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House of Memory: Essays
283 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
35 people are currently reading
484 people want to read
About the author
Resil B. Mojares
21 books55 followersTrained in literature and anthropology, Resil B. Mojares won several National Book Awards from the Manila Critics Circle for works in fields as diverse as literary criticism, urban and rural history, and political biography.
He has been a recipient of prizes for his short stories, a national fellowship in the Essay from the UP Creative Writing Center, and teaching and research fellowships from the Ford, Toyota, and Rockefeller foundations, Fulbright Program, and Social Science Research Council (New York).
He has served as visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin, University of Hawaii, and University of Michigan.
He teaches at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City.
He has been a recipient of prizes for his short stories, a national fellowship in the Essay from the UP Creative Writing Center, and teaching and research fellowships from the Ford, Toyota, and Rockefeller foundations, Fulbright Program, and Social Science Research Council (New York).
He has served as visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin, University of Hawaii, and University of Michigan.
He teaches at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
March 13, 2021
ganda bhie, light read lang siyaaa
December 10, 2021
"'to say the name is to begin the story.' our own stories are long forgotten."
i've thought long and hard about what to say about this book. as it is, longing, melancholy and disquiet have robbed me of words. but i will say this. never in my life have i felt as seen, as known as i did reading this. yet at the same time, i come away from this experience questioning if i ever knew who i really am at all. far and away the best book i read this year. or maybe ever. here's to another great reading year in 2020.
i've thought long and hard about what to say about this book. as it is, longing, melancholy and disquiet have robbed me of words. but i will say this. never in my life have i felt as seen, as known as i did reading this. yet at the same time, i come away from this experience questioning if i ever knew who i really am at all. far and away the best book i read this year. or maybe ever. here's to another great reading year in 2020.
July 27, 2022
Ang aklat ay kalipunan ng mga sanaysay ni Mojares, na unang nalathala sa mga kolum niya sa mga magasin. Ang kalipunan ay kombinasyon ng mga kritikal na sanaysay at personal na sanaysay. (Ngunit kahit ang mga kritikal na sanaysay ay tumatawid sa pagiging personal na sanaysay.)
Gusto kong gayahin sa pagsulat ng personal na sanaysay ang estilo ni Mojares. Ginagamit niya ang mga talang pangkasaysayan, na kadalasan ay mula sa panahong prekolonyal (e.g. katutubong awit, mito, kaugalian, paniniwala) para ipaliwanag ang emosyon.
Maganda ring katangian ng libro ang paralelismo nito sa bahay. "House of Memory" ang pamagat ng kalipunan, at ang pamagat ng kada seksyon ng kalipunan ay bahagi ng bahay.
(Hindi ko lamang gusto ang argumento niya sa sanaysay niyang "Cats." Hindi naman mutually exclusive ang pagmamahal sa hayop at sa tao. Maaari mong mahalin ang tao habang minamahal mo pa rin ang hayop.)
Lalo kong minahal ang pagbabasa ng mga aklat sa kasaysayan at antropolohiya dahil sa librong ito.
Heto ang sipi sa HEART AND LIVER:
"How did it come to pass that we should love with heart liver instead of the liver?
The pre-Spanish Filipino, like many of his contemporary in Southeast Asia, believe that the liver (atay) is the seat of the love. More: it is the bodily center of a person's being, the source of power, courage and strength. It is named in the Philippine languages-- 'atay,' 'atey,' 'hatay,' 'hati,' 'ati'--as has spawned numerous derivations that signify what is treasured, affective and elemental.
In Tagalog, emotion is 'dalamhati' (literally 'inside the liver') and intense feelins of grief, yearning and happiness are 'pighati,' 'lunggati' and 'luwalhati.'"
Iniisip ko tuloy, sa susunod, ang gagamitin ko ay "Nandito ka sa aking atay," kaysa "Nandito ka sa puso ko."
Gusto kong gayahin sa pagsulat ng personal na sanaysay ang estilo ni Mojares. Ginagamit niya ang mga talang pangkasaysayan, na kadalasan ay mula sa panahong prekolonyal (e.g. katutubong awit, mito, kaugalian, paniniwala) para ipaliwanag ang emosyon.
Maganda ring katangian ng libro ang paralelismo nito sa bahay. "House of Memory" ang pamagat ng kalipunan, at ang pamagat ng kada seksyon ng kalipunan ay bahagi ng bahay.
(Hindi ko lamang gusto ang argumento niya sa sanaysay niyang "Cats." Hindi naman mutually exclusive ang pagmamahal sa hayop at sa tao. Maaari mong mahalin ang tao habang minamahal mo pa rin ang hayop.)
Lalo kong minahal ang pagbabasa ng mga aklat sa kasaysayan at antropolohiya dahil sa librong ito.
Heto ang sipi sa HEART AND LIVER:
"How did it come to pass that we should love with heart liver instead of the liver?
The pre-Spanish Filipino, like many of his contemporary in Southeast Asia, believe that the liver (atay) is the seat of the love. More: it is the bodily center of a person's being, the source of power, courage and strength. It is named in the Philippine languages-- 'atay,' 'atey,' 'hatay,' 'hati,' 'ati'--as has spawned numerous derivations that signify what is treasured, affective and elemental.
In Tagalog, emotion is 'dalamhati' (literally 'inside the liver') and intense feelins of grief, yearning and happiness are 'pighati,' 'lunggati' and 'luwalhati.'"
Iniisip ko tuloy, sa susunod, ang gagamitin ko ay "Nandito ka sa aking atay," kaysa "Nandito ka sa puso ko."
March 11, 2022
The essays of Resil Mojares are always a delight to read. In Isabelo's Archive, he plumbed our history and culture for some interesting trivia and insightful analyses on different events and people. In House of Memory, his skillful way of weaving our history and culture is still present but he added heartfelt personal essays on love and life. Mojares not only makes me learn fascinating things about my country and my culture, he also makes me appreciate how delightful it is to be alive and to be able to write.
July 16, 2024
this book reminded me that i inhabit a filipino body and soul forever agitated and bursting with memory.
if i were to tell the author this epiphany he would either laugh at my face for its redundancy or be saddened that I, a 20 yr old, had to experience such a primitive state of appreciation so late. may be an unfair reading of the author but either way, I owe it to mojares for this book as my own jeepney as “a compact refresher course on being filipino” that was intellectually interesting and pleasurably engaging enough for me to irresistibly grab it from my tote bag and actually read it on my morning and afternoon jeepney (or uv) rides to school.
not only was it interesting, it was enriching the soul to the point it will leave one to contemplate, at times frustrated, how greatly pronounced are the things you wish you were first to notice or how you've never seen things in a greatly filipino perspective, and just how bewildered you are that a person wrote something from your psyche you thought was inexplainable—this feeling being a practice of the perpetual state of re/de-construction of national identity: decades later, its so agitating to realize that we really, and still, are “a country hungry for apparitions” (and other banger lines i wish i couldve underlined if this weren’t a library copy) but mojares perfectly makes sense of it with ease.
its too boring sometimes to remain in stasis of ambivalence, and this collection of essays is an exercise of subtle but complex collage-like, yet perfectly entwined, certainties found in philippine anthropology, whether you're a bulakenyo appreciating deeply cebuano cultures to find our common conviviality in history, to remind us how memories are imbued in our histories which can never be dead, because one realizes that "memory itself is a house that ... cannot endure it,” which is to say that it is deeply human—forever entwined with fragments like the filipino body, the heart and dare i say the liver. galing kainis.
if i were to tell the author this epiphany he would either laugh at my face for its redundancy or be saddened that I, a 20 yr old, had to experience such a primitive state of appreciation so late. may be an unfair reading of the author but either way, I owe it to mojares for this book as my own jeepney as “a compact refresher course on being filipino” that was intellectually interesting and pleasurably engaging enough for me to irresistibly grab it from my tote bag and actually read it on my morning and afternoon jeepney (or uv) rides to school.
