What do you think?
Rate this book
The Essential Manuel Arguilla Reader
The Essential Manuel Arguilla Reader collects twenty-four stories and an essay in a new and updated edition that reveals Arguilla's depth and breath as a writer.
This compilation includes Arguilla's classic short stories "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife," "Midsummer," and "Caps and Lower Case." Featuring pastoral, romantic, and socialist tales, this collection is both beautiful and brutal.
This compilation includes Arguilla's classic short stories "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife," "Midsummer," and "Caps and Lower Case." Featuring pastoral, romantic, and socialist tales, this collection is both beautiful and brutal.
228 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 208
4 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Manuel E. Arguilla
4 books4 followersMANUEL E. ARGUILLA (1911-1944) was an Ilocano who wrote in English. He was best known for his short story "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife." which received first price in the Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940.
Most of his stories depict life in Barrio Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union, where he was born in 1911. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1933 at the University of the Philippines. He became a member and later the president of the UP Writers' Club and editor of the Literary Apprentice. He married Lydia Villanueva, another talented writer, and they lived in Ermita, Manila.
Arguilla taught creative writing at the University of Manila and worked in the Bureau of Public Welfare as managing editor of the Welfare Advocate until 1943; afterwards, he was elected to the Board of Censors. He secretly established a guerilla intelligence unit against the Japanese during World War II. In August 1944, Manuel Arguilla was captured and executed by the Japanese.
Most of his stories depict life in Barrio Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union, where he was born in 1911. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1933 at the University of the Philippines. He became a member and later the president of the UP Writers' Club and editor of the Literary Apprentice. He married Lydia Villanueva, another talented writer, and they lived in Ermita, Manila.
Arguilla taught creative writing at the University of Manila and worked in the Bureau of Public Welfare as managing editor of the Welfare Advocate until 1943; afterwards, he was elected to the Board of Censors. He secretly established a guerilla intelligence unit against the Japanese during World War II. In August 1944, Manuel Arguilla was captured and executed by the Japanese.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 14, 2021
Ngayon ko lang nakilala si Manuel Arguilla kahit medyo matagal na 'tong libro sa book shelf ko. Haha! At buti na lang binasa ko s'ya ngayon. After reading his short stories, I now officially declare myself a fan.
Ang husay magkuwento ni Arguilla! Mas gusto ko ang style at mga katha niya kaysa kina Nick Joaquin at Jabba the Hutt ng Padre Faura.
Ang hirap nga lang igeneralize ng paglalarawan sa writing style n'ya dahil naiiba s'ya kada kuwento. Minsan parang Alice Munro o Anton Chekov, minsan naman parang Jose Rizal o Carlos Cortes. Parang evolving pa lang ang style niya. Halata rin na aral o second language niya ang English. Pero magaling, walang duda.
Pinakanagustuhan ko ang mga kuwento n'ya sa baryo o sa kinalakhang bayan sa La Union kaysa dun sa mga kuwento niya na ang setting ay sa city. Mas nagalingan din ako sa romantic at slice of life stories kaysa dun sa mga tibak o pang-obrero n'yang kuwento.
Sa librong ito, may 24 na maikling kuwento at 1 sanaysay na nakapaloob. Pinakamaganda para sa akin ang mga kathang "Midsummer," "Heat," at "How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife." Damang-dama ko talaga ang hindi sinasabi ng mga tauhan sa kuwento. Hngggh...
Ang husay-husay lang talaga ni Arguilla.
Sa mga kuwento namang pangmahirap o may impluwensya ni Marx, pinakamaganda para sa akin ang "Caps and Lower Case."
Special mention din ang "Seven Bedtime Stories." Maiikli lang sila, flash fiction o dagli, pero nakakalibang (at nakakatakot). Ang sarap ikuwento kapag brownout o kapag, well, nagpapatulog ka ng bata.
Maliban sa mga kuwento ni Arguilla na mapapatulala ka na lang after mong basahin, nakaka-touch din ang introduction na sinulat ni Jose Dalisay, Jr. Umpisa pa lang, alam ko nang maganda ang aklat na ito.
Hindi ako nagkamali.
If I were to describe this book or the stories of Arguilla, hihiramin ko ang mga salita ni Dalisay: well written, moving and memorable.
May mangilan-ngilang typo at grammatical error lang akong nakita, pero forgivable lahat dahil ang galing lang talagang magkuwento at magsulat ni Arguilla. Nasorpresa ako kahit hindi naman dapat. Haha! Hindi masasayang ang oras mo sa pagbabasa nito.
Nakakalungkot lang at maaga siyang namatay (33 y/o). Pinatay siya ng mga Hapon noong 1944. To be exact, pinugutan siya ng ulo. Maituturing siyang bayani kung tutuusin. Sayang. Kung nabuhay siya nang mahaba-haba, baka mas marami pa siyang kuwentong naisulat. Kaya naman, mas dapat mong mabasa ang aklat na ito. Worth it, pramis.
Ang husay magkuwento ni Arguilla! Mas gusto ko ang style at mga katha niya kaysa kina Nick Joaquin at Jabba the Hutt ng Padre Faura.
Ang hirap nga lang igeneralize ng paglalarawan sa writing style n'ya dahil naiiba s'ya kada kuwento. Minsan parang Alice Munro o Anton Chekov, minsan naman parang Jose Rizal o Carlos Cortes. Parang evolving pa lang ang style niya. Halata rin na aral o second language niya ang English. Pero magaling, walang duda.
Pinakanagustuhan ko ang mga kuwento n'ya sa baryo o sa kinalakhang bayan sa La Union kaysa dun sa mga kuwento niya na ang setting ay sa city. Mas nagalingan din ako sa romantic at slice of life stories kaysa dun sa mga tibak o pang-obrero n'yang kuwento.
Sa librong ito, may 24 na maikling kuwento at 1 sanaysay na nakapaloob. Pinakamaganda para sa akin ang mga kathang "Midsummer," "Heat," at "How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife." Damang-dama ko talaga ang hindi sinasabi ng mga tauhan sa kuwento. Hngggh...
Ang husay-husay lang talaga ni Arguilla.
Sa mga kuwento namang pangmahirap o may impluwensya ni Marx, pinakamaganda para sa akin ang "Caps and Lower Case."
Special mention din ang "Seven Bedtime Stories." Maiikli lang sila, flash fiction o dagli, pero nakakalibang (at nakakatakot). Ang sarap ikuwento kapag brownout o kapag, well, nagpapatulog ka ng bata.
Maliban sa mga kuwento ni Arguilla na mapapatulala ka na lang after mong basahin, nakaka-touch din ang introduction na sinulat ni Jose Dalisay, Jr. Umpisa pa lang, alam ko nang maganda ang aklat na ito.
Hindi ako nagkamali.
If I were to describe this book or the stories of Arguilla, hihiramin ko ang mga salita ni Dalisay: well written, moving and memorable.
May mangilan-ngilang typo at grammatical error lang akong nakita, pero forgivable lahat dahil ang galing lang talagang magkuwento at magsulat ni Arguilla. Nasorpresa ako kahit hindi naman dapat. Haha! Hindi masasayang ang oras mo sa pagbabasa nito.
Nakakalungkot lang at maaga siyang namatay (33 y/o). Pinatay siya ng mga Hapon noong 1944. To be exact, pinugutan siya ng ulo. Maituturing siyang bayani kung tutuusin. Sayang. Kung nabuhay siya nang mahaba-haba, baka mas marami pa siyang kuwentong naisulat. Kaya naman, mas dapat mong mabasa ang aklat na ito. Worth it, pramis.
April 24, 2022
manuel arguilla's short, but heavily promising development as a filipino writer captivated my attention more than the stories encased in this collection. it is the gradual mastery of the art than the pieces given that propelled me into believing that while his stories may not be all 'there', he was able to realize his talents later on.
personally, it's a mixed thing for me to divide the collection into two parts: the provincial and the city. while his tales that depict settings and characters from a rural landscape are more appealing, they are understated that a foreign reader may not grasp what the undertones are all about. luckily i am a filipino reader. though the stories showing his outlook on city living may not be as rich and colorful as the first part, they were more straightforward and nail-biting, giving you a sense of excitement over what to happen next.
overall, with 25 entries in this collection, manuel arguilla's big contribution to philippine literature is indispensable, providing many a great insight to both pastoral living and cosmopolitan dreams gone awry.
within:
midsummer (3/5)
morning in nagrebcan (4/5)
ato (3/5)
heat (2/5)
a son is born (3/5)
the strongest man (4/5)
how my brother leon brought home a wife (3/5)
mr. alisangco (4/5)
though young he is married (3/5)
the maid, the man, and the wife (4/5)
elias (3/5)
imperfect farewell (3/5) 😔
felisa (3/5)
the long vacation (5/5) 😭
caps and lower case (5/5) 😡
the socialists (3/5)
epilogue to revolt (3/5)
apes and men (4/5)
rice (4/5)
grit (4/5)
misa de gallo (2/5)
epilogue to a life (3/5)
seven bedtime stories (3/5)
rereading the noli, fili (2/5)
rendezvous at banzai bridge (5/5) 😂
personally, it's a mixed thing for me to divide the collection into two parts: the provincial and the city. while his tales that depict settings and characters from a rural landscape are more appealing, they are understated that a foreign reader may not grasp what the undertones are all about. luckily i am a filipino reader. though the stories showing his outlook on city living may not be as rich and colorful as the first part, they were more straightforward and nail-biting, giving you a sense of excitement over what to happen next.
overall, with 25 entries in this collection, manuel arguilla's big contribution to philippine literature is indispensable, providing many a great insight to both pastoral living and cosmopolitan dreams gone awry.
within:
midsummer (3/5)
morning in nagrebcan (4/5)
ato (3/5)
heat (2/5)
a son is born (3/5)
the strongest man (4/5)
how my brother leon brought home a wife (3/5)
mr. alisangco (4/5)
though young he is married (3/5)
the maid, the man, and the wife (4/5)
elias (3/5)
imperfect farewell (3/5) 😔
felisa (3/5)
the long vacation (5/5) 😭
caps and lower case (5/5) 😡
the socialists (3/5)
epilogue to revolt (3/5)
apes and men (4/5)
rice (4/5)
grit (4/5)
misa de gallo (2/5)
epilogue to a life (3/5)
seven bedtime stories (3/5)
rereading the noli, fili (2/5)
rendezvous at banzai bridge (5/5) 😂
May 19, 2020
I first read Manuel Arguilla’s ‘How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife’ (which is perhaps his most famous work). I read ‘Midsummer’ next, the second most renowned work. Both are love stories. The romantic Manuel Arguilla created characters with the ideal physical features, “The underpart of her arm is white and smooth” the manong in ‘Midsummer’ says. In ‘Heat,’ Mero’s biceps “were bigger, more rounded” than Polo’s, and he had “wide, powerful shoulders, a flat narrow waist, and high, lean hips.” As Jose Dalisay puts it in the book’s introduction, Arguilla’s stories were “lyrical odes to rippling muscles and shapely breasts.” Aside from his romanticism, however, Arguilla is also known for having immortalized the barrio of Nagrebcan in his stories, such as in ‘How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife,’ ‘Morning in Nagrebcan’ and others. He described pastoral scenes, scenes of a serene countryside, rolling hills, a roaring river and wide fields.
But Manuel Arguilla was not only a pastoral writer. He also wrote city stories—stories where the main characters live, work and challenge the city. Dalisay also calls them “marriage stories” since married couples are centered in each story. He wrote about a maid who was in love with her employer (‘The Man, the Maid and the Wife’), a grieving man planning to go on a vacation (‘The Long Vacation’) and a teacher who becomes too invested in an inside joke with his wife (‘Mr. Alisangco’). Arguilla also wrote “socialist” stories, so to speak, which foregrounds stories of hardships, poverty and resistance. He contributed to proletarian literature in stories like ‘Caps and Lower Case’ and ‘Rice’ which, for me are the best of his proletarian stories despite the characters being defeated in a sense. (I would prefer to call them social realist stories, but I guess the term used follows from ‘The Socialists’).
Like Dalisay laments in his introduction to the collection, Arguilla had such a short life. Executed by the Japanese for establishing a guerilla intelligence unit during the Occupation, Arguilla only published one (solely-authored) book only four years before his death. “The Essential Manuel Arguilla Reader” is a republication of Manuel Arguilla’s collection of stories, but it includes ‘outliers’ which constitute an additional five stories and an essay published in literary journals back then. These outliers give us deeper understanding into Arguilla’s range and acuity as a writer. He wrote love stories that are different from the pastoral ones which are also dissimilar from his social realist tales. This diversity reminds me of (myself as) a petty-bourgeois who must challenge and resolve contradictions within himself. Thus, reading Manuel Arguilla, for me, was an exercise of self-reflection and evaluation.
But Manuel Arguilla was not only a pastoral writer. He also wrote city stories—stories where the main characters live, work and challenge the city. Dalisay also calls them “marriage stories” since married couples are centered in each story. He wrote about a maid who was in love with her employer (‘The Man, the Maid and the Wife’), a grieving man planning to go on a vacation (‘The Long Vacation’) and a teacher who becomes too invested in an inside joke with his wife (‘Mr. Alisangco’). Arguilla also wrote “socialist” stories, so to speak, which foregrounds stories of hardships, poverty and resistance. He contributed to proletarian literature in stories like ‘Caps and Lower Case’ and ‘Rice’ which, for me are the best of his proletarian stories despite the characters being defeated in a sense. (I would prefer to call them social realist stories, but I guess the term used follows from ‘The Socialists’).
Like Dalisay laments in his introduction to the collection, Arguilla had such a short life. Executed by the Japanese for establishing a guerilla intelligence unit during the Occupation, Arguilla only published one (solely-authored) book only four years before his death. “The Essential Manuel Arguilla Reader” is a republication of Manuel Arguilla’s collection of stories, but it includes ‘outliers’ which constitute an additional five stories and an essay published in literary journals back then. These outliers give us deeper understanding into Arguilla’s range and acuity as a writer. He wrote love stories that are different from the pastoral ones which are also dissimilar from his social realist tales. This diversity reminds me of (myself as) a petty-bourgeois who must challenge and resolve contradictions within himself. Thus, reading Manuel Arguilla, for me, was an exercise of self-reflection and evaluation.
February 5, 2019
Arguilla's writing is a familiar dose of the Filipino countryside, touched with an examination of social inequity, and with a sprinkle of romance. If he had written in later decades, his stories would entries into a clichéd norm often touched on: pre-war life in the Philippines. As one of the first Filipinos writing in English, however, his pieces are a gateway into the past for immigrant children whose appreciation for their homeland is limited by their new-world tongue. Some stylistic choices, either deliberate or on account of this new language, can be distracting, but it doesn't take away from the emotional resonance of these stories, even across an ocean and close to 100 years.
April 16, 2025
After reading Arguilla's collection of short stories, I officially declare myself as a fan! His writing style is characterized as vivid, free-flowing and precise. It's easy to follow and very compelling. I also appreciate his clear and realistic descriptions about rural life and city life for his stories speak about the living conditions during his time.
My favorite short stories in this collection are; Caps and Lower Cases, How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife, Midsummer, The Long Vacation.
My favorite short stories in this collection are; Caps and Lower Cases, How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife, Midsummer, The Long Vacation.
January 4, 2026
I understand why franz arcellana never wanted arguilla to join the guerilla during the japanese occupation. but now, more than ever, we need more writers like manuel arguilla.
December 17, 2022
I truly admire writers with a writing style like Manuel Arguilla- easy to understand, but their works deep and moving. A story doesn’t have to be long to get the message across to readers. But what I admire most about Arguilla is that he is a patriot and a martyr. He wrote stories set in both countryside and city that depicted inequality and oppression. Some of them are published in this book. Unfortunately, Manuel passed away too early; he could have written more short stories that would fascinate readers like me.
On the other hand, as someone born and grew up in Arguilla’s neighborhood, I can relate to his stories on barrio life. Many of the places and things he described in his stories are very familiar to me and still exists up to this day.
On the other hand, as someone born and grew up in Arguilla’s neighborhood, I can relate to his stories on barrio life. Many of the places and things he described in his stories are very familiar to me and still exists up to this day.
October 17, 2021
Arguilla truly had a way with the English language. While this collection's replete with masculinist themes and styles (especially in his pastoral works), I can't help but stare in awe at phrases like "it seemed the moon was traveling across the blue sky and you caught your breath at the white speed of it".
October 26, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
"The Essential Manuel Arguilla Reader", a collection of short stories by Manuel Arguilla
Manuel Estabilla Arguilla was a Filipino short story writer and guerilla. Born in Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union in the year 1911, he would go on to study and graduate from the University of the Philippines and write his own short stories. His short story "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife" is considered his greatest short story and magnum opus as this short story own the Commonwealth literary contest in the year 1940. When the Second World War broke out, he still was teaching Creative writing at the University of Manila until 1943 when he decided to start a guerilla against the Japanese, his "Rendezvous at the Banzai Bridge", the last short story of this collection being one of the few literary stories written during the Japanese occupation era. Arguilla was captured, tortured and beheaded by the Japanese in the year 1944.
