the complexities of human nature, the duality of the divine and the demonic, asceticism, eroticism, and comparisons of civilizations. Reprint.

Octavio Paz (1914-1998) was born in Mexico City. He wrote many volumes of poetry, as well as a prolific body of remarkable works of nonfiction on subjects as varied as poetics, literary and art criticism, politics, culture, and Mexican history. He was awarded the Jerusalem Prize in 1977, the Cervantes Prize in 1981, and the Neustadt Prize in 1982. He received the German Peace Prize for his political work, and finally, the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990.