Nick Joaquin (1917–2004)

The Manila of Nick Joaquin's time is very different from the Manila that I was born in. And yet, too often I could see myself in his sentences. There's my religious trauma, there's my adamant quest for freedom, and there is the intergenerational conflict that I grew up and still grapple with. It's true. Our generation and our parents' generation speak in different languages, literally.

My favorites from this collection:
The Order of Melkizedek - about the clash of traditional Catholic show more worldviews and alternative movements in a society heavily influenced by American counterculture
Cándido's Apocalypse - an ode to petit bourgeois parents and their "overacting" teenage children
The Mass of St. Sylvestre, Doña Geronima, May Day Eve - just fun tales that double as criticism of the church show less

I really really loved it. It started quite slow for me, it did not connect instantly. However, the book got into the good, juicy part. It was a really good political and religious mystery novel. You think you'll know what will happen next but everything turned out differently. Nick Joaquin is always one step ahead of you. It also has a bit of history which make it more interesting. It really got me interested in Filipino paganism (not in converting but in knowing more about it). If you're show more not a conservative Christian and is a Filipino at heart then you must read this. It has a bit of everything for everyone (yes, even romance, but only a hint of) and its a message-heavy book. It will really satisfy your thirst for knowledge and entertainment. :) show less

Wonderful concept and beginning. Joaquin made good use of the lush historical and geographical backdrop of the city of Manila for a strange crime which links the present problems to when the Spanish colonized the Philippines. Too bad Joaquin couldn't resolve it without being melodramatic. Why is the nation a large chip on Joaquin's shoulder? His exposition on Filipino identity and the nation gets in the way of a potentially thrilling crime narrative. Instead it's a lame attempt at being the show more Great Filipino Novel. show less

Set in the days prior to Martial Law, Nick Joaquin's novel starts off as a murder mystery but then his story becomes more philosophical/symbolic at the end. Avid readers of detective fiction might get disappointed since the author sidetracks in the murder and goes into a historical/mythological narrative of the country, the people and the saviors of the nation.

What makes the book interesting is Joaquin's narrative on the history and mythology of the country. It fits into the setting and the show more conflict of the story - whereby cults and pagan beliefs seem to provide the answer to the coutnry's growing problems. show less