Libro.ph

Join Read Or Die at the Libro.ph soft launch on June 30, 2007 at 4PM at the “Portrait Of The City” exhibit at the Glorietta 3 Park.

Adarna House will also be on hand for a storytelling session for children.

This event is part of the 11th Philippine Book Development Month and is made possible by the National Book Development Board and the Filipinas Heritage Library.

FREE FOOD WILL BE SERVED. Or UCC Coffee, at least. And cakes.

Thanks to Mia for designing the lovely poster.

June 28, 2007 | Filed Under Read or Die, Events | Leave a Comment

lolchaucer, among other things

Someone please PLEASE tell me I’m not the only one amused by this: I Can Hath Cheezburger. The entire blog is already a thing of beauty in itself, as the entries are written by “Chaucer” and some of his characters from The Canterbury Tales, most notably Sir John Mandeville (lolknight)Edited: Sir John Mandeville is an actual person who wrote travelogues in Anglo-Norman French. Chaucer himself gave the correction, read on the comments!. All posts are written in Middle English, medievalle spellynge and alle. That’s geekery at its finest, folks. Will peruse the whole thing when I can spare a few more braincells, but Google tells me that there’s a Brokeback Mountain parody buried somewhere in those archives.

Actually, I came across this by way of LolTheorists in LiveJournal. Tin has already mentioned the lolcats phenomenon currently exploding in the blogosphere, and I swear this is the meme that just keeps on giving. The simple explanation: lolcats are picture of cats (sometimes other cute animals) with witty captions superimposed on the image. There’s a specific kitty-grammar utilized in the captions, with recent attempts at standardizing it. Now the concept has been extended to condensing and captioning theoretical paradigms, ranging from Nietzsche to Schrodinger. INORITE? It has been very educational for me, never having realized before that Michel Foucault is kind of hot.

I promise I’m not always this shallow.

June 28, 2007 | Filed Under Miscellany | 5 Comments

Independent Publishers At The Manila Book Fair

I am sorry, I have to post this last bit of news and post it now. Before I do so, however, and in case you missed these entries because of my never-ending spam (not intentional, so sorry): Mia’s review of David Sedaris, Giyenah’s review of Dashiell Hammett’s “Red Harvest” and Yuki’s interesting entry on reading preferences. Still have to reply to various comments, sorry about that too.

Now, the news: Mr. Lirio Sandoval of the Book Development Association Of The Philippines has agreed to let independent publishers sell their products (books, comics, zines) through the National Book Development Board and Read Or Die at the 28th Manila Book Fair (World Trade Center). The NBDB–which fully supports this scheme– will have two booths during the Manila Book Fair. If you’re an indie publisher, you can consign your products with the NBDB to sell in their booths. For free.

I was practically doing cartwheels (in my head, anyway, since we were all still in the exhibit area when this happened) since one of our advocacies which we’ve been plotting for c/o Independent Press Philippines is how to support indie/alternative publishers and how to ensure a wider audience for their products, mainstream or otherwise. This isn’t exactly the event we had envisioned but I think it’s such a great opportunity. I mean, I’m not exactly vouching that people will be buying independently produced books or comics or even that the NBDB will let you guys personally market your material but I’m sure we can work something out. RoD will run interference. You don’t have to pay us or anything, you just have to come and sell your stuff. The Manila Book Fair has been considered a trade fair of late but this year we can start to really make it an event for the whole literary community–readers, writers, artists, publishers, librarians, advocates, everyone.

So to reiterate, if you are an independent publisher, you can sell in the Manila Book Fair. We have Mr. Ed Sabolvoro and Atty. Flores of the NBDB to thank for this and of course Mr. Sandoval of the Book Development Association of the Philippines as well. Indie! In the book fair! This ties up so nicely with Read Or Die’s collective function in the book fair called “Ang Bagong Libro.” We can host an event for independent publishers if enough people turn out. Atty. Flores told me that the NBDB will also support a discussion seminar/workshop about independent publishing.

