Feast and Famine: Stories of Negros

by Rosario Cruz-Lucero

Gathered here are four long stories and one novella about life in Negros Occidental, written between 2000 and 2003, but covering pratically the whole of Philippine history--from the Spanish colonial period to the post-Marcos era.

Genres: Short Stories, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Fiction

105 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Karlo Mikhail · Rating 5 out of 5]

According to premier Filipino literary critic Resil Mojares, this collection of short stories is one of the few works of Filipino fiction in English that has overcome the enchantment of “Western modes of visioning reality” and the restrictions of the Philippine social formation by speaking “from a rich, manifold location constituted by facts of biography, gender, history, and culture.” It is exemplary by combining “considerable narrative gifts, command of language, a sensuous and comic wit” and a rootedness in Philippine socio-cultural realities.

From “The Death of Fray Salvador Montano”: Magical Realism and the Interrogation of Colonial Discourse

[Tito Quiling, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm partial to place-based stories and historical fiction has such a strong appeal in feeding you all these untold tales, as well as the implicit delivery of traditional warnings. A mark of a well-written piece is that sometimes, the lines between fact or fiction are blurred and you become a participant in an open account.

What is perhaps an important quality of this collection is that the short stories give you an insights about the social, political, and economic condition of the times in the province of Negros. With this context, the characters become more real, as opposed to being two-dimensional. We can sympathize with a weary sakada, an elite member feeling suffocated, to the legends contained within the region.

[Z666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Malalim at masaklaw na pagtalakay sa deka-dekadang pananakmal ng opresibong sabwatan ng estado-dayuhan at imperyalismo-kapitalismo sa lupain ng Negros. Ang lahat ng bangungot at pangarap, ginhawa at hirap, lumbay at tagumpay ng mga ninuno hanggang sa mga apong hindi pa naipapanganak ay naisatitik dito. Dahil ang lahat ay siklo. Dahil ang estruktura ng kapangyarihan, gaya ng matayog na rebulto ng mapanibong prayle sa kuwento, ay nakatirik pa rin. Kaya hindi rin matitigil ang hindi matalo-talong pagwasak sa mga rebultong ito, doon, sa abo at guho, itatayo ang bagong bansang ipapangalan sa pagpupunyagi ng maraming mga Pilipino.

[Monica Macansantos · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring, predictable, and dry.