not only was it interesting, it was enriching the soul to the point it will leave one to contemplate, at times frustrated, how greatly pronounced are the things you wish you were first to notice or how you've never seen things in a greatly filipino perspective, and just how bewildered you are that a person wrote something from your psyche you thought was inexplainable—this feeling being a practice of the perpetual state of re/de-construction of national identity: decades later, its so agitating to realize that we really, and still, are “a country hungry for apparitions” (and other banger lines i wish i couldve underlined if this weren’t a library copy) but mojares perfectly makes sense of it with ease.
its too boring sometimes to remain in stasis of ambivalence, and this collection of essays is an exercise of subtle but complex collage-like, yet perfectly entwined, certainties found in philippine anthropology, whether you're a bulakenyo appreciating deeply cebuano cultures to find our common conviviality in history, to remind us how memories are imbued in our histories which can never be dead, because one realizes that "memory itself is a house that ... cannot endure it,” which is to say that it is deeply human—forever entwined with fragments like the filipino body, the heart and dare i say the liver. galing kainis.
April 24, 2025
one of the best books ive read in such a loooong time. mojares is really one of the most prolific essayists out there i cant believe i got into his works this late. the whole time ive been constantly faced with how much it goes to show that on a creative existential journey you need to turn to local minds to connect you to your cultural roots and understand where your art might be coming from. though i have to admit sometimes his "macho" thinking slips here and there because at the end of the day.... he is still a man. but goddddd this is still honestly one of the best essay collections ive ever read. thank you mojares!!!!!! 😔✊🗣️💗
May 18, 2023
is this my first filipino piece of writing in adulthood? surely not. criminal! mojares writes beautifully and i learnt so much. after a while his structure does get a little tiring (the little lines of wisdom at the end of every chapter started well but by the end seemed forced and a little arrogant) but how i adore the idea of the house of memory. and really a must read for all filipinos i think, combining all aspects of the personal, communal, familial, historical.
February 20, 2018
Ipinasyal ako ni Resil Mojares sa espasyong hindi pa, sa palagay ko, ay hindi pa alam o malay ang lahat ng Pilipino.
Binuksan ni Mojares ang pinto bago ko pasukin ang nilalaman ng kaniyang antolohiya. Itinuring niyang isang bahay ang espasyong ito na pansamantala lamang, may mga iregularidad, may kakulangan at may mga bahaging maaaring hindi pa nagagalugad. May kinalaman ang espasyong ito sa paghahanap at pagsasakatuparan ng blueprint o identidad ng pagiging Pilipino at pagbuo ng lunan ng Pilipino.
Sa katangiang pisikal o panlabas na suri, gaya nga ng sinabi sa pambungad, nailathala ang mga sanaysay sa mga magasin at dyaryo bilang isang lingguhang kolum. Bagaman may iba-ibang laman ang sanaysay, sa antolohiyang ito, ay matagumpay na naihabi ni Mojares ang malikhaing transisyon tulad ng isang bahay na may mga kwarto o dibisyon na may iba’t ibang lawak at laki. May kwento sa bawat sulok na madaling maunawaan dahil mahusay na nilangkapan ito ng mga anekdota, ebidensiyang historikal at pag-aanalisa sa linggwistikong-lapit. Sa tingin ko, may koneksyon din ang paraan ng pagkakasunod-sunod ng bawat kwento na tila paggalugad din sa parte ng tao o pagkatao mismo. Nagsimula ito sa mga usapin tungkol sa labas ng katawan (body as an extension, tattoo, erotica, naked vs. nude, rape etc.), patungo sa loob o abstraktikong ideya (kaluluwa o “soul”, pananampalataya, paraiso, oras, pag-ibig), at papalabas (paglalakbay, pagiging invisible, paglipad o paglaya, usapin sa wika, at iba pa ) .
Marami akong natutunan sa pagbasa sa mga sanaysay. Napakayaman ng antolohiyang ito sa mga konseptong bernakular na sa iba, ngunit hindi malay ang nakararami sa totoong kahulugan nito, halimbawa ang konsepto ng ginhawa, paraiso, kaluluwa, at pagtingin sa panahon ng mga ninuno natin. Nakikita kong mahalaga ang ambag ng mga sanaysay na ito sa pagpapanatili ng mga ganitong ideya sa larangan ng linggwistika, kasaysayan, sining at siyensiya. Sa totoo, hindi ito nahagip sa mga aralin ko noong nasa hayskul pa ako. Kung kaya’t maganda ring maibahagi ito sa kabataan lalo na’t may parte ito sa pagbuo ng isang identidad ng pagka-Pilipino. Magandang maaga pa ay maipakilala sa kabataan ang mga konseptong matagal na ring naglaho at nagkaroon na ng mababaw na saysay.
Binuksan ni Mojares ang pinto bago ko pasukin ang nilalaman ng kaniyang antolohiya. Itinuring niyang isang bahay ang espasyong ito na pansamantala lamang, may mga iregularidad, may kakulangan at may mga bahaging maaaring hindi pa nagagalugad. May kinalaman ang espasyong ito sa paghahanap at pagsasakatuparan ng blueprint o identidad ng pagiging Pilipino at pagbuo ng lunan ng Pilipino.
Sa katangiang pisikal o panlabas na suri, gaya nga ng sinabi sa pambungad, nailathala ang mga sanaysay sa mga magasin at dyaryo bilang isang lingguhang kolum. Bagaman may iba-ibang laman ang sanaysay, sa antolohiyang ito, ay matagumpay na naihabi ni Mojares ang malikhaing transisyon tulad ng isang bahay na may mga kwarto o dibisyon na may iba’t ibang lawak at laki. May kwento sa bawat sulok na madaling maunawaan dahil mahusay na nilangkapan ito ng mga anekdota, ebidensiyang historikal at pag-aanalisa sa linggwistikong-lapit. Sa tingin ko, may koneksyon din ang paraan ng pagkakasunod-sunod ng bawat kwento na tila paggalugad din sa parte ng tao o pagkatao mismo. Nagsimula ito sa mga usapin tungkol sa labas ng katawan (body as an extension, tattoo, erotica, naked vs. nude, rape etc.), patungo sa loob o abstraktikong ideya (kaluluwa o “soul”, pananampalataya, paraiso, oras, pag-ibig), at papalabas (paglalakbay, pagiging invisible, paglipad o paglaya, usapin sa wika, at iba pa ) .
Marami akong natutunan sa pagbasa sa mga sanaysay. Napakayaman ng antolohiyang ito sa mga konseptong bernakular na sa iba, ngunit hindi malay ang nakararami sa totoong kahulugan nito, halimbawa ang konsepto ng ginhawa, paraiso, kaluluwa, at pagtingin sa panahon ng mga ninuno natin. Nakikita kong mahalaga ang ambag ng mga sanaysay na ito sa pagpapanatili ng mga ganitong ideya sa larangan ng linggwistika, kasaysayan, sining at siyensiya. Sa totoo, hindi ito nahagip sa mga aralin ko noong nasa hayskul pa ako. Kung kaya’t maganda ring maibahagi ito sa kabataan lalo na’t may parte ito sa pagbuo ng isang identidad ng pagka-Pilipino. Magandang maaga pa ay maipakilala sa kabataan ang mga konseptong matagal na ring naglaho at nagkaroon na ng mababaw na saysay.
May 13, 2024
Great collection of essays. Personally, I liked the personal essays better - sucker for the feels - that links Filipino culture than the historical ones. But it is not to say that the historical essays are not good because they are also well-written, engaging pieces that accounts stories that tells the national identity of the Filipinos from well in the past to the contemporary times. The flow of the narrative was good, as well as how the pieces were strewn together, complementing each other in each chapters. Loved beong lost in the spaces of this "house".
(Grateful my sister gave this to me as a gift. Going to reread some of the stories here again to end 2021 because why not)
(Also, I don't have cats, i would love to have one, but no, sir, im triggered haha)
(Grateful my sister gave this to me as a gift. Going to reread some of the stories here again to end 2021 because why not)
(Also, I don't have cats, i would love to have one, but no, sir, im triggered haha)
October 9, 2023
Essential.
