What do you think?
Rate this book
Reportage on Lovers: A Medley of Factual Romances, Happy or Tragical, Most of Which Made News
Classic Oriental Love--as in the tale of a Japanese girl who asked her Filipino lover neither marriage nor even affection but simply the permission to serve him and slave for him until he should find himself a wife.
Modern Cosmopolitan Love--as in the glamorous affair between a young Filipino sportsman and an international beauty that had for settings Manila, Long Beach, and an old city of the Conquistadores.
Tragic Cold-War Love--as in the drama of the Displaced Person from behind the Iron Curtain and the ballet dancer who chose to share with him, in Madrid and in Manila, his Dark Night of the Soul.
These are among the portraits of lovers collected in this album of true love stories. Plus the portrait of a hip chick from then Swinging London as she discourses indelicately on a most delicate topic: the Filipino as Lover.
Modern Cosmopolitan Love--as in the glamorous affair between a young Filipino sportsman and an international beauty that had for settings Manila, Long Beach, and an old city of the Conquistadores.
Tragic Cold-War Love--as in the drama of the Displaced Person from behind the Iron Curtain and the ballet dancer who chose to share with him, in Madrid and in Manila, his Dark Night of the Soul.
These are among the portraits of lovers collected in this album of true love stories. Plus the portrait of a hip chick from then Swinging London as she discourses indelicately on a most delicate topic: the Filipino as Lover.
- GenresNonfictionShort Stories
159 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
15 people are currently reading
339 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 26, 2016
Nick Joaquin assumes the identity of his journalistic alter-ego in telling a quick succession of tales of, among many others, stolen kisses, inter-municipal liaisons, and love not at first sight but on second thought. There are only so many permutations of true love stories, whether ending in joy or tragedy, one can report before one shades into tedium, but Quijano de Manila seems equipped with a limitless writerly faculty that makes an otherwise dull and repetitive collection even more interesting, and at times stranger, than fiction.
October 3, 2015
Either you look at it as the Filipino's adoration of anything foreign, even when it comes to lovers; or the foreigner not just falling in love with the Filipino but becoming Filipinos themselves.
Personal favorites:
1. Love Me, Love My War; or, L'Amour Among the Activists
2. The Mystery of the Murdered Bigamist
I liked them most because these are the only two stories that did not involve (a) foreigners and (b) happy endings.
Personal favorites:
1. Love Me, Love My War; or, L'Amour Among the Activists
2. The Mystery of the Murdered Bigamist
I liked them most because these are the only two stories that did not involve (a) foreigners and (b) happy endings.
April 14, 2013
Pinoys and our undying love for foreigners :)
August 29, 2022
This is my first ever Nick Joaquin book and I am amazed by his writing style. No wonder he is a National Artist here in the Philippines.
The stories in here are somewhat repetitive in terms of the theme which is people from other countries falling in love with Filipinos and it is where most of the stories revolved around. Tho most of them are alike in nature, Sir Nick Joaquin managed to tell different stories in a way that it is easy to read and understand. I just wish that there were more diverse stories told in this book, focusing on love and being a Filipino. Nevertheless, it was a fun read.
The stories in here are somewhat repetitive in terms of the theme which is people from other countries falling in love with Filipinos and it is where most of the stories revolved around. Tho most of them are alike in nature, Sir Nick Joaquin managed to tell different stories in a way that it is easy to read and understand. I just wish that there were more diverse stories told in this book, focusing on love and being a Filipino. Nevertheless, it was a fun read.
May 24, 2017
If you fell in love no matter want happened you'll find a way to make your love story a happy ending. This book shows the different shades of a love story if its a happy ending or tragic ending.
June 10, 2020
Love stories that made news in the sixties, so effortlessly narrated, shifting from saccharine to laconic as the stories unfold, by that cynic romantic, Nick Joaquin.
It's not so much the love stories that fascinated me. It was more the sepia-hued window into the ghosts of love affairs past that drew me in. And reflected here is a Manila in its heyday, the Manila idyll I keep hearing old-timers hark back to. A Manila in the Age of Aquarius, with its post-war topography and straight-laced, if sometimes ridiculous, mores. Where decorum dictated you must marry a man you were out with overnight, never mind if you were literally kidnapped, and with your yaya the entire time you were away. Where a scion's courtship of a South American beauty queen dominated the headlines for months. Where sons and daughters who were educated abroad, children of well-to-do families, had to struggle tooth and nail for their family's approval. Where jaded journalists sincerely played Cupid to an absurdly lovestruck Japanese girl, whom today would be diagnosed positively certifiable.
In other words, a Manila that no longer exists.
It's not so much the love stories that fascinated me. It was more the sepia-hued window into the ghosts of love affairs past that drew me in. And reflected here is a Manila in its heyday, the Manila idyll I keep hearing old-timers hark back to. A Manila in the Age of Aquarius, with its post-war topography and straight-laced, if sometimes ridiculous, mores. Where decorum dictated you must marry a man you were out with overnight, never mind if you were literally kidnapped, and with your yaya the entire time you were away. Where a scion's courtship of a South American beauty queen dominated the headlines for months. Where sons and daughters who were educated abroad, children of well-to-do families, had to struggle tooth and nail for their family's approval. Where jaded journalists sincerely played Cupid to an absurdly lovestruck Japanese girl, whom today would be diagnosed positively certifiable.
In other words, a Manila that no longer exists.
July 25, 2018
Almost like a collection of short stories, "Reportage" is pithy, as newspaper writing should be, though it doesn't lose Joaquin's artistry. The style can be terse at times--sharp inhales in contrast with the extended breaths of his other writing--but that doesn't take away from the stories he reports on or the way he writes them. As the Filipino is normally drawn to love, Joaquin writes in a way that pulls him in based on that attraction; after he has been baited, the rest of the news story comes through the gullet of the Filipino. Uniquely post-war, Joaquin's reports give a snapshot on Filipino society and culture that, one on hand, retains its cherished traditions but, on the other, aims to move through the revolting sixties and the messy seventies to come. It's a short read but that doesn't take away from its value.
April 11, 2013
Magaang basahin ang mga sanaysay. Kapansin-pansin na puros "international" ang relasyon ang pag-iibigang isinalaysay sa marami sa mga sanaysay. Dahil ba ito sa target audience na alta sociedad? Kung ano man, dinala ni Nick Joaquin ang kanyang paksa nang may katapat. Kahit medyo paulit-ulit, nailabas ni Joaquin ang natatangi sa mga kuwentong ito ng pag-ibig at kasawian.
February 17, 2021
While reading this, I was equally kilig, frustrated, and (quite frankly) disgusted with, well, men. Nick Joaquin's writing is impeccable, though I couldn't help but be annoyed with the subtle romanticization of some toxic male ideologies.
This was a brief and enjoyable read nonetheless.
This was a brief and enjoyable read nonetheless.
July 21, 2022
"It was not love at first sight but love on second thought, not love upon acquaintance but love on recollection."
- Boy Meets Girl; or The Sweet Old Story Retold (Reportage on Lovers, 1977)
- Boy Meets Girl; or The Sweet Old Story Retold (Reportage on Lovers, 1977)
April 7, 2024
A rather solid continuation of accounts from the sixties, of which I'm reading this following the intriguing backdrop painted by Nick Joaquin's Reportage on Crime. What makes Lovers stand out is not the succeeding accounts that fill this book (two stories of pathetically rich, bourgeois love; love bridged together by foreign countries; love torn apart by local forces; a quiet bigamist meeting its end, etc.) but the preface and postscript that bookend this collection.
If anything, I'd like to stress how unbelievable the postscript is: an astute summarization of the Filipino soul rooted in its anxiety and clumsiness. A specific account told by a foreigner who found her love in the tropic Philippine soil–her identity revealed a shocker on its own–describes the soul in a way that, in retrospect, holds true in spite of the digital advances in today's society.
I've always enjoyed the non-fictional writing of Nick Joaquin, but this one has a postscript that is so sharply recalled and written it is easily throws the seasoned reader off their seat.
If anything, I'd like to stress how unbelievable the postscript is: an astute summarization of the Filipino soul rooted in its anxiety and clumsiness. A specific account told by a foreigner who found her love in the tropic Philippine soil–her identity revealed a shocker on its own–describes the soul in a way that, in retrospect, holds true in spite of the digital advances in today's society.
I've always enjoyed the non-fictional writing of Nick Joaquin, but this one has a postscript that is so sharply recalled and written it is easily throws the seasoned reader off their seat.
June 11, 2022
Book 125 out of 200 books
"Reportage on Lovers" by Nick Joaquin
An anthology of love stories, tragic or comedic, Nick Joaquin's collection of short but engaging love stories transports us to a newfound world of hope, all in 160 pages.
MY THOUGHTS:
The stories of this book is great! I do remember crying over the first story because I honestly thought that the Filipino and Japanese won't see each other anymore. Glad they actually met and married!
But tragic too is Ante Radaic's story in this book because the man committed suicide. I feel damned by reading Radaic's story.
Anyway, the stories with some shyness, foreigners and domestics in it, in short, all- this book is worth reading and the last book I read in March 2022.
"Reportage on Lovers" by Nick Joaquin
An anthology of love stories, tragic or comedic, Nick Joaquin's collection of short but engaging love stories transports us to a newfound world of hope, all in 160 pages.
MY THOUGHTS:
The stories of this book is great! I do remember crying over the first story because I honestly thought that the Filipino and Japanese won't see each other anymore. Glad they actually met and married!
But tragic too is Ante Radaic's story in this book because the man committed suicide. I feel damned by reading Radaic's story.
Anyway, the stories with some shyness, foreigners and domestics in it, in short, all- this book is worth reading and the last book I read in March 2022.
June 25, 2019
In ancient times, 14 February used to be a Roman feast of wolves called Lupercalia. Without spoiling too much, Quijano, which was National Artist Nick Joaquin's other name, presents us love stories from different countries, races, time, status, and personal backgrounds. While the stories will swoon your hearts, Nick's words will make you blush - as if he was writing a love letter for you. They were not the cheesy type, but they spoke the truth.
May 1, 2021
I LOVE anthologies and this book did not fall short! I enjoyed reading every story and found myself googling some of the personalities mentioned just so I can picture the characters in my mind while the stories play out. My favorite is L'Amour Among Activists, which hurt me more than I expected it to.
May 29, 2025
The Pinoy lover, no, make it, elitista Pinoy lover stories. I loved the boxer and Japanese girl story cos it's all how fairy tales go. The mysterious bigamist story got me intrigued (and had me reading news archives) cos it's a love crime.
March 19, 2022
Full of stories about forlorn and unlikely love written in a florid prose that is Nick Joaquin's own.
January 18, 2025
boring, and the stories felt repetitive as most of them were falling in and out of love with foreigners. but Joaquin can surely write, added much to my limited vocabulary.
October 16, 2024
A very informative and almost perfect read. I just thought the alleged parricide case with domestic violence of the notorious Benjo Laurel against his wife, Erlinda or Linda (who in the first place was only coerced into marriage as per the book), was misplaced. It should have been published under “Reportage on Crimes” instead, not on “Lovers.” After reading the essay by this Caucasian celebrity, I realized so many of her (Caroline) opinion record in the essay sound racist and misogynistic to her fellow women if interpreted in today’s time.
November 19, 2015
Very intriguing love stories from the 60s to 80s wonderfully written by the great storyteller Nick
July 14, 2016
Interesting.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews