Nick Joaquin (1917–2004)

The Manila of Nick Joaquin's time is very different from the Manila that I was born in. And yet, too often I could see myself in his sentences. There's my religious trauma, there's my adamant quest for freedom, and there is the intergenerational conflict that I grew up and still grapple with. It's true. Our generation and our parents' generation speak in different languages, literally.

My favorites from this collection:
The Order of Melkizedek - about the clash of traditional Catholic worldviews and alternative movements in a society heavily influenced by American counterculture
Cándido's Apocalypse - an ode to petit bourgeois parents and their "overacting" teenage children
The Mass of St. Sylvestre, Doña Geronima, May Day Eve - just fun tales that double as criticism of the church… (mehr)

The book was a quick and easy read. It was a "nice" social commentary at first. The main character Bobby or Candido believes that he is better than other people like his parents, who are pretentious and as he would say "overacting". He sees these persons for who they really are or rather he sees what they really are (he sees them naked). Later it becomes about God, about finding God. I love how Nick Joaquin stressed the importance of people, love and God. No man is truly an island.

However, I believe that the story would be conveyed better in Filipino. Some words are lost in translation. If i misunderstood how a word is used I would translate the word in Filipino to truly understand what Nick Joaquin really wants to convey. He also likes run-on sentences thus sometimes I get so confused.… (mehr)