December 17, 2023
The map of my forlorn reminiscences does not indicate a legend where it is denoted the first time I borrowed a book from a university library. Did I borrow up until now? That is, this book by National Artist Resil Mojares, borrowed from the University of the Philippines Diliman Filipiniana Library?
To search for a lost time is hard, because the boundary of memory and fiction is stringent. And yet, Mojares comes in soothing from the House of Memory. It is like opening and closing my palm with the grace of the south, and in between, he lets me keep a star, having to read this from him:
“The Visayan words for healing, “bulong” or “alim,” take meaning in this context. Bulong, “to heal,” essentially means “to find.””
This book, though I have not finished all the essays, and rather read selections randomly, is a testament of finding and creating. From George and Bernard Shaw and Bob Dylan, I have learned life is not about finding yourself, rather it is about creating yourself. With Mojares and the heart for libraries however, I am to the side of what it means to find, to heal.
I will never forget this first of mine, I will never forget these words.
To search for a lost time is hard, because the boundary of memory and fiction is stringent. And yet, Mojares comes in soothing from the House of Memory. It is like opening and closing my palm with the grace of the south, and in between, he lets me keep a star, having to read this from him:
“The Visayan words for healing, “bulong” or “alim,” take meaning in this context. Bulong, “to heal,” essentially means “to find.””
This book, though I have not finished all the essays, and rather read selections randomly, is a testament of finding and creating. From George and Bernard Shaw and Bob Dylan, I have learned life is not about finding yourself, rather it is about creating yourself. With Mojares and the heart for libraries however, I am to the side of what it means to find, to heal.
I will never forget this first of mine, I will never forget these words.
May 6, 2021
I read the first few pages of this lovely book about two years ago from a borrowed copy. One that struck me deeply was the essay Casting Stones Into The Sea. I admit it was the entry that led me to get my own copy and (slowly) finish the whole book, searching for that similar awe I felt with the mentioned piece. And I was not disappointed.
Dr. Mojares wrote these essays from his column with simplistic warmth and honest sentimentality as if —I assumed— he was attempting to be vulnerable. But towards the end, I began to realize that it was his transparency that was leading me to be the vulnerable one as I started associating my experiences to his words. It’s comforting to do so. As he wrote:
“—to trace the arc of a wish to turn the alien into the familiar, to domesticate empty spaces, to widen as it were our sensory field. The stone becomes an extension of arm, feet, and mind, and the distance it traverses is the distance as well that our body occupies.”
It may pertain to travel —our desire to be where we aren’t. But perhaps, it can also pertain to us constantly stretching out our sight to look for that sentence, book, movie, story, or scenario that reflects us. We yearn to find ourselves in other things or even people, occupying these assumptions to somehow and eventually make sense of what we are. I think it’s lovely that we continuously try. This collection is one book that asks us to continuously try.
Dr. Mojares wrote these essays from his column with simplistic warmth and honest sentimentality as if —I assumed— he was attempting to be vulnerable. But towards the end, I began to realize that it was his transparency that was leading me to be the vulnerable one as I started associating my experiences to his words. It’s comforting to do so. As he wrote:
“—to trace the arc of a wish to turn the alien into the familiar, to domesticate empty spaces, to widen as it were our sensory field. The stone becomes an extension of arm, feet, and mind, and the distance it traverses is the distance as well that our body occupies.”
It may pertain to travel —our desire to be where we aren’t. But perhaps, it can also pertain to us constantly stretching out our sight to look for that sentence, book, movie, story, or scenario that reflects us. We yearn to find ourselves in other things or even people, occupying these assumptions to somehow and eventually make sense of what we are. I think it’s lovely that we continuously try. This collection is one book that asks us to continuously try.
October 2, 2024
What a beautiful book of essays.
About finding the time to keep a diary, Mojares wrote:
"Time is a river that relentlessly moves on. At times, violent and turbid as it courses over boulders, around bends; at times, clear and languid as it evenly flows on. We are borne along, blinded by motion. Yet, there, too, are the moments when the spirit can slip out of the waters and sit on the quiet, shaded bank and watch the waters go by. Or fish out of the river a shimmering thing of beauty or two."
