Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere

by León María Guerrero (Translator )

Crisostomo Ibarra returns to the Philippines after studying in Europe for seven years. His father has died mysteriously and soon new obstacles appear to his marriage to childhood sweetheart Maria Clara...

Noli Me Tangere reflects the society and incidents from the Philippines of Rizal's time, a country ruled by Spanish friars for over 300 years. As a result, many of the characters in the novel have now become woven into the culture.

The publication of this book and its sequel El Filibusterismo, led to Asia's first nationalist revolution in 1896. However no writer paid a higher price for self-expression: the Spanish executed Rizal primarily for his writings. But for the same reason, Filipinos embraced him as their national hero.

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This translation of Noli Me Tangere was first published in 1961 by Longman's in London. Ambassador Leon Ma. Guerrero also translated the sequel to the Noli, El Filibusterismo. Other works include "The First Filipino," which won the Jose Rizal Centennial biography competition.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical, Classics

470 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

León María Ignacio Agapito Guerrero y Francisco better known simply as Leon Ma. Guerrero III, was a Filipino diplomat and novelist, and was one of the foremost Filipino nationalists of his era. A partner in the law practice of senator Claro M. Recto, he became Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs during the Magsaysay administration. His then controversial advocacy of 'Asia for the Asians' and espousal of a realistic re-examination of relations with the United States are now commonly accepted as being ahead of their time.

"Leoni," as his family called him, was born on March 24, 1915 in Ermita, Manila to one of the nation's most prominent families. His father was the famed Dr. Alfredo Leon Maria Guerrero, and his mother was Filomena Francisco, the first Filipino woman pharmacist.
His paternal grandfather, for whom he was named, was Leon María Guerrero, the distinguished botanist, Malolos Congress delegate, and member of the first Philippine Assembly. His sister, Carmen Guerrero Nakpil would also be grow up to be a journalist and, later one of the pre-eminent figures of Philippine letters.

On retirement he was the country's senior career diplomat having served as Ambassador in London, Madrid, New Delhi, Mexico City and Belgrade. On June 19, 1982, only a fewdays before he died, he received the, Gawad Mabini, the highest award in the Philippine Foreign Service.
He held the rank of Knight Grand Cross of the Knights of Rizal. Among his many works are internationally acclaimed translations of José Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El filibusterismo. He also wrote the biography of Rizal: The First Filipino.

His works are Twilight in Tokyo, Passion and Death of the USAFFE, Report from Europe, Alternatives for Asians,
An Asian on Asia, The First Filipino (Awarded first prize in the Rizal Biography Contest under the auspices of the José Rizal National Centennial Commission), El Si y El No. (Winner of the Premio Zobel), Las Dos Muertes de General Aguinaldo, Two Friars in Exodus (A Contribution to Studies in Philippine Church History), The Philippine Revolution by Apolinario Mabini, Today Began Yesterday, We Filipinos (Posthumous anthology of his writings), translations of: Noli Me Tangere by José Rizal and El Filibusterismo by José Rizal.

Reviews

[Sukhman]

“..in life it is not the criminal but the honest man who arouses the greatest hatred.”

“If I believed in miracles, I would not believe in God. I would believe in a man-made god; I would believe that in truth man had made God in his own image and likeness..” (Elias)

[Gaby Singson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t believe I used to find this book boring when I was forced to read it in HS.

Apparently the title “Noli Me Tangere” (“Touch Me Not”) comes from the Gospel of John, when Jesus was resurrected and told Mary Magdalene not to touch him. This book tragically represents the brooding cancers that refused to be examined during the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines. Some themes that stuck with me the most:

1.) Weaponization of the Church: Padre Damaso and Padre Salvi portrayed how Christianity was abused as a means to control Filipinos. Faith was weaponized through the threat of damnation, all so Spanish friars could make a profit, gain political/social influence, and further their own agendas. Despite this, I liked how Rizal made the distinction of not blaming Christianity itself, but the people that abused its influence over Filipinos to gain power. Rizal is still a firm believer of faith and God, as seen when Elias was seen praying for a better future for the Philippines as the sun was rising on his fina hours. Faith is powerful, and it shouldn’t be bestowed upon the wrong hands.

2.) Change through reform vs. revolution: Ibarra and Elias represented two juxtaposing ideals, the former urged for peaceful reforms through education, while the latter demanded retribution through revolution. Ibarra’s pure intentions come from the innocence of his upbringing: studying in Spain cultivated his love for the “motherland” and education which he wanted to bring back to the PH. Coming from wealth and good connections, Ibarra was unaware of the sufferings of the everyday native. Ignorance was his bliss, and this fueled his blind hope that change could happen peacefully in an institution so deeply corrupted. Elias on the other hand represented the pent up rage of the generational injustices experienced by Filipinos at the hands of our colonizers. Aware of how the prejudice against Filipinos became so institutionalized, he sought to take justice into his own hands through revolution. Both men love their country, both men saw truth in each others arguments. A middle ground could not be found because ignorance cannot breed change but fighting stains the blood of the innocent.

3.) Tragedy of the idealized Filipina, Maria Clara: To me Clarita represented the ideal Filipina at the time; beautiful, wealthy, good fam, good connections. But despite having these things, she was never really free. Always at the whim of Capitan Tiago and Padre Damaso, they utilized Clarita to further their own agendas and social standing without ever asking her opinion. Clarita, obeyed the wishes of her fathers without question, even if her best intentions were not considered. She cast aside her love for obedience, her sanity for duty, and was left with nothing for herself. I feel like she was more free in the nunnery because she wasn’t constrained by the wills of other men.

4.) Fake it till you make it Dona Victorina: I hate this woman with a burning passion. Dona V is a Filipina who tries so hard to be Spanish and denies herself of her heritage. She ignored Filipino suitors because she didn’t want to marry a native and instead ended up with a bum Spanish outcast Don Tiburcio, who is allowed to go around and act like a fake doctor because he’s a Spaniard?! whoopee. This was a satirical portrayal of social climbing back in the day, and it throughly annoyed me how people would bastardize their own country for the sake of social standing. Disgusting behavior, brilliant portrayal tho by Rizal.

5.) Marginalization of the powerless Filipino (Sisa, Basilio, Crispin): This broke my heart. At the center of Filipino culture is the family, the foundation of society. Noli tore this foundation apart, ate it up and spat it out. Brothers Basilio and Crispin were young sacristan turned runaway fugitives because of falsely being accused of stealing and not doing their duties. Sisa, their mother, upon finding this out and looking for her boys was arrested and paraded through town as an unjust act of shameful humiliation. Her degradation, coupled with the loss (not death) of her kids led to her descent into madness and insanity. Sisa, Crispin and Basilio, a family with no voice and no means, had no power to speak up against the marginalized injustices they experienced. With no avenue to retaliate, the family was broken in order to survive, under a system that doesn’t serve them.

Overall, apart from being a breathtaking novel, Noli is a brilliant social and political critique of the unseen tragedies of Filipinos under the Spanish regime. This book brought a sense of national identity which challenged the prevalent colonial mentality of the time, allowing Filipinos to find commonplace in their sufferings. It’s crazy to think this book sparked a revolution (although Rizal never openly advocated for revolution) in my country, and that I get to read this piece of history which has shaped our nation.

PROUD PINOY HERE! HELL YEAH! I just wish I could read this in Tagalog but my conyo brain won’t be able to comprehend.. sadly.. v colonial of me..

[Azy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Now misfortune has snatched away the blindfold from my eyes. Now I see the horrible cancer that is gnawing away at our society, that seizes on the flesh of our country, and must be torn out. They have opened my eyes to our social cancer.”

Excerpt From
Noli Me Tangere
Jose Rizal, Translated by Leon Ma. Guerrero
https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/M...
This material may be protected by copyright.

I hope Filipinos would really understand and appreciate this novel.

[Vernie Mercado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leon Ma. Guerrero's translation perfectly captured Rizal's description of the Filipino struggle against the Spaniards and itself. Three centuries of conditioning and assimilition to a culture that did nothing but exploit and degrade resulted to the identity crises Filipinos of today experience. The most heartbreaking thing, perhaps, that I can glean with this story is that the Philippines may no longer be a colony of Spain but the Filipinos still suffer the same social cancer.

[Lara Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trigger warning: child harm. It's very well written and keeps your attention, but it isn't a happy book at all. Don't keep reading hoping things will turn out okay. If human misery doesn't bother you and you want insight into the Philippines under control of Spain and the Catholic Church, you might enjoy this book.

[Drae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything in this book is still very relevant in the Philippines today. The positive and negative traits of the Filipinos, the oppression during the Spanish colonization, the ideals of Ibarra and Elias about the oprpession, may be opposites but its ends still meet. A lot of the characters tell well about what was happening during these times and represented well the different people on the society at that time. This book really showed why Rizal was executed because he had opened the eyes of the public by flipping pages.

[Delie Dell Chua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Im so glad to find Noli in English! I know that there are other English translations out there, but so far I love Mr. Guerrero’s translation.

It took me quite a while to finish this book, because its a “heavy” book. The tragedies, misfortunes, injustices that befall to most of the characters where hard for me to bear. Nevertheless, this book is a classic and masterpiece each Filipino should read.

[henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most—and first—monumental achievements in Philippine literature. Its publication helped ignite a revolution that eventually led to the country's liberation. And no wonder: the pages of this novel seethe with rage so palpable you can still feel it more than a century and a half later.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jose Rízal was truly a genius. The national hero of the Philippines, he incited revolt against the oppressive Spanish rule through peaceful means, specifically through his writing. Until he was executed. This book is a powerful commentary on the lives of the colonized Filipinos.

[Rina Yagi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This translation by Leon Maria Guerrero is one of the best out there. This was a high school required reading and come to think of it, it needs a re-read! Now how to acquire a copy of this here in Japan…

[nkdt · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is ironic that we’re freed by a book and our national hero is a writer but we barely read unless its required by the school

[Ignacio Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Novela basada en la época colonial española de Filipinas que expone las injusticias del ese período, valora el nacionalismo, valora las luchas de los antepasados y la unidad del pueblo filipino.

[Tisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

reading this in english made me realize I should read more filipino/tagalog books. I am so bad at my own national language. noli me tangere is a book not for the faint of heart. after more than a hundred years the problems and issues tackled in the book are still as relevant as ever. the younger generation should read this not because it is included in the philippine curriculum but because it is about opening our eyes and minds to the harshness of real world and not staying silent. it is about standing up to our oppressors and grabbing them by their tails and taking courage!

[Gena · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's fiery when the author says what he wants to say through the characters. Some of the characters are obviously caricatures and are meant to be laughed at without analyzing them too much. There are far too many people in the story, though. So many names with which I personally couldn't keep up, and without which the story could have held up just the same.

Noli is a sad painting of Philippine society. What makes it sadder is that in 2020, the criticisms about our country in this book written in 1887 still apply.

[Vicho Bookbender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Latin for Touch Me Not is a novel by Filipino writer and activist Jose P. Rizal and was published during the Spanish colonial period. It explores inequalities in law and practice in terms of the treatment by the ruling government and the Spanish Catholic friars of the resident peoples in the late 19th century.

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

My most highlighted book. Lot's of takeaways and very thought provoking