Manila Was a Long Time Ago

by A.A. Patawaran

Sixteen stories, sixteen cities... and the Filipino in all of them.

Intriguing and curious, the characters in each of the stories in Manila Was a Long Time Ago represent the best and the worst of us, set in places we dream of-the streets of Berlin lined with historically mismatched buildings, in the idylls of end-of-fall Quebec, on ultra luxurious Cape Yamu in Phuket, in romantic Paris, in the port town of Ahus, in glittering New York on New Year’s Eve, among the monuments to millennia past in Athens.

Via the intersections between fact and fiction, AA Patawaran takes you on a tour of some of the world’s most charming cities colored by the contemplations of Filipinos lost there with a lingering longing or aversion for home. Though it’s only one of sixteen settings, Manila looms over like a shadow or shines like a ray of light on the characters.

Manila was A Long Time Ago is delightfully honest and unapologetically real. It takes you on a dizzying romp across the globe, through the eyes of Filipino protagonists long estranged from home, only to take you back where it all started: Manila, a city you either love or hate, or love and hate, but one that never leaves you indifferent.

249 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2018

Reviews

[Teri Pardue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Patawaran’s book of poetry, Hai[na]ku, so when I saw he had a new book out at National Bookstore I grabbed it.
The blurb sounded promising, a collection of short stories of Filipinos residing in cities around the world, all having some link back to the Philippines. And the last story takes place in Manila.
Sadly, the blurb seemed to be an empty promise. If I could sum this book up in one word, I would say gloomy. The stories lack redemptive qualities—which you can get away with if your writing is stellar and profound—and often their only connection to the Philippines is a small sentence of reminiscence or a comment about someone’s heritage.
But what ultimately made this book so difficult to wade through was the high society language and name dropping. I will let you sample a paragraph and imagine that almost every single story is full of paragraphs like this:
“Ines del Prado was also in the social register of practically every publication that catered to the very rich. In one such magazine, she was seen with Prabal Gurung on a safa tempo, a three-wheeled vehicle common in Nepal, on their way to a hike on Lakers Bhanjyang when the American-Nepalese designer was featured on a tour of Kathmandu, his hometown. She was seen with Amber Elba at the old Café de Flore at the corner of Blulevard Saint-Germann-de-Prés and Rue Saint-Benoîtin Oarks when the Moroccan-Israeli designer was still at the helm of French house Lanvin. She was even seen in a paparazzi photograph of Princess Caroline of Hanover vacationing in a Swiss ski resort in Cranes-Montana. It was one of the pictures the princess, the daughter of the celebrated Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly of Monaco, went to the European Court of Human Rights for, from which she won a landmark ruling that condemned the publishing of such photographs......” (p,217-218).
Phew what a mouthful! (Though I enjoyed using all the accent features on my iPad keyboard!)

Maybe I am not the intended audience for the book and it would appeal to the readers of Philippine Panorama and other culture/fashion publications that Patawaran writes for.
I just had such high hopes for this! Like Patawaran, I very much have a love/hate relationship with the Philippines and I know he can write about it with depth and layers. There were morsels of that in this book and I ate them up and savored their taste. I just wanted more! I also wanted more “normal” people. Not a book full of stories of wealthy, world traveling upper-crust individuals, representing 0.05% of Filipinos.

[Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I don't think I was really able to finish this book because the last story was missing some pages. Too bad, it was a good one.

To be fair, I actually liked the stories in this book. I like the way Mr. AA writes.

The book was a collection of short stories from different cities all over the world. Most of the stories were kind of dark and my favorite was the one set in Paris.

The characters and stories were mostly about rich people, and my middle class self could not relate lol. But it was fun to read because I felt like I got a glimpse not just of their lifestyles but also, I felt like I was also travelling around the world.

[francis · Rating 2 out of 5]

aa patawaran is reactionary.
heart evangelista's artworks were shit.

these stories were okay:

-almost romance
-on a sunday in august
-countdown to a kiss
-being diana vreeland
-the nameless
-pan de regla
-flash flood
-handy mommy
-world affair
-missing people

[John Ray Catingub · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't share the same criticisms as other reviewers in preferring that AAP's stories should focus on the rural, forgotten way of life in the Philippines or decrying his characters' disavowals of or exoduses from Manila. There are many other authors who tackle the former and still others who contrast with the later. AAP writes in a refreshingly modern way--sometimes too modern for my liking--and manages to tether his characters, for the most part, to their shared origin of Manila. Almost all of his characters are people of means and wealth and while this feels uncharacteristic of Filipino literature, it is not to say it is not without merits. The poor have problems in abundance but that isn't to downplay the burdens, often emotional, of those who live comfortably.

I believe that expatriates, emigrants out of the Philippines, and the diaspora abroad will receive these stories more warmly than others. Certainly, in my case, there are themes and elements in AAP's stories that resonate more for me, an immigrant who knows next to nothing of the Motherland outside of books and media, than would someone who had never left. While AAP can be too experimental at times, and I noticed the continued repetition of certain words and phrases, "Manila Was a Long Time Ago" carries literary weight that is worth exploring in its contemporary style and unified approach of examining Filipinos outside of the Philippines.

[Ayesha Jimenez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most profoundly sublime work of art produced by A.A. Patawaran that is something to keep you at the edge of your seat. Resplendent with rich imagery of secrets and luxury, a touch of sex, brimming with nostalgia and an ever present connection to Manila, Patawaran's collection of stories is sure to conjure up emotions that are both curiously familiar, ranging from sadness to joy, traumas put into words repressed by the characters and the thirst for reckless choices. It is relatable in the sense of how Filipinos are very much connected with their experiences regardless of wherever they are in the world, from Prague to Venice, Athens to Budapest, New York to Paris and back again to Manila. Looking forward to more of his works in the future.

[rhosynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is so pretentious, holy shit. Fixation on the famous and the foreign aside, I dropped it after Page 30 because of these parts:

Meanwhile, at An einem Sonntag im August, we were the only two Filipinos in a roomful of Europeans and Middle Easterners and not a few Blacks.

I doubt this Mindy had gone way past her teens, dressed like a gothic rockstar, black from head to toe, nails included, although upon closer inspection, her nails were cobalt blue. "Aren't you too young to know that show? I asked.

"Hello, Google. Plus, I'm a fan of the post-suicide Robin Williams," she said.

[Cui Chuan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved AA Patawaran’s book, it was truly a grand homecoming to the heart of being a Filipino. It teaches you so much of what history has in store for each one of us.

Though there were great ones, there were some stories as well that I was having a hard time connecting to it.

[Lik C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea.

My copy also had missing pages in the last story, so I wrote to the publisher about my concern.

[stella maris · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf at 50% (tried so hard to like it)

[Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a marvelous collection, one that speaks of being away from the big city only for one's heart to be tugged back to it. The variety of contexts, perspectives, and twists contained in this story had me amazed (especially the last in the collection!). It is a must for those who want to see Manila through different eyes.

[Dimple · Rating 5 out of 5]

reread of this Filipino masterpiece for Language Month (buwan ng wika) I love your mind, AA Patawaran