LitWit Challenge: Cramming the Philippines
Look at this stack of books: The Lost Language: Stories by Marianne Villanueva, Flames and Other Stories by Angelo R. Lacuesta, Waking the Dead and other horror stories by Yvette Tan, Cory: An Intimate Portrait, and The Flip Reader. You can win all these books by joining this week’s LitWit Challenge.
The situation: Brad and Angelina are coming to the Philippines with their friends George and Matt. They know very little about our archipelago, other than the fact that it has been ravaged by typhoons (although Mark and Russell have told them all about PacMan). Brangelina and Co. would like to know more about the Philippines before they get here; they’re very busy people but they will have time to read one book on the plane.
The question: What book should they read? Why? Don’t limit yourself to travel guides; you can recommend novels, history or anthropology books, poetry, anything, and it doesn’t have to be the work of a Filipino author.
Post your answers in Comments before midnight on Tuesday, 24 November 2009.
The Weekly LitWit Challenge is brought to you by National Bookstore.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
November 21st, 2009 at 05:53
Much of how this country is today is due to the fact that we had to fight for what little freedom we enjoy today. Renato Constantino says that ours is a history of struggle. The following books would provide some background:
1. Noli and Fili by Rizal which gives a glimpse of the Spanish occupation, especially abusive monastic rule. I would give them the translations by Soledad Lacson-Locsin which is said to be the best.
2. When The Elephants Dance by Tess Uriza-Holthe, a story about the Japanese occupation and American intervention in the Philippines with a touch of magic, similar to Gabriel Garcia-Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. This book poignantly reminds one of the line in Bayan Ko: “Sa At sa kanyang yumi at ganda, dayuhan ay nahalina; bayan ko, binihag ka, nasadlak sa dusa.”
3. Eating Fire and Drinking Water by Arlene Chai, a dramatic satire of Martial Law written by an Australia-based Filipino, which would probably enlighten them as to why Filipinos cherish the post-martial law freedom, however limited it may be.
Also, it would be nice to see the Philippines from a young perspective and so the Youngblood series would also be a good read for the bakasyonistas.
November 21st, 2009 at 09:45
Empire of Memory by Eric Gamalinda. a contortion of philippine history. accuracy doesn’t matter because what we and world really remember is the fiction we create around these islands.
November 21st, 2009 at 17:47
The Myths – Compiled and Edited by Damiana L. Eugenio.
November 21st, 2009 at 18:53
Mga Kwento ni Lola Basyang
November 21st, 2009 at 20:23
My Friends in the Barrios by Juan Flavier. It’s a candid account of the Philippine rural life. it’s a bunch of anecdotes so it would be convenient to read on a trip. who knows, maybe they’d head for the barrios as well and Brangelina will end up adopting their (is it 7th?) child.
November 22nd, 2009 at 15:31
Volume 10 of the “Kasaysayan: A History of the Filipino People” encyclopedia issued by Reader’s Digest back in 1998 during the Philippine Centennial celebration. That volume features the timeline of Philippine recorded history and geographical history dating back thousands of years up to 1998. Of course a lot has happened since 1998, but Brangelina can just google them or check YouTube for news clips.
November 22nd, 2009 at 23:30
rosario cruz lucero’s “feast and famine,†because some of the stories in this collection can pass for novellas! they incorporate cultural and historical references, and are written with relentless grace.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:07
F.H. Batacan’s Smaller and Smaller Circles. Nothing but a good detective book by a local talent. I’m sure they’ll love it.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:15
A Different Love: Being a Gay Man in the Philippines
by Margarita Go Singco-Holmes, Ph.D.
~~Hopefully they could kill bigotry when they get here…
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:07
I suggest they read a book on the rules on how to adopt a Filipino child, so they will not have any problems taking home one.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:10
I would recommend “Tikim: Essays on Philippine Food and Culture” by Doreen Fernandez. More than just being a collection of food reviews, Tikim gives a good glimpse into the Filipinos’ way of life: our quirks, our habits, our beliefs, and even our notions on gender, family, love and everything else in between.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:11
Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon.
And they’ll probably make a movie version of it starring themselves.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:14
oh, and this … http://www.psbi.org/site/DocServer/Philippines_Adoption_Process.pdf?docID=468
November 23rd, 2009 at 15:46
Bob Ong Books – I don’t know kung nandun pa rin yung Power pag trinanslate na sa English ang mga salita ni Bob Ong. I like them to read Macarthur because it is very down-to-the-estero Filipino and Brad Pitt might produce a movie version of the Book.
Twisted 1-8 – No major translation needed. It will give them enough information about the Pinoy Pop Culture of 20 years or so.
The Swank Style Blog – they’ll like the artistic sensibilities of the Pinoys through this one.
Mondomanila and Responde – they will feel the gritty atmosphere of the Philippines at the comfort of their Boracay hotel room.
Tanong: di ba mas madali kung ipapanood na lang sa kanila ang mga pelikulang Filipino? Subtitles lang ang babasahin nila plus they’ll get the images of Manila with the movies. I’ll actually recommend Big Time, Maxi Oliveros and Serbis.
November 23rd, 2009 at 19:07
i would personally recommend “Sa Labas ng Parlor”by Honorio Bartolome…
of course it should be written in full english except the gay linggos otherwise they should have an interpreter beside them from Hortaleza House of Beauty…
November 23rd, 2009 at 20:17
1)
Not to suck-up to you Jessica, but I have to say Twisted 8. Among other potentially useful essays in the book for Brangelina, there’s this one a la blog entry (I think title is Alternate/Alternative Universe) that says something about the rich here “getting away with everything, because they own pretty much everything.†In 1000 words (more or less), it even touched our feudal and colonial past, Marcos and Aquino cronies, the vicious cycle of poverty in the country, the fenced subdivision of Forbes where when you enter, you’ll seem to be on an entirely different country altogether, etc,… And then still managed to end with humor. Brangelina would be enticed by the book (of course with the trademark Zafra irony) to stay and live in the country, because the rich will always have it best here… and the rest (the poor), however dire the circumstances. always find something to laugh at
2)
If someone can translate Filipino to English fast, I would recommend any thing by Norman Wilwayco. Upfront, honest, funny, even his utility of language captures where the Filipino writing style and the Filipino youth are heading. Sample this one short story . This and the other stories in the collection called Responde would also let the couple know that amidst the squalor and struggle, we’re the bunch that always look at the bright side of life (with a whistle!). Smile our legendary Pinoy welcoming smile to every visitor every time.
November 24th, 2009 at 07:26
The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings. I think Pinoys are a lot like hobbits. Hobbits don’t wear shoes, our men don’t like wearing shirts. Hobbits like to drink and smoke. Hobbits like to give away gifts on their birthdays, we’re expected to treat everyone else on our birthdays. And honestly? Not a lot of Pinoys will choose adventure over comfort. But the worst of us are orcs.
November 24th, 2009 at 10:53
I think that Philippine Lit. is too often marred by a tendency to be too maniacal, too over-the-top. Most of the time we are treated to a lurid parade of overblown characters and situations. When in reality, no one really gives a damn one way or another what Imelda Marcos is on about, or about our “lost” Spanish heritage.
A welcome relief, then, is James Hamilton-Paterson’s “Playing With Water: Passion and Solitude on a Philippine Island”. The author writes about his times spent spearfishing for his own food on the small island of Tiwarik. Along the way, he offers personal reflections on life in rural Philippines, and offers glimpses into their inner lives, as well as his own. I can’t explain it, but it is intensely moving, in a silent way.
Also not to be missed (if Brangelina have the time) is “Eye Of The Fish” by Luis Francia.
November 24th, 2009 at 23:56
I have two suggestions. I am originally going by the first. I am unsure of its admissibility; I made it up.
1. I was inspired by my notes in Grade 1 Civics and Culture [Remember “Sibika at Kulturaâ€? (= ]. I have this dream travel guide/country primer/coffeetable book (and I had it copyrighted). Basically, things are going to take off from children’s drawings of what they love or what they are proud of about this blessing of our country. My notes have awkward scrawls of the Chocolate Hills, the Sulu Sea, etc. They follow notes about those “likas-yaman†(The days…). In the book, though, instead of a bulleted Powerpoint slide, if you know what I mean, accompanying are their equally-awkwardly scribbled memories, impressions, and clips of sights and sounds they took away with them. There will be more than just the obvious tourist attractions (calling “Likas-yamanâ€), to include personalities, living and historical and most importantly, experiences unique to our country, like that cool halu-halo or a ride in the colorful jeepney. Now, the effervescence of the thought bubbles! Like, say how a trip to a white Christmas in the US midsummer is just a skip and a hop away – a halu-halo from a neighbor’s stand just across the street – as told by a clever lola, of course, or how a bumpy jeepney ride is a rollercoaster “courtesy†of corruption, as he /she deduced from adult conversations overheard or eavesdropped on. Or a “bugtongâ€. Then, for “Philippine primer propernessâ€, all of the above will be supplemented by the guide prose, in fine print though, to avoid focus shift. Brangelina and gang have reference in case their busy jetsetter minds have a bit more time to spare. I believe kids capture the register of travel well with the unaffected expression of their thoughts and how they do not omit the little details.
2. The collection of Philippine riddles published by the UP Press. Perfect for the profiles in the brief. They are “haikus†of the Filipino culture, psyche, ethos, values, society, and more importantly, wit encoded. Crack it, and a la that egg candy Kinder Surprise, you get yourself a toy—the answer! Now, what will they think of this timid reserved people once they get to the riddles that involves the awkward parts of the human anatomy lecture, even in nursing school?
P.S. I was completely oblivious to Brangelina’s Baby United Colors of Benetton Project when I came up with the first.