In Filipino folklore, there are creatures that are reviled as often as they are revered. Among them, you have some big baddies like the manananggal (a winged shapeshifter that can detach its upper torso from its lower body and feeds on unborn babies), the mangkukulam (a witch for hire should you need to place a… Read More Get Cozy with the Supernatural: FLY BY NIGHT AND OTHER STORIES
“Why is it that we all share a single vision, but no one knows how to get there?”“How can we know? We do not even have an idea who we are.” Vin dela Serna Lopez’s historical novel 1762 seems bowed down by the weight of its author’s baroque prose. Throughout the entire novel, this reader… Read More 1762 by Vin dela Serna Lopez : When the Philippines Almost Became British
Now that THE PREYING BIRDS (Mga Ibong Mandaragit) by Amado V. Hernandez has been translated into English by Danton Remoto for Penguin Random House SEA in 2022, this reader finally got the chance to read a book I’ve been hearing about for so long, by an author recognized as a National Artist for Literature. What… Read More The Preying Birds (Mga Ibong Mandaragit) is a Prayer Across Generations
“The chief glory of every people arises from its authors.” Debatable to some, for sure. But I am inclined to agree with Samuel Johnson, and with Susan Sontag. Especially after having read The Three-Cornered Sun. The Philippine War of Independence is usually summed up as a racial conflict that the Filipino Katipuneros waged against Spanish… Read More Exploding Galaxies’ “The Three-Cornered Sun” by Linda Ty-Casper : A Contrapuntal Composition
Reading both Marga Ortigas’ books is a lesson on the myriad of ways truth can be told, whether thinly disguised as fiction, or in outright non-fiction. Marga Ortigas has two books out by Penguin Random House SEA, and this reader’s reactions couldn’t have been more different to them both. I had to force myself to… Read More The Truth According to Marga Ortigas
I love romance books. There was a time I used to read nothing but romance. I read romance back when it was looked down upon, so my book club friends and I took to wrapping those bodice ripper covers in opaque wrapping paper. (Today, if you dare raise an eyebrow at romance readers, it’s YOU… Read More All’s Fair in Love and Work: A Romance Set in the Philippine Publishing World
This was my first book from Everything’s Fine’s REQUIRED READINGS series, and I enjoyed the experience so much, I look forward to collecting the others! Short enough to be read over a prolonged coffee, but offering a lot to mull over… it’s perfect for that quick read-and-reflect break over a weekend. This particular slim volume… Read More Reading Tinio on His Birthday
“The time of the great West has passed. Now it is the time for the East to rise from the shadows.” There has been a movement over the past few decades, a call to replace Jose Rizal’s NOLI ME TANGERE (nicknamed Noli) and EL FILIBUSTERISMO (Fili) in the school curriculum with this book. When I… Read More Can this book replace Noli and Fili in our classrooms?
“Lei the lovers. Petal all passion. Garlanded thus, the world was tolerable.” Exploding Galaxies‘ pioneer publication is an under-appreciated masterpiece, by any measure, that sets such a high expectation for their succeeding titles. Where do we sign up to pre-order Book 2? The multi-sensory pleasure begins when one picks up the book. Exploding Galaxies is… Read More Exploding Galaxies’ Pioneer Publication: But For The Lovers
“For certain things, like love, there was only so much time.” There are authors who are put in the canon for a reason, whose works are analyzed and studied by English majors for generations. Reading Gregorio Brillantes’ 500 page collection of 39 short stories is just like seeing the past 90 years of Philippine history… Read More The Brilliance of Gregorio C. Brillantes
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