Mojack recommends:
Some books to read by Filipino authors.
"The Manila We Knew" is a collection of real stories about Manila before and after World War II. One author wrote about her family's harrowing experience in the battle of Manila and vowed never to talk about it ever again. But there are happy stories, too, about growing up in a genteel city where one could stroll to schools like St. scholastica's and La Salle, and about growing up in an almost deserted suburban village called Forbes Park called Makati .
While "The Manila We Knew" was written from the privileged class' point of view, F. Sionil Jose's "Ermita" is written from an outsider's prespective. A rich maiden is raped by a Japanese soldier during the last days of the war and gives birth to a girl she disowns. Ermita is the heroine who seeks revenge from her family by any means. The ending though, was like how I felt after watching Gonw ith the Wind.
"Ilustrado" is a recent novel that has been praised all over and while the writing is indeed seductive and engaging, I got a headache trying to keep track of all the characters and time periods.