The website of “Ang Bagong Libro” is technically up–it’s here–though I’ll make a formal announcement about it in another entry since this post is already long enough. But! if you’re an indie publisher–that is, you’ve independently printed or produced literary works (komiks, stories, novels, zines, folios)–contact us at readordie.ph@gmail.com. If you’re reading this and you’re acquainted with an indie publisher (or publishers), please tell them about this offer. We have to work out the logistics of the entire thing. Read Or Die will be co-hosting several events and activities every day of the fair and we have a day-long function of our own on the last day (September 2) so we’ll need to manage and coordinate schedules as early as possible. If indie publishers will be coming to sell, we’ll probably need to set a group meeting to discuss parameters and so on and maybe even to encourage people to start cranking those presses. Thank you!

PS: Must also acknowledge Dean for suggesting that we stick to “Ang Bagong Libro.” The original idea was “Ang Bagong Panitikan” since it was haha very comprehensive. Pero sino kami, ano? And the book, after all, is our center of gravity. So thanks, Dean.

June 27, 2007 | Filed Under Latest, Books, Events | 2 Comments

Portrait Of The Artist

I had planned to blog about the structure of the actual exhibit but as I said here the display itself was pretty straightforward. What was really interesting–even at first glance– was the list of books chosen for the event (which could also be another take-off point for a more exhaustive and illuminating catalog. I’ve been reading a book–published by Penguin– about the literary landscapes in England and the editors crafted a sort of walking-tour approach to the chosen texts (ranging from Charles Dickens’ “Bleak House” to Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway) in the sense that the reader will have to learn to re-read them in terms of situating oneself geographically and imaginatively, since the books are still books and the cities are still cities but the reader is also a traveler.)

Okay, here’s the list:

“Silid Na Mahiwaga” by Solidad Reyes (ed.)

“Intsik” by Caroline Hau

“Witch’s Dance” by Marra PL. Lanot

“Edad Medya” by Jose Lacaba

“Song Of Sunset” by Tony Perez

“Killing Time In Warm Places” by Jose Y. Dalisay Jr.

“Sleepless In Manila” by Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo

“Ang Tundo Man Ay May Langit” by Andres Cristobal Cruz

“Kwentong Siyudad” by Rolando Tolentino et al.

“14 Love Stories” by Jose Dalisay and Angelo Lacuesta

“Bibliolepsy” by Gina Apostol

“Dark House” by Conchitina Cruz

“Smaller and Smaller Circles” by F.H. Batacan

“Welostit and Other Stories” by Romina Gonzalez

“Our People’s Stories” by Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo and Gemino Abad, eds.

“Likhaan Anthology” by Gemino Abad (… the list didn’t mention what date or edition).

All these books directly reference Manila, or places in Manila. Some of the references will probably be obvious; others seem to be meta-narratives. Short of reading all the books themselves, I’ll have to ask Atty. Flores about the governing logic behind this schema, I mean, from her perspective, since I think she created the list.

Touching on other landscapes: Butch Dalisay, as mentioned, came to read from his book “Killing Time In A Warm Place” which was included in the list of works chosen for the exhibit. The poet Conchitina Cruz also read from her award-winning anthology “Dark House.” She is surprisingly young. I’ve noticed that there are a lot of terribly gifted young poets in the contemporary Filipino literary scene. Under-read and sometimes unfortunately unread, but gifted nonetheless, and valorized by their own select audience. I’m starting to think that poetry as an art form in this country has advanced to a level of sophistication–both aesthetically and technically–that other forms of literature, like the short story and the novel (we have very few novelists), conspicuously lack. I’m not saying that there aren’t good short story writers or novelists around, only that poetry has been so conscientiously nurtured, internalized and developed by its chosen practitioners that it might as well be the literary canon. An hermetically sealed canon, most of the time, or so it seems. I think that Dean Alfar is right in pointing out that writers “grow by writing different things in different modes.” And you grow literature too, in the process.

A few poet friends of mine claim that they are afraid to try their hand at, say, fiction writing because it might impair their gifts or because they feel they aren’t really ’suited’ for it. There’s an entire school of literary theory and/or academic psychiatry devoted to this sort of complex but I think that one should deploy one’s creativity in as wide a field as possible. There’s a lot of it to go around. I believe in the value of intellectual discipline, especially for an artist, but there’s also something to be said for creative hedonism. Enjoy the gift. It’s always fun and wonderful seeing a truly creative person–no matter how unhappy they may be, no matter how tormented in their ‘real’ lives–being at ease with their abilities, just delighting in them and exploring them to the utmost. That’s a certain state of grace that only art can provide.

June 27, 2007 | Filed Under Miscellany | 1 Comment

Portrait Of The City Opening

The exhibit “Portrait Of The City” organized by the National Book Development Board and the Filipinas Heritage Library for the 11th Philippine Book Development Month officially opened this afternoon.

I was able to make it to the exhibit opening on time. It was smaller than I expected–the actual exhibit, I mean–though the location–in the middle of a park right across Glorietta–is a surprisingly prime one. The space is flexible enough to accommodate both intimate functions and more expansive gatherings.

The exhibit opening was quite intimate. Frankly I’d been hoping it would be better attended. There are still a series of activities on hand in the next few days though, and the exhibit is open from 10AM to 6PM everyday until July1, so if you’re in the Glorietta area, please drop by and show your support for the 11th Philippine Book Development Month.

Read or Die will be coming on Saturday (June 30) but honestly we don’t have any major events prepared. We’ll be giving away books and posters and talking about Libro.ph, basically. What we do want is for people to take the opportunity to pass by Glorietta 3 Park and visit the exhibit. Adarna will also be sponsoring a storytelling session on the same date.

I do wish that the gallery had been more extensive. The Filipinas Heritage Library donated prints and photographs from their holdings accompanied by captions with excerpts taken from the list of books chosen according to the theme “Portrait Of The City.” It’s a great concept though. Perhaps a more composite and curated exhibit can be held in the future, with other museums, libraries and galleries contributing from their own collections. Time and other constraints being what they are, the NBDB and the Filipinas Heritage Library have done a good job with the exhibit but I believe that it’s the sort of thing that can be built upon. At least it happened, a precedent has been set.

Also maybe we can generate a considerably more active interest in the NBDB’s activities for the rest of the year and not just for the next Philippine Book Month. It’s the only government agency we have whose mandate is to protect the interests of the literary industry as a whole. Admittedly it has its share of deficiencies. It’s under-staffed and the budget is only 1/3 of what the Department Of Education gets. They need more support and are really open to working with other people and organizations. There’s a lot the private sector can do in this regard. The current executive director–Atty. Andrea Pasion-Flores–is young, dynamic and hard-working and she has a serious understanding of literature, being a writer herself. I don’t know who the next executive director might be so let’s accomplish what we can while the right people are in the right places.

To go on: Invited writers came to read from their works. Butch Dalisay, Conchitina Cruz and Romina Gozalez attended (will talk about them more later). I also met Karina Bolasco of Anvil and Lirio Sandoval of the Book Development Association of the Philippines (which administers the annual Manila Book Fair). I was rather intimidated by Ms. Bolasco since she’s a publishing legend in her own right and I’ve heard stories of how scary she can get. Not scary as in having-you-for-breakfast scary, but scary nonetheless. Both she and Mr. Sandoval spoke at RodCon and I didn’t manage to even see or thank them during the event so I took the opportunity to do so at the exhibit. They were both very nice and approachable.

A new Book Watch issue was also released. Book Watch is the NBDB’s official quarterly publication. You can pick up your free copy at the exhibit. If you really can’t make it to Glorietta, the exhibit will be moving to the Trinoma Mall on July 4, 2007.

Again, watch this space for further developments. The USB port of my digital camera is acting up so I haven’t been able to take any pictures even though I’ve been coming to practically all the Book Development Month events. The ever efficient Ms. Erin Cabanawan has promised photos for further documentation though so I hope we can put up some sort of online gallery, at least. (I really need to start scouting for more volunteers when it comes to these things).

Tomorrow–June 28–will be the NBDB book club meeting, also at the exhibit. Charlson Ong will be coming to read from and discuss his book “Banyaga: A Song Of War.” (Mentioned it here). The book club meeting starts at 4PM and it’s open to the public. Please come–pass by Powerbooks or Fully Booked, first, though, to buy a copy of “Banyaga.” It’s really good.

June 27, 2007 | Filed Under Latest, Events | 1 Comment

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, D. Sedaris

It is probably a good thing I knew nothing about David Sedaris when I started reading his work. Else, expectations would have made the writer feel less of a stranger and diminished the strength of his words. For one of the strong points of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is its voice: the tones of a someone you have not yet met, imbued with the familiar inflections of a sibling you never knew you had.