To read this book is to sit quietly on that shaded bank, fishing out things half-remembered and vaguely felt from the river of our cluttered, distracted lives.
About finding the time to keep a diary, Mojares wrote:
"Time is a river that relentlessly moves on. At times, violent and turbid as it courses over boulders, around bends; at times, clear and languid as it evenly flows on. We are borne along, blinded by motion. Yet, there, too, are the moments when the spirit can slip out of the waters and sit on the quiet, shaded bank and watch the waters go by. Or fish out of the river a shimmering thing of beauty or two."
To read this book is to sit quietly on that shaded bank, fishing out things half-remembered and vaguely felt from the river of our cluttered, distracted lives.
December 20, 2024
3.25 // this is an excellent book by an excellent writer. you can feel the passion and serene thinking from the pages. halatang pinag-isipan ung mga sinulat. i loved the historical anecdotes so much, and the private rooms essays. moving on: a few essays were a bit repetitive, and some started strong and fell flat towards the end, and this sometimes happened in succession. i think the editing of this collection plays more of a part (regarding the momentum) than the actual writing. however, personally, essay collections are a gamble and i have a hard time rating them as a whole (instead of individually).
and so, if i had to rate this based on writing and content alone, i’d give it a 4.5/5
and so, if i had to rate this based on writing and content alone, i’d give it a 4.5/5
June 22, 2024
This was such a good book, and I had to slow myself down in reading the sections that detail parts of the Filipino culture. The work is a compilation of Mijares' articles in the past decades that resonates with the growth of everyday cultures that become embedded in the collective histories of Filipinos across the country, and even abroad. The best ones are about his parents and his house, which for me, created a very personal touch to his own series of works and his stance in life. This was heartfelt and elegantly written.
December 19, 2020
Such a classic. Sir Mojares delivered and did not fail to narrate and visualize into his essays the daily images of Filipino living through different spaces. 'The Art of Jeepney Riding' has got to be one of my favorites–witty, relatable, and informative. I wish I could read this again for the first time.
October 17, 2023
This collection of essays feels like a warm embrace, a pat on your shoulder, an ice candy on a summer afternoon, your mother’s cradle when you’re sick, and a testament of loyalty, history, and reassurance. What a joy to know that we exist in the same lifetime with Resil. This book is a gift, and so are you - our National Artist 💗
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July 29, 2024this book has become an extension of my identity. just essential and so tastefully done. the chapter alone about riding a jeepney and its implication about the filipino as a social, political, and economic being. honestly, (sorry for dropping the emma quote by jane austen) but if i loved this book less i would be able to talk about it more. so let's just leave it with this.
February 4, 2018
It's the classic throwback collection of essays by a well-known author. I would love to read this again.
November 8, 2020
one of the best things i have ever read in my entire life. every filipino should read this!!!!!!!!!!! full review here
April 14, 2023
Without a doubt, one of the best things I have ever read and will ever read in my entire life.
October 18, 2024
Made me appreciate the essay form more. Mojares has a talent deriving profound musings from everyday occurrences
November 10, 2024
I have no other words to express except how beautiful and poignant this book is. The last essay left me in tears. I am moved.
November 1, 2025
best way to introduce ph history and culture to people... kumbaga my live hungers for this type of book.
August 3, 2025
Beautifully written. Mojares explored Philippine culture, history, and language through his personal experiences and wisdom, which made me think about how rich and beautiful our culture was before the Spanish colonized our country.
I give “The House of Memories” four stars.
I give “The House of Memories” four stars.
February 2, 2022
I love the quiet beauty of Mojares' writing and how his thoughts, gently laid out, become more vivid with every word woven in. The essays in this collection are framed as different parts of a house, inviting the reader into the intimate space of the author's memory, where warm nostalgia lingers. Touching on a wide range of topics from our pre-colonial culture to our shared memories of growing up Filipino, reading this collection was a balm for my soul. It felt like coming home 💖
July 6, 2009
Well-written, with a good dose of humor and unforgettable lines such as "making an illusion of a job into a real job".
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews