All those threats

Before college: Anything you do that is your own or that is expressive of you causes your mother to suffer the greatest of tortures. Be still. Before graduate school: You cannot do anything and must get married so someone will support you, but you will not of course be able to marry anyone who loves … More All those threats

Paris Spleen 48

Vallejo read Baudelaire more assiduously than we even realize, and did this before getting to Paris although he refers to him most obviously there. “Anywhere out of the world” Cette vie est un hôpital où chaque malade est possédé du désir de changer de lit. Celui-ci voudrait souffrir en face du poêle, et celui-là croit … More Paris Spleen 48

A book from 1874

“Our American system of diet is altogether bad. There is too great variety, the food is too rich, the cooking is often very bad, we eat too frequently, and we eat at the wrong times.” “One of my sincere regrets in life is, that I prepared about fifty young men for college.” “In this country … More A book from 1874

La fatigue

I am running a marathon and I do not know when it will stop. I like all the things I am doing — although I could do without some of them. But I like them and I would like them more if I did not have to do each one so fast. If you have … More La fatigue

The crisis of modernity and of nation are crises of gender

What the student said, regarding La Malinche and more: the crisis of modernity is a crisis of gender … and the crises of Latin American national identities (especially the Mexican one, with the things Paz says, for example) are also crises of gender. People have written about this and it is a smart perception. ♦ … More The crisis of modernity and of nation are crises of gender