Cebu

by Peter Bacho

Upon returning to Cebu for his mother's funeral, Ben Lucero, a Filipino American priest, must reexamine his ideas of home and religion

Genres: Fiction, Asian American

205 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1991

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ben took his plastic crucifix, kissing Big Daddy's wounds before clutching the cross to his chest." 👀

Yea, the very end was a bit jarring, and the novel as a whole was surprisingly gory at parts. Reminded me of "Silence" and (probably the stronger connection) "Noli." As a priest, Ben is in a confounding position as an authority figure in an institution that's historically oppressed his ancestors.

[books_at_sea]

A fantastic novel, darkly gothic in spirit, that looks at the aftermath of the Japanese Occupation and the social function of Catholicism amid the political corruption of the 1970s. Regional identity takes a prominent role, in the conflict between Cebuano and Tagalog speakers, and the importance of the barkada even in the United States. Comparative racialisation is another significant undercurrent, including characters’ repeated disidentification with Chinese associations while in the Philippines, and the subtle marking of white and Black neighbours in the U.S.

[Shannon Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

After attending an on-line presentation by Mr. Bacho, I read this novel to become a better writer. I was interested in his crafting of dialogue, but was impressed by the originality and beauty of sentences like, "Until Armageddon, there will always be a morning after."

[D.e. Varni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I took an Asian-American literature class for credit, and this was one of the books that was on the syllabus. I found it to be an interesting novel of the life of priest struggling with his identity as a priest and his affection for his aunt who still takes care of him on some level as an adult. I enjoyed the book. However, and I don't mean to give away the ending, there was a problem with the end: There really wasn't one. It just kind of fell off. Our class's homework assignment was to write an actual ending for the book. So even the teacher had issues with the fact that the book on his own syllabus, ended poorly. The irony is that the consensus of the class was the main character should leave the priesthood and marry his love whom his aunt introduced him to and may or may no actually be alive. However, it was the only way we could justify the oppressive elements of the story, by giving it an upbeat note at the end. The class seemed to be in unison at the outrage of the concept that the last actual scene in the book is In all likelihood, the preamble before the murder of the priest by a gang member. I guess this is actually a spoiler... Sorry about that. I always try to have my comments be somewhat neutral in regards to my interpretation of story for the sake of the potential reader. In all honesty I hope you do read the book. I found the novel very enlightening culturally, considering everyone I ever meet from the Philippines is from Manila, and this story takes place at least for half the book in Cebu. The contrasts between Cebu and Manila did not go unnoticed.

[Erwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Filipino Americans tend to go nuts over this book, but I never got it. I thought it was mostly tiresome, unhumorous, unbelievable, and contrived, especially at the end. I tried reading it again years after I first read it and I couldn't go through with it. Bacho's short story "Dark Blue Suit" is much better.

[Reno · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this in my Asian American Literature class at the University of Michigan back in 1994. I was stoked to read it, mostly because my parents grew up in Cebu, Philippines. I just wish I liked it more...

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was somewhat disappointed in the book, though it was not bad. It was almost as if he wantred to do too much with the story, but didn't quite know how to put it together effectively. And either his translator/editor did a poor job.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Peter Bacho's book. While he brought up some of the identity struggles of Filipino-Americans, it was an easy read. It would be better to read this in a group to delve deeper into the issues he brings up.

[Yoonmee · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this book, at times the writing was a little rough around the edges. I'm definitely giving Peter Bacho another try, since this was his first novel.