Book Review: THE THREE-CORNERED SUN by Linda Ty-Casper

The Three-Cornered Sun by Linda Ty-Casper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“A nation without a soul should not be defended.”

It is often said of the two sexes that men tend to focus on airy ideals while women dwell on the practical, earthy details that make up daily life. I can very much believe this to be the case with this historical novel written by a Harvard-educated Filipina such as Linda Ty-Casper. She benefited from the extraordinary wealth of detail of someone who read and listened to primary sources, which the author did with her grandmother (the book is dedicated to her).

Gabriela Paez Viardo De Valesquez (1871-1953) whose memory of the Revolution of 1896 is the touchstone of this novel in which characters of fiction reenact history, the main protagonist.

The dedication matters because of the name: Viardo, and because of the acknowledgement that the protagonist is not a character, but history itself.

To read of history in textbooks is to see it as a smooth flow of cause-and-effect, focusing on heroes so far removed from the mortal coil, they seem more saint and half-god than human. Yet in our hearts we know it could not have been thus, which makes this 21st century reader grateful for the unique value of this novel.

The novel’s protagonists, apart from History, are the different members of the Viardo family. All fall under the shadow of the Revolution, though in different ways. What Linda Ty-Casper does so well is spell out the stakes for each type of Filipino, depending on his pre-Revolution station, and what he stands to gain or lose.

Familiarity with actual historical events is a given for the reader, as the author assumes we know the basic timeline of the War for Independence. But reading this book makes one realize that acing a history exam full of dates is nothing compared to the realization of the absolute chaos of the times, when Filipinos dared to rise against Spanish priests and rulers because of the ideals spread by three priests (Gomburza), a doctor who penned subversive thoughts (Jose Rizal), and a leader of a secret society who dared raise his bolo for freedom (Andres Bonifacio).

Linda Ty-Casper shows how the events transpired slowly, and so messily. “Glory” is the last word one will think of the revolution, after reading this book. The confusion of being swept along the tides of passion on both sides, the ugliness of human nature shown in the selfish who focus on self-aggrandizement and comfort above every loyalty, is portrayed in absolutely horrible scenes written in so simple language that it adds to the realism, and therefore, to the horror.

Anecdotes fill the pages, so full of detail they resonate as true, so oddly specific that one believes they could not have been made up.

There is the mother, one of many who join the hordes of humanity fleeing the Spanish cavalry, whose baby is shot and carries her still despite being told to let go.

There is the indio who asks if God is on the side of the Kastila because “all images of saints resemble them,” revealing “the reason many hesitated in the beginning, why those who finally joined the revolution thought they had condemned themselves in trying to save the country.”

Then there is the eagerness with which many Katipuneros embraced the amnesty of 1897 because it meant sleeping on dry ground, instead of awaiting capture or death in the pouring rain.

One scene that stood out for this reader featured the war photographer who interrupted a Kastila about to kill a Katipunero, calling out the ideal poses so he could better capture “the instant of death.” Unsatisfied with this slaughter by bayonet, he drags a corpse onto a banca for a long shot, then starts a cleansing fire so he can take a prize-worthy, dramatic photo.

Even the most Rizal-like character, Simeon, is portrayed realistically, with all too human frailty. For what good are ideals if one is unable to physically fight for them?

Perhaps the most heartbreaking thing about the novel is its end. I thought I would last the entire book without crying, but the ending broke something in me, and proves that Linda Ty-Casper is no romantic idealist. With echoes of Elias and Ibarra, but written more realistically, the author shows who is most worthy of contempt: those who choose to do nothing.

“On either side people stopped to watch, surprised that with the revolution over, someone would still try to be killed in it. Cristobal beseeched his mother’s house for help. All merely looked back, as if it did not matter what happened to one more.”

At the end, Linda Ty-Casper shows that the Revolution is intensely personal, as is salvation for every Filipino/a. Reading this book not only places us squarely in the times, but makes us examine our deepest selves and question what would we have done, had we lived through this darkness?

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Book Review: DEATH'S END by Liu Cixin (Remembrance of Earth's Past # 3)

Death's End by Liu Cixin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“The ultimate fate of all intelligent beings has always been to become as grand as their thoughts.”

Scifi fans everywhere, this is our year. We just had DUNE Part Two in the IMAX theaters, and now we have Netflix’s THREE-BODY PROBLEM based on the incredible Liu Cixin’s trilogy. Somewhere in our youth or childhood, we must have done something good, guys!

My first attempt to read Book 1 of the series (prophetically entitled REMEMBRANCE OF EARTH’S PAST) ended with me sheepishly returning the book to the generous friend who had lent it to me. “I’m not smart enough,” I said. The English translation from the original Mandarin skews to the dry side, and back then, I was deterred by the extremely detailed depiction of the actual physics (with all that talk about Lagrange points and curvature propulsion) involved in attempting to communicate with intelligent civilizations outside our planet.

But then Fate intervened, and after my stint as a substitute Science teacher for a couple of years (read as: after reanimating the mummies known as basic Physics and Chemistry in my brain), and after I found the boxed sale on sale at Fully Booked SM Baguio during the Christmas break, I thought, who am I to question Destiny?

Reading Books 1 and 2 brought the same joy as reading the other classics of the genre. Liu is indeed worthy of being included in the ranks of Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. Life intervened when I was only a few chapters in Book 3, but then I watched the Netflix adaptation (absolutely fantastic!) and had to know what came next.

Book 1 asks, What do we do when we send a message to the stars, and one answers back? Book 2 responds with, What makes you think there’s only one intelligent civilization out there listening to us?

Book 3 is the longest, at more than 600 pages. It was also the most heart-breaking and shocking, with me startling a lady sitting next to my table at a coffee shop when I muttered a heartfelt curse under my breath at one point (a hazard when one reads in public, boo). That’s how skilfully Liu involves the reader in the interstellar struggle for human survival. This is not a book that one can read in absolute silence.

Having finished all three books and the first season on Netflix, I’m struck by the thought that this is the definitive scifi classic of our generation, capturing our milieu’s exhausted cynicism so accurately, yet without falling into the easy trap of despair. It’s a marvel to me how Liu avoids stereotypes in any of his characters. All are capable of deception and pettiness, and yet, all are heroic and admirable in their own way. I couldn’t tell you who is good or bad, because it depends on the cultural norms of each epoch. This is a series that spans millenia, and goes far beyond our tiny Milky Way Galaxy. Others have done it before Liu Cixin, but none have done it with his level of technical prowess (he was, after all, a computer engineer) and observant eye for what are the best (and worst) things about humans in the 20th and 21st century.

Liu brings such an Asian sensitivity to cultural and social norms as well, the yin and yang of masculine pride and aggression described alongside feminine nurturing and caring, the importance of the group as important as each individual’s quest for meaning. With a scientist’s logic, he explains what happens when laws of physics don’t act the way we’re accustomed to on earth. With a humanist’s eye, he shows us the consequences of the breaking of these laws on fragile humans and our equally fragile societies. And despite the little bit of language that is lost in translation, the result is a powerful third novel that had me literally weeping close to midnight, at its close (sorry, roommate!).

Such books are rare gifts, because they speak to the very essence of what is worth saving in our fallen world. And by its end you’re no longer thinking of the Science (although the foundation is solid and makes for a very realistic experience), but of the moral and philosophical implications of these new frontiers that Liu brings, narrated in a story so breathtakingly exciting, one might as well purchase the entire set so you don’t have to wait to buy the next book.

It is, surprisingly, a fitting read for Holy Week, when we consider the impact of one man on the rest of humanity.


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