Ultraviolins

by Khavn De La Cruz

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Khavn De La Cruz is a Filipino filmmaker, poet, and musician known for his prolific, experimental, and avant-garde work across various mediums. Often called the "father of Philippine digital filmmaking" and the "father of the Philippine No Wave movement," he uses his art to deliver sharp social commentary and agitate against marginalization.

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, Ultraviolins is the first postmodern collection of short stories in Filipino.

Try this if you've read and like Edgar Calabia Samar's Walong Diwata ng Pagkahulog (4 stars) and Norman Wilwayco's Mondomanila (3 stars) as they currently-available post-modern novels in Filipino. If not, you might find this pointless and decide to throw this unfinished in the garbage can. If you do that, I will not blame you. This is a post-modern book and definitely not for everyone.

I also recently read and really liked James Joyce's Finnegans Wake (5 stars) so when I started reading this book, I did not get disoriented. Joyce's beautiful prose was still fresh in my mind and reading a book very similar in style made my experience very interesting. Why very interesting? Because it is written in my native language, Filipino (Tagalog). Well, the book is a bilingual: the texts on the left pages are in Filipino and on the right pages are in English. Since the stories or poems were originally written in Filipino, I read the left pages and from time-to-time also tried the ones on the right pages.

As usual, I will be capturing my reactions below after reading a story or poem (or chunks of them) in this collection:

1) adulterero / the adulterous man. 5 STARS
Mind-blowing. It brilliantly captures the chaotic mind of an adulterous man. It is frank: says what it wants to say without any inhibitions and pretensions. Example: "Walang pangit sa titing galit."

2) amerika / amerika. 3 STARS
This seems not to have one clear message so I guess to appreciate this, one has to deduce whatever one wants to believe as a take away. I would like to think that there is an anti-U.S. undertone but not really sure. For one America here can be the country or can be something else. But still the writing is gorgeous.

3) ang bahista / the bassist. 4 STARS
I think that there is a bromance between Tom and Paul but again I am not really sure. Maybe it is just my imagination because I am not sure about Khavn de la Cruz's sexual preference so I cannot say for sure.

4) k. ang bagong katipunan / k. the new brotherhood. 2 STARS
Not sure what this is all about. Quite forgettable except those lines that seem to capture different meaningless emotions. We sometimes feel those anyway so I guess these lines were written by Khavn from different days in his life and then he just collated them and put in this one set of work.

5) dedbol / deadball. 3 STARS
Khavn's imagination can go anywhere and I like it because it seems to have no limits. I mean if the author pushes his imagination this far, it is like looking at those blot ink images and your answers can reveal something regarding your personality. So, it is like Khavn's baring his soul to us by telling everything going on in his mind, however crazy or out-of-this-world those are.

6) ang ipis sa loob ng basurahan / the cockroach inside the trashcan. 3 STARS
I like it when the the cockroaches and the human beings seem to have a blurring line separating them. It felt like Planet of the Apes when cockroaches become like human beings. However, I still prefer Manix Abrera's story about cockroaches.

7) isang gabi / one night. 5 STARS
When I read this, fleeting vivid scenes came flashing in front of me like a series of Powerpoint slides. Very powerful storytelling in very short sentences. Precise and cohesive. The scene that binds the pictures? Brownout.

8) ang nangyari sa ibong adarna pagkatapos ng kanta / what happened to the adarna bird after the song. 3 STARS
This put a smile on my face this morning but, overall, it just did not really fly. It suffered because of this brevity, I think.

9) noktuno / nocturne. 2 STARS
Not difficult to understand and it felt like not really a post-modern story. Had this story not been included in this collection, I would have rated this with at least 3 stars. Best part: what a horny man regrets in losing the chance of fucking a very fuckable girl.

10) ang pamilyang kumakain ng lupa / the family that eats soil. 5 STARS
This really pushed my sanity to the edge. The story of a family that eats nothing but soil (I am not kidding). So, I just read and read and was ready to give this a 3-star rating. The writing is good but I did not feel anything. Until the last few sentences when Khavn asks: "Get it?" The nerve, I told my self. But the next few sentences made me laugh... out loud. He GOT me!!!

11) ang rapist sa puso ko / the rapist inside my heart. 3 STARS
Some parts are nevertheless brilliant, shockingly and brutally brilliant. But there seems to be no unifying theme and the whole point is just to shock. The use of dead action heroes also somehow leave a bitter taste to Khavn's mouth because they are supposed to be resting in peace now. Making them utter those vulgar words feels like a desecration of their memories. I saw Pacquito Diaz on TV before he died of cancer and he was too different from the villain (rapist) that I used to watch when I was young.

12) sm: mga lamang-isip ng isang maswerteng serial killer at ang mga malas niyang biktima / sm: the mind-contents of a lucky serial killer and his unlucky victims. 5 STARS
Nice concept. The serial killer and the victims in alternating monologues. I felt sorry for the small boy. I cheered for the serial killer for one of the victims. Kill him! Kill him! but I will not tell you who that victim is. I had to go back and read the narratives again to get the whole impact because reading them separately and having interruptions while reading this part, made me feel that I missed the message. Good decision. I appreciated it more.

13) tanaga sa ateneo / tanaga in the ateneo. 5 STARS
First it seemed odd to have this in the collection. Why the Ateneo? Till I realized that Khavn used to (or still teaches?) in that school. Also, first I thought that Khavn is this indie filmmaker who is not formally schooled. Wrong. He has a masteral or even a PhD in literature and this story proves what he knows. It has in-depth yet crazy (but brilliant) take on Filipino literature. Filipino here is used as a name of the person but one cannot miss that fact that he is talking and defending about our national language but oh in so subtle way.

14) ang tao bilang makakalimutin / man as forgetful. 3 STARS
Same style as #7 but this lacks the depth. Its about forgetting so many things and unlike #7, this did not really triggered those flashes of images in my mind. In short, no magic. Some of the utterances do not have meaning and the whole idea seems pointless. However, I still enjoyed some of the individual parts if only because of the humor.

My first Khavn de la Cruz and I am just blown away. To say that I am impressed is an understatement.

I really liked this book that I yesterday I found myself holding another Khavn de la Cruz book and I almost bought it! I thought I would ask my reading buddy Ayban first before buying it. It is so much fun to have someone to discuss post-modern works because each of us could have different interpretations.

Thanks for introducing Khavn to me, Ayban. You rock!

[renzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun read but too violent for my taste, i mean what did i expect from a book titled "ultraviolins". the postmodern style didnt throw me off as much as i thought it would. it was a good trip all in all, 3.5 stars
i laughed... i cried... i experienced joy and sorrow in death and rebirth... charot


favorite stories by preference: ang pamilyang kumakain ng lupa (Amazing), sm: mga lamang-isip ng isang maswerteng serial killer at ng mga malas niyang biktima (great), amerika (nice), tanaga sa ateneo (cool), dedbol (cool)

[Maan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book #68 for 2012: I will not even attempt to describe this book. You have to read it and find out for yourself. All I can say is that the book broke something in me. A profound headtrip. There's something about reading a story in Filipino on one page and in English on the other. May pagkakaiba pala talaga. Kakaiba. Para akong nag-basa ng isang indie film. I don't know. All I know is that the book affected me. Violent.

Favorite lines:

pinatay namin si gago. tang-inang puti yon, akala niya siguro makakaisa siya. e iisa lang sya, kami ilan? isandaan. hindi naman. lima lang. pero tang-ina siya. pano pa siya kakasa niyan, basag na bungo nya. -k. ang bagong katipunan

ingglesin mo naman ako, sige na, yung dere-deretso, para pwede kitang barilin. i-french mo naman ako, please, yung hindi ko maintindihan, para pwede kitang saksakin. hapunin mo naman ako o, korewa korewa nihonjin, wakades wakades urara, para pwede kitang hapunanen. -k. ang bagong katipunan

[Levi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Demented 'post-modern' stories. Ultraviolence (from Burgess's Clockwork orange) is without doubt Khavn's specialty, vividly more evident in his films. The chilling gore, the dark and grim survival-of-the-fittest ambiance of his films, however, are only nominally present in this collection of stories. The 'post-modern' element in the stories of course make them interesting, but the treatment of violence almost bordered on what Fredric Jameson called the 'waning of the affect'; that is, Khavn exploited violence too much to the point that its essential brutality has disintegrated. Violence is not only a source of fun for the author, but the author also interpellates the reader to participate in the 'fun'. To put simply, 'Ultraviolins' transformed violence into a hobby, a recreation, literally, like reading a book.

[Oward Bodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of poetry, microfiction, and short plays from the venerable wild child of contemporary Philippine cinema. Some selections, including "Ang ipis sa loob ng basurahan", "k. ang bagong katipunan", "ang pamilyang kumakain lupa", and "ang rapist sa loob ng puso ko" are brilliantly conceived and piercing in their commentary on Philippine life. The others are unfortunately more wanting in their execution, and some pieces ("Adulturero" immediately comes to mind) just shouldn't have been included.

Nevertheless this is a useful introduction into the aesthetic conceits of a prominent Filipino artist. The energy and intensity of Khavn's literary work almost rivals his films, though this could have been better off with just a little bit more editing.

[Mang Kimok · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mga tipong babasahin kapag trip mong magpakabuang o magpakawasak hehe.

Pinakagusto kong kwento ay yung Nokturno, Ang Bahista, at Isang gabi. Hindi mga bizarre gaya ng ibang kwento dito pero may eeriness silang nangingibabaw sa iba.

Natuwa rin ako dun sa Ang Tanaga sa Ateneo na ala-Borges.

Nakakatawa yung Dedbol.

Basahin n'yo kung gusto nyo sumali sa K ang bagong Katipunan, at maging Adulterero, serial Killer, rapist sa puso ko, na kumakain ng lupa, at manirahan sa pinagpalang Amerika para maging taong makakalimutin pero dating ipis sa loob ng basurahan matapos kantahan ng Ibong Adarna.

[Ivan Labayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

amen without an "n"