Dress Your Family is very much an American book, but despite the cultural references littering its pages each story manages to be universally understandable. It speaks of universal themes: childhood’s disappointments, the struggle of growing up, loving and hating one’s family; what it is like to be different, what it is like to truly live. While it’s true that a reading informed by the facts of American life and culture would be helpful in understanding Sedaris’s nuanced re-tellings of those themes, I cannot imagine any place in the world where they would not be relevant experiences. The resonance cuts across culture and race.

Sedaris is known for his humor, and not without reason — each story is told with the polish of a well-honed wit that charms and teases when it isn’t making one laugh. Yet I find the writer’s genius not merely in how he makes his reader laugh, but in the kind of laughter he evokes. (I laughed, for fear of crying.) Deeper than the humor and the sly asides at society, the world, and himself is an almost wistful sadness, the quiet longing of a man who sees the world not only as it is but how it should be.

The combination of humor and poignancy Sedaris uses so deftly throughout his book is, perhaps, an odd mixture, but maybe that is what makes Dress Your Family one of the most honest books I’ve read in a long time. Honest not in the sense of scrupulous adherence to “what really happened” (although his tone makes one believe that each event there is presented as it is, unembellished) but in the portrayal, barefaced and unashamed, of what it is like to be human — flaws, weaknesses, and disturbing habits all included.

This same humanity powers and fuels Sedaris’s book. Bitter as it may be to swallow some of his stories, his writing is not without beauty or its own wry, self-deprecating compassion. Through narratives taken from an occasionally cruel childhood (in which we glimpse flashes of our own), to adolescence and its assorted devices of survival, and finally to an adult’s attempts at striking a balance between laughter and tears and somehow keeping a tenuous hold on happiness, Sedaris offers his reader a different way to look at things, a perspective with a little more humor-laden affection for ourselves and the mistakes we keep on making.

In reading we undergo a sort of catharsis. We see what should be mirrored in what is, and in the laughter and (barely-shed) tears of reading Sedaris’s book we come to realize we have found a brother in this stranger half a world away.

June 27, 2007 | Filed Under Reviews, Books, Reading | 1 Comment

Reading Genji

From the ever-handy Wikipedia: The Tale of Genji (源氏物語, Genji Monogatari) is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early eleventh century, around the peak of the Heian period. It is sometimes called the world’s first novel, the first modern novel, or the first novel to still be considered a classic. The issue remains debated among scholars. More.

I was in the middle of the Wakana II chapter of Genji monogatari the other night night when the power suddenly went out. It’s really odd how all the times I read Genji, I end up doing so by candlelight. It would be morbid and neurotic if it were deliberate, but it isn’t. The first time I read Genji (the Arthur Waley translation), I was staying in the Kamia dormitory in UP Diliman and there was a campus-wide blackout that night too. It was the middle of summer and there were very few people staying in the dorm. I shared a room in the second floor with a girl who worked part-time in NU 107, which meant I barely saw her at all. Kamia is one of the oldest dormitories in the university; it was built right before World War II, I think, and has barely changed since then. Renovations are mostly restricted to repairing (sometimes replacing) leaking roofs and disintegrating keyholes.

The rooms in the second floor are very big and high-ceilinged, the dormer windows opening out into the courtyard below and the Palma Hall and Zoological Institute in the street opposite. The second floor has the spatial structure of a ladies boarding house within the context of an old corrosive photograph, and you imagine that girls who live there ought to be sitting in their narrow beds, knees tucked up under starched dresses with cinched waists, eating packed lunches of dried fish, rice and tomatoes, afterward fanning themselves absently against the heat with cheap painted fans as they waited for their next class.

I mean, that dormitory has that sort of …. atmosphere, and of course it’s integrated into the cultural betting pool that passes for dorm life. Inevitably, the imagery invoked is transposed into selfsame girls slitting their wrists in the dusty rambling bathrooms, or being possessed by the ghosts of dead English majors leaping out of cavernous closets straight into the reflection of a young freshman, about to attend a lecture, combing her hair in front of the mirror that always, always hung at the door.