Introduced by Filipino novelist Jose Dalisay Jr. on the 80th anniversary of the publication of "How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife", "The Essential Manuel Arguilla Reader" collects 24 short stories and an essay "Rereading the Noli and Fili", all written by Arguilla throughout the course of his short career. Concerning stories of love, revenge, class struggle and of the supernatural, this short story collection opens Philippine literature to the new and aspiring generation of readers.
MY THOUGHTS:
I decided to revisit Manuel Arguilla this year because I wanted to reconnect with my own literary epiphany that first sparked when I was in 7th grade high school. These short stories, which I never read, let alone heard of until actually reading them, was a blast!
Just a few days before reading this short story collection, I read Ryunosuke Akutagawa's "Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories" and it was a blast reading these short story collections!
The Short Stories:
-Midsummer: 4/5
-Morning in Nagrebcan: 4/5 (Such a Brutal Story)
-Ato: 4/5 (A Tragic Romance, if I remember correctly)
-Heat: 4/5
-A Son is Born: 5/5 (My personal favorite alongside "How My Brother Leon")
-The Strongest Man: 4/5
-How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife: 5/5
-Mr. Alisangco: 4/5
-Though Young He is Married: 5/5 (Another favorite)
-The Maid, the Man and the Wife: 4/5
-Elias: 5/5 (An adventurous story with an adventurous hero and main character)
-Imperfect Farewell: 4/5
-Felisa: 4/5 (Cousin-relationships were still legal back then)
-The Long Vacation: 4/5 (Everyone deserves a vacation for once!)
-Caps and Lowercase: 4/5 (Arguilla's proletariat and socialist stories begin here)
-The Socialists: 4/5
-Epilogue to Revolt: 5/5 (Such a great story of revolution!)
-Apes and Men: 4/5
-Rice: 4/5
-Grit: 4/5
-Misa de Gallo: 4/5
-Epilogue to a Life: 4/5
-Seven Bedtime Stories: 5/5 (These stories concern the supernatural that scares children)
-Rereading the Noli, Fili: 5/5 (The Noli and the Fili are great books read by Filipinos to this day)
-Rendezvous at the Banzai Bridge: 5/5 (The scene where a character falls to his death via suicide still haunts me)
"The Essential Manuel Arguilla Reader", a collection of short stories by Manuel Arguilla
Manuel Estabilla Arguilla was a Filipino short story writer and guerilla. Born in Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union in the year 1911, he would go on to study and graduate from the University of the Philippines and write his own short stories. His short story "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife" is considered his greatest short story and magnum opus as this short story own the Commonwealth literary contest in the year 1940. When the Second World War broke out, he still was teaching Creative writing at the University of Manila until 1943 when he decided to start a guerilla against the Japanese, his "Rendezvous at the Banzai Bridge", the last short story of this collection being one of the few literary stories written during the Japanese occupation era. Arguilla was captured, tortured and beheaded by the Japanese in the year 1944.
Introduced by Filipino novelist Jose Dalisay Jr. on the 80th anniversary of the publication of "How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife", "The Essential Manuel Arguilla Reader" collects 24 short stories and an essay "Rereading the Noli and Fili", all written by Arguilla throughout the course of his short career. Concerning stories of love, revenge, class struggle and of the supernatural, this short story collection opens Philippine literature to the new and aspiring generation of readers.
MY THOUGHTS:
I decided to revisit Manuel Arguilla this year because I wanted to reconnect with my own literary epiphany that first sparked when I was in 7th grade high school. These short stories, which I never read, let alone heard of until actually reading them, was a blast!
Just a few days before reading this short story collection, I read Ryunosuke Akutagawa's "Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories" and it was a blast reading these short story collections!
The Short Stories:
-Midsummer: 4/5
-Morning in Nagrebcan: 4/5 (Such a Brutal Story)
-Ato: 4/5 (A Tragic Romance, if I remember correctly)
-Heat: 4/5
-A Son is Born: 5/5 (My personal favorite alongside "How My Brother Leon")
-The Strongest Man: 4/5
-How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife: 5/5
-Mr. Alisangco: 4/5
-Though Young He is Married: 5/5 (Another favorite)
-The Maid, the Man and the Wife: 4/5
-Elias: 5/5 (An adventurous story with an adventurous hero and main character)
-Imperfect Farewell: 4/5
-Felisa: 4/5 (Cousin-relationships were still legal back then)
-The Long Vacation: 4/5 (Everyone deserves a vacation for once!)
-Caps and Lowercase: 4/5 (Arguilla's proletariat and socialist stories begin here)
-The Socialists: 4/5
-Epilogue to Revolt: 5/5 (Such a great story of revolution!)
-Apes and Men: 4/5
-Rice: 4/5
-Grit: 4/5
-Misa de Gallo: 4/5
-Epilogue to a Life: 4/5
-Seven Bedtime Stories: 5/5 (These stories concern the supernatural that scares children)
-Rereading the Noli, Fili: 5/5 (The Noli and the Fili are great books read by Filipinos to this day)
-Rendezvous at the Banzai Bridge: 5/5 (The scene where a character falls to his death via suicide still haunts me)
August 16, 2023
Manuel Arguilla published his only collection of stories (written in English) at the dawn of World War II in 1940. Imprisoned and killed at the age of 32 by the Japanese in Manila in 1945, he was largely forgotten other than his story "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife." Fortunately, Anvil Press republished the collection in 2019 and included a few additional Arguilla writings as well.
People seem to have greatly varied opinions on his writing, but despite several overly awkward story endings, I found him to be a near-master stylist of chiseled descriptions with a wonderful knowledge of rural life in the Philippines near Bauang, La Union, his place of birth. I greatly enjoyed "Rice," which is labeled as one of his "Socialist" stories, as well as his pieces about marital relations set in Malate, Manila. His more well-regarded "mating" or "romance" pieces, "Midsummer" and "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife" are not my favorites, but also worthy. Overall, he left an impressive collections of stories for a young writer. They should be included in the essential literature of 20th-century Philippines.
People seem to have greatly varied opinions on his writing, but despite several overly awkward story endings, I found him to be a near-master stylist of chiseled descriptions with a wonderful knowledge of rural life in the Philippines near Bauang, La Union, his place of birth. I greatly enjoyed "Rice," which is labeled as one of his "Socialist" stories, as well as his pieces about marital relations set in Malate, Manila. His more well-regarded "mating" or "romance" pieces, "Midsummer" and "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife" are not my favorites, but also worthy. Overall, he left an impressive collections of stories for a young writer. They should be included in the essential literature of 20th-century Philippines.
October 19, 2022
Finally managed to finished this book and even though I'm still starting to dig deep into Filipino literature, I think this has been my favorite piece of it so far. There's just something about the way Manuel Arguilla captures the beauty and simplicity of the countryside while still weaving out some emotionally compelling tales. It's a collection of short stories and there is always something for everybody here whether the narratives end up being bittersweet, depressing, blissful, humorous, or haunting. It's hard to pinpoint one favorite short story from this because it has the range and consistency of having almost half of it as possible candidates. By far the most favorite book I've read this year and you should get your hands on it as well if you can.
March 25, 2024
While reading the book I kept going back and forth on my opinions but in the end I'd say that most of these aren't for me
Arguilla's strength lie on his powerful imagery which he used to clearly evoke the beauty of the countryside. Too bad that the stories he chose to accompany these images didn't amount to much. The pastotal/romantic stories were lacking depth; the women and men were all the same variation of the Malakas and Maganda stereotype. I kept thinking it would've been better if he was some sort of magical realist, as the vibes here would've fit the genre well.
Saying that the stories I liked best were those of injustice. Namely 'Morning in Nagrebcan' and 'Caps and Lower Case'. They had such resonanance, I was filled with anger and cynicism upon finishing them.
Arguilla's strength lie on his powerful imagery which he used to clearly evoke the beauty of the countryside. Too bad that the stories he chose to accompany these images didn't amount to much. The pastotal/romantic stories were lacking depth; the women and men were all the same variation of the Malakas and Maganda stereotype. I kept thinking it would've been better if he was some sort of magical realist, as the vibes here would've fit the genre well.
Saying that the stories I liked best were those of injustice. Namely 'Morning in Nagrebcan' and 'Caps and Lower Case'. They had such resonanance, I was filled with anger and cynicism upon finishing them.
December 23, 2024
Very interesting set of Filipino Proliterian Literature set during the American colonial period (roughly 1930s-1940s). It is split into three different chunks (pastoral, Malete, and socialist) and gives perspectives into the revolutionary politics, class dynamics, and family tensions of rural Philippines. Favorite stories were definitely "Mr. Alisangco" and "Caps & Lowercase"!
December 26, 2023
Lyrical, full of color. My favorite Filipino author. I read "How Leon Brought Home a Wife" in high school as part of English class and remember how evocative it was.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews