post-dia del libro
fortunately, last saturday went postcolonial moral dilemma-free. i went to instituto cervantes and it was alot of fun. i got there at around 4pm (of course, anokaya promised 3pm and arrived at like 6:30).
books! books! books!
there were alot of spanish books, some for as low as 20PHP. of course, i have no pretensions of actually being able to understand those so i ended up in the powerbooks,a different bookstore, la solidaridad & anvil section. too bad la solidaridad closed early, i was saving my cash since i doubted they accepted credit but when i came back their stall was closed na *pout*
interestingly, although i was wary of going there because the whole institution promulgated a narrative i didn't agree with, it apparently also became an avenue for its counter-narrative. there were books on the history of slavery during the spanish era, carlos bulosan's suicide inducing america is in the heart (and yes, the reason i say this is because i didn't have the heart to finish it or the stomach to deny my distaste for his affinity towards his new country), alternative filipino history, etc. so i was a happy academic camper:)
i got:
serious books:
- a question of heroes by nick joaquin - it basically looks into the lives of filipino "heroes" and (dare i say it) humanizes them while at the same time paints a wider picture of the revolt against spain as the "revolt of the illustrados" BRILLIANT! i have started reading this already.
- positively no filipinos allowed by antonio tiongson, ricardo gutierrez & edgardo gutierrez (i had to buy this for my thesis, hopefully it will see the light of day this year)
- gaydar by danton remoto (for 50PHP wadapak!) because i need to read up on G&L studies and go beyond the fucking queer theory. i know the book isn't particularly "academic" but i need to refamiliarize myself with the discourse anywho.
i think i'm forgetting another book from this list...
edit: i also got charlson ong's banyaga - my friend got me charlson ong's men of the east and other stories back when i was in sophomore college i think, and i positively loved it. how he captures the hybrid identity of filipino-chineses, especially 2nd generation ones (probably cause he was one) just blows my mind.
chuva books:
- diary by chuck palahniuk. because it was suggested by a couple of people.
- wicked by gregory maguire. because i have a feeling they will produce this in manila soon and i want to read it before i watch the musical.
overall i am elated but guilty because i once again bought too books when i haven't read all that i have lying around at home...i am also upset i haven't finished the unbearable lightness of being although it's been in my bag everyday for i think A MONTH already....i am so slow.
other things:
they were holding this poetry reading contest. most were in spanish but there were some in tagalog, english, german, french. so very UN. there was even one in mangyan. coolest. (yey, counter-narrative) this one chick read "a kind of burning" by dr. dimalanta and she was really going drama on it. which was kinda crappy because as much as there are allusions to romance, the poem is about death and cremation.
A Kind of Burning
Ophelia Dimalanta
it is perhaps because
one way or the other
we keep this distance
closeness will tug as apart
in many directions
in absolute din
how we love the same
tirvial pursuits and
insignificant gewgaws
spoken or inert
claw at the same straws
pore over the same jigsaws
trying to make heads or tails
you take the edges
i take the center
keeping fancy guard
loving beyond what is there
you sling at the stars
i bedeck the weeds
straining in song or
profanities towards some
fabled meeting apart
from what dreams read
and suns dismantle
we have been all the hapless
lovers in this wayward world
in almost all kinds of ways
except we never really meet
but for this kind of burning.
can you see it? dr. lising said so, that's good enough. mebe when i see dr. dimalanta i'll ask her. hahaha.
anywho, there were some drifters there who were absolutely pretentious and irritating the shit out of me. one of them asked me to write my name for a blank ballot which they will probably write the name of their friend on since the poetry reading thing was a contest. the same group was being noisy as hell while the film los lunes al sol was showing. buiset. as in food and talking and shit. its bad enough i have to watch it with subtitles. and going "sshhss" on them didn't help either.
there was also cheap alba food and cheap wine (some were for free), i got me a bottle of sangria since it was mura, just 145PHP! and i got all liquored up by my lonesome yesterday while trying to read a question of heroes.
yey to me.
books! books! books!
there were alot of spanish books, some for as low as 20PHP. of course, i have no pretensions of actually being able to understand those so i ended up in the powerbooks,a different bookstore, la solidaridad & anvil section. too bad la solidaridad closed early, i was saving my cash since i doubted they accepted credit but when i came back their stall was closed na *pout*
interestingly, although i was wary of going there because the whole institution promulgated a narrative i didn't agree with, it apparently also became an avenue for its counter-narrative. there were books on the history of slavery during the spanish era, carlos bulosan's suicide inducing america is in the heart (and yes, the reason i say this is because i didn't have the heart to finish it or the stomach to deny my distaste for his affinity towards his new country), alternative filipino history, etc. so i was a happy academic camper:)
i got:
serious books:
- a question of heroes by nick joaquin - it basically looks into the lives of filipino "heroes" and (dare i say it) humanizes them while at the same time paints a wider picture of the revolt against spain as the "revolt of the illustrados" BRILLIANT! i have started reading this already.
- positively no filipinos allowed by antonio tiongson, ricardo gutierrez & edgardo gutierrez (i had to buy this for my thesis, hopefully it will see the light of day this year)
- gaydar by danton remoto (for 50PHP wadapak!) because i need to read up on G&L studies and go beyond the fucking queer theory. i know the book isn't particularly "academic" but i need to refamiliarize myself with the discourse anywho.
i think i'm forgetting another book from this list...
edit: i also got charlson ong's banyaga - my friend got me charlson ong's men of the east and other stories back when i was in sophomore college i think, and i positively loved it. how he captures the hybrid identity of filipino-chineses, especially 2nd generation ones (probably cause he was one) just blows my mind.
chuva books:
- diary by chuck palahniuk. because it was suggested by a couple of people.
- wicked by gregory maguire. because i have a feeling they will produce this in manila soon and i want to read it before i watch the musical.
overall i am elated but guilty because i once again bought too books when i haven't read all that i have lying around at home...i am also upset i haven't finished the unbearable lightness of being although it's been in my bag everyday for i think A MONTH already....i am so slow.
other things:
they were holding this poetry reading contest. most were in spanish but there were some in tagalog, english, german, french. so very UN. there was even one in mangyan. coolest. (yey, counter-narrative) this one chick read "a kind of burning" by dr. dimalanta and she was really going drama on it. which was kinda crappy because as much as there are allusions to romance, the poem is about death and cremation.
A Kind of Burning
Ophelia Dimalanta
it is perhaps because
one way or the other
we keep this distance
closeness will tug as apart
in many directions
in absolute din
how we love the same
tirvial pursuits and
insignificant gewgaws
spoken or inert
claw at the same straws
pore over the same jigsaws
trying to make heads or tails
you take the edges
i take the center
keeping fancy guard
loving beyond what is there
you sling at the stars
i bedeck the weeds
straining in song or
profanities towards some
fabled meeting apart
from what dreams read
and suns dismantle
we have been all the hapless
lovers in this wayward world
in almost all kinds of ways
except we never really meet
but for this kind of burning.
can you see it? dr. lising said so, that's good enough. mebe when i see dr. dimalanta i'll ask her. hahaha.
anywho, there were some drifters there who were absolutely pretentious and irritating the shit out of me. one of them asked me to write my name for a blank ballot which they will probably write the name of their friend on since the poetry reading thing was a contest. the same group was being noisy as hell while the film los lunes al sol was showing. buiset. as in food and talking and shit. its bad enough i have to watch it with subtitles. and going "sshhss" on them didn't help either.
there was also cheap alba food and cheap wine (some were for free), i got me a bottle of sangria since it was mura, just 145PHP! and i got all liquored up by my lonesome yesterday while trying to read a question of heroes.
yey to me.