I am not really susceptible to dodgy ghost stories, but I am easily freaked by any hint of creepiness, whether structured as college-fare supernatural narrative or just as an actual physical impression. And that night when the power went out, there was a deal of creepiness to be had. I kept seeing small feet wearing mud-spattered slippers dangling somewhere out of the corner of my eye. My bed was facing the row of open windows; I couldn’t close them. I don’t think they had been closed since they were opened by those first fin-de-siecle colegialas and I really wasn’t about to try. I couldn’t hear anyone in the hallway outside, except for very distant and high-pitched laughter that seemed to come from somewhere down the corridor, and it was completely dark in the street below. So I lit a small candle, reached for a thin blanket to cover myself with despite the heat just in case, and reached for Genji monogatari. I guess it seems such disjointed reading material, considering the circumstances, but I couldn’t find more Saikaku Ihara in the Asian Center. I saw Genji instead, squashed between the Man’yoshu and William Beasley, and–feeling vaguely curious and restless–thought I should give long Japanese court tales a try (in lieu of yet another bunraku story and/or plowing through one more chapter of “Dream of the Red Chamber.”)

Needless to say, I read the whole night long. I fell asleep somewhere in the Aoi chapter. (I managed to get past Yugao without much incident). I’m sorry if I’m telling this experience badly–and in such tiresome detail–but there are some readings, of certain books, that taken together constitute… not exactly a life-changing moment, but an entirely distinct story in itself. Do you know what I mean? That’s what happened to me when I read Genji monogatari. And the story about it is like this frightful study in agitprop film scriptwriting or some weird meta-Bildungsroman.

The next time I found myself reading Genji monogatari–the (unabridged) Edward Seidensticker translation now–I was crouched over the grave of my great-grandmother, watching the candles and making wax figures in between chapters. It was All Saints Day in the Philippines and families trooped to the cemeteries to pay respects to their dead and held vigil over their graves all night long. Now we have quite a substantial number of dead kin to attend to every year, which actually shouldn’t be a problem because I belong to a very large family, dead or alive, but the fact is the graves of our dead are scattered indiscriminately throughout the cemetery. So plotting vigils usually becomes a matter of divide and conquer. At that time, I was assigned to my great-grandmother’s grave, and because it is farther and more solitary than usual compared to the other family-owned gravesites, I didn’t have any cousins to talk to nearby, and the people on either side of me were either reciting novenas or gambling. It was really an accident that I ended up reading Seidensticker; I had decided to take Seidensticker home from university because I was having some nasty thoughts about the Uji chapters after Waley but I really didn’t plan to read, contrast and compare in the middle of a cemetery. It wasn’t so much creepy as weird, but still.

And then I started reading the Royall Tyler translation. I was way outside my grandmother’s house when it happened, still within sight of the house itself, but bordering the part of the property leading to what Lola euphemistically calls ‘backyard’ but which is more like a tropical reserve. There is a small shack–the remnants of what was once a henhouse– straddling this line. My cousins and I usually sit inside in old rattan chairs, playing cards or drinking iced tea or reading during evenings. My uncle had installed good light fixtures and a ceiling fan, and the doorway of the shack gives out onto a nice view of a small fishing pond, so spending some time there after dinner has become something of a peaceful and comfortable routine for me when I stay over. I wanted to finish Volume 2 and was idly pondering Kashiwagi and that damn cat, when the whole place was plunged into darkness. Eat your heart out, Young Werther. Though I wasn’t about to go blundering out of the shack and make my way back to my grandmother’s house without a candle or a flashlight, so I stayed there, thinking a bit hysterically about something Murasaki said to Genji several chapters earlier, so I wouldn’t start imagining dead hens getting nasty ideas about ghost henhouses, I guess.

There are still other non-English translations to attempt. I wonder what’ll happen then. Hopefully I won’t be stuck in a ventilation shaft or something horrid like that.

In conclusion: What is your most memorable reading experience?

June 27, 2007 | Filed Under Books | Leave a Comment

The Readers

Got an email asking us to ‘identify’ ourselves. Jeez, what is it with Filipinos and identifications. It wasn’t an offensive email by any means but I remember being asked countless times during RodCon to define and describe our–aside from ‘identifications’–’affiliations’ (another overweening obsession).

We’re all Read Or Die members and we blog about books, reading and literature because we’re interested in books, reading and literature. Token disclaimer: We’re not literary critics though some of us actually have degrees in literature and writing. In any case, the debate about literary blogging vs. literary criticism is better left at the moment to other societies with more producers/consumers of one or both.

The RoD blog is essentially for Read Or Die members though we plan to invite other people to guest-blog or guest-review for us.

As for personal blogs: Giyenah links to her book log which is at tropicalmarginalia.wordpress.com. I have a pseudo-personal blog at cocoro.typepad.com (which is actually an aggregation of entries written in several other blogs and journals through the years). Yukitsu’s blog is at yukitsu.livejournal.com and Kae can be found at izkariote.livejournal.com. Mia blogs at mor.lux-lucis.net though she also maintains an arts journal. We have a few other bloggers signed up who have not yet blogged–I guess we’ll set up an “About The Authors” page or something like that. I’m only linking to the blogs linked to by the members themselves. We all have other linked journal accounts and the core members of RoD actually stumbled into setting up the club because of this long-standing blog network. Most of us have been blogging since 1998 or thereabouts (I started at pitas when it was very new, went on to blogger, greymatter, moveabletype, livejournal, wordpress, typepad. You name it, I’ve probably tried it), so we’ve been around for some time, we just haven’t been moving in the general Filipino blogging circuit. This is our collective first time. Be gentle, kabayan.

June 26, 2007 | Filed Under Latest | 1 Comment

More Philippine Book Development Month Activities

(I’ve been trying to upload the final version of the poster containing the Portrait Of The City activities which NBDB mailed me but it won’t load because of ,jpg errors. Alas. I think the original CMYK image might have some bugs in it which got carried over during compression I’ll try again–oh wait, a .gif file works. Here it is).

So aside from the Libro.ph launch there are other activities you can attend in celebration of the 11th Philippine Book Development Month from June 27 to July 1 at the Glorietta 3 Park and July 4 to July 8 at the Trinoma Mall near SM North.

If you do not know where Glorietta 3 Park is, it’s the open space in front of the sweep of restaurants and cafes (Hard Rock Cafe, Glorietta Jean’s, Avenetto) leading to Landmark. The Filipinas Heritage Library will be putting up a tent for the exhibit “Portrait Of The City,” which will feature cultural memorabilia, photographs and artwork of iconic places in Manila which have inspired the best Filipino writing. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Opening ceremonies and cocktails will be held on June 27 (that’s… later this evening). The third meeting of the National Book Development Board Book Club is on June 28. The book to be discussed is Charlson Ong’s “Banyaga: A Song Of War.” (If you haven’t heard about the NBDB book club, I blogged about the May 2007 meeting here. They–well, we–focus on books by Filipino authors and meet every last Friday of the month in different restaurants and cafes. The NBDB website needs to be overhauled but we’ll try to post news about future meetings ahead of time. Furthermore, this month’s selection “Banyaga: A Song Of War” is really, really good. Anvil gave Read Or Die a review copy. I read the first chapter this afternoon and was quite floored. I’m supposed to review it but don’t wait for my portentous crap. To paraphrase the immortal lolcats, literary critics of the future: BUY IT NOW OKAY U CAN HAS IT IN LOCAL BOOKSTORES LOLZ. I read Charlson Ong’s Centennial Prize-winning novel “Embarrassment of Riches” but since I liked Eric Gamalinda’s “My Sad Republic” more, I–seem to have forgotten what it’s about. Must rectify. I’ve also promised Charlson a website for Libro.ph but so far the only biographical fact I’ve gathered about him is that he has a fateful addiction to videoke and all-night sing-along sessions during writers’ workshops).

To go back to the Book Development month schedule: On June 29 there will be a poetry reading at around six in the evening, also at the Glorietta 3 Park. I’m not sure yet who’ll be doing the reading, I’ll post more details after I’ve talked to Ms. Erin Cabanawan.

On June 30 Read Or Die (what’s that?) will be launching Libro.ph (sort of) at the literary exhibit. We’ll probably just be standing around handing out leaflets and doing pseudo-literary quizzes but please come! This is a Saturday so you can take the opportunity to visit the exhibit, get… a Libro.ph flier and–most importantly–hang out at Glorietta.

There will also be a guided city tour on the same date, facilitated by Joanna Abrera del Prado of the Filipinas Heritage Library. It’s a pity I can’t come because of the launch (though the launch won’t be until 4PM and the tour starts at 8AM…) The tour will apparently culminate at F. Sionil Jose’s Solidaridad book shop. It’s a great idea–the tour, that is–so maybe we can do a reprise.

On July 1 there will be a storytelling session for children with celebrities Christine Bersola and Lyn Ching, also at the exhibit. Christine Bersola and Lynn Ching have both been active supporters of NBDB’s “Get Caught Reading” campaign. In fact, a huge billboard showing Lyn Ching reading Charlson Ong’s “Banyaga: A Song Of War” is on display along EDSA (Guadalupe). I’m not sure how one can measure the effect of celebrity reading campaigns on public perception but the NBDB thinks that seeing a recognized media personality reading a book might pique general interest, if not in the act of reading, then with particular reference to what sort of book they’re supposedly reading.

Celebrities can be overly careful with their precious brand endorsements though and there have been some actors who apparently refused to pose for the posters because they didn’t want their names associated with the publishing companies which sponsored the posters or with the bookstores where the posters would have been displayed. Well, yes, god forbid that these people will be seen with some clothes on and holding an inanimate object, i.e., a book without projecting some subliminal sexual message. It’s ridiculous. The posters are usually used in schools and were I to put one up in, say, my local public school, I don’t suppose anybody would look at the poster as a ringing endorsement of our public school system. Quoting lolcats yet again: AM I RITE?

PS: Though a certain writer insists that books and FHM models together can definitely be suggestive (And I definitely don’t think NDBD will be contacting FHM or the Viva Hot Babes any time soon but it says something of my desperation when it comes to these things that I seriously stopped to think about the possible cumulative effect of someone like Katrina Halili posing with Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “One Hundred Years Of Solitude” on teenaged boys and horny old men whose reading skills were usually confined to parsing the titles of bootlegged pornographic DVDs in Quiapo. For about ten seconds before a lightning bolt zapped me from on high.)

June 26, 2007 | Filed Under Events | 2 Comments

On Reading Preferences

There was a discussion in my Livejournal friend’s list a long time ago about this, and I would like to (ramble away with) share my thoughts on the matter. Between light and dark stories, which do you prefer reading? Do you like reading things where Everything Just Goes Wrong for the characters, and the whole feel of the story is usually gloomy and dark, or are you more for the feel-good novels?

On my part, I don’t mind reading dark stories if they have relatively happy endings. I can go through the pain, the hurt, the injustice, the drama, the deaths, and all the frustrations in between, as long as I get my relatively happy ending at the end of the book. It doesn’t have to be a sparkly, happy ever after ending – all I want is some amount of justice for the characters, for the wronged to receive the good that they deserve, and the villains to receive due punishment for all the things they did throughout the story. I feel most satisfied when the story goes full circle, and things finally go right.

My frustrations with dark books usually come out the most during character deaths. Personally, I don’t like it when characters (main characters, in particular) die, unless it really is necessary to off them. When that Important Person in Harry Potter died (not the older one), that made me swear out loud. When some of the musketeers died in the Man in the Iron Mask, I felt this sense of loss that made me unsatisfied with the ending of the book. You get attached to the characters, and then they die for a reason that you sometimes don’t understand, and often not even in a blaze of glory. Very few authors can pull off character deaths well, in my opinion, because some of them feel like they’re killing the characters off ‘just because.’

Along that note, I usually don’t like ambiguous, open-ended books. I like it when the story I hold in my hands has a definite end, when pretty much all of the issues the main characters face in the book are answered or resolved. I want to know what generally happens to the characters after the story. Cliffhangers and open ended stories frustrate me to no end. What about you?

June 26, 2007 | Filed Under Miscellany, Reading | 3 Comments

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- jon
  It’s really hard to set aside time to read these days. Sometimes people are too busy that they only scan...
- bhex
  @ jon - hahah you and your friends rocked! my dad always used to brag that he used up more UP diliman library...
- Mia
  I used to go to my elementary/high school library a lot. :D Didn’t go to the library that often in college,...
- jon
  I love the UST Elementary/High School Library. I was always there when i was studying there. There were so many...
- gus reininger
  Good to mention Corso, pure poet. Would you consider linking to the film about him. www.corsothefilm.com
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