 As he grew older , he developed an interest in the Latin American writers Horacio Quiroga , Ciro Alegría , Jorge Icaza , Rubén Darío , and Miguel Asturias . Many of these authors ' ideas he cataloged in his own handwritten notebooks of concepts , definitions , and philosophies of influential intellectuals . These included composing analytical sketches of Buddha and Aristotle , along with examining Bertrand Russell on love and patriotism , Jack London on society , and Nietzsche on the idea of death . Sigmund Freud 's ideas fascinated him as he quoted him on a variety of topics from dreams and libido to narcissism and the Oedipus complex . His favorite subjects in school included philosophy , mathematics , engineering , political science , sociology , history and archaeology . 
