My Intellectual Journey: From Marxism to Liberalism
This 85-page trilingual booklet features the transcript of a talk delivered on October 16, 2013 in Montreal by Peruvian Nobel Laureate in Literature Mario Vargas Llosa on the occasion of a conference organized by the Montreal Economic Institute.
In this talk, Mr. Vargas Llosa explains why, in his youth, he believed in communism, like many intellectuals of his generation, and also how, through his disillusionment and his questioning, he discovered another vision, one of liberty, tolerance and democracy.
He puts special emphasis on the numerous thinkers and philosophers whose works influenced him, such as Raymond Aron, André Gide, George Orwell and Karl Popper. One of the most fascinating parts of his tale concerns his attitude toward Cuba, whose communist model he at first admired, only to later denounce its authoritarian aspects once he realized that authors and homosexuals were being persecuted there.
The talk was improvised in English on the basis of notes, then transcribed, edited and translated into French and Spanish to make this booklet, with the author’s permission. It also contains, in all three languages, a bibliography of Mr. Vargas Llosa’s main works, as well as a preface written by Michel Kelly-Gagnon, President of the Montreal Economic Institute.
A few colour photos from the event and some black and white photos of Mr. Vargas Llosa dating back several decades (for example, speaking with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir) are also included in this edition.
The booklet is available in those bookstores: Amazon – Kobo – Barnes & Noble – Apple – Renaud-Bray.
Links of interest
Media release: The MEI is publishing a speech by author Mario Vargas Llosa, 2010 Nobel Laureate in Literature