Book Review: PARACUELLOS by Carlos Gimenez

Paracuellos, Volume 1 by Carlos Giménez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"History (is) an act of reconstruction - memory as a public process of reconstructing voices in which no voice must have the last word." ~ from Carmen Moreno-Nuno's afterword

This is an incredible graphic collection in itself, but the true story behind the book is even more important.

Author/artist Carlos Gimenez of PARACUELLOS was brought up for eight years in a Spanish state home in the early 1950's, where the children of the victims of fascist dictator Francisco Franco were brought up. This is no easy read, as the terrible events portray abuse of every kind, ranging from starvation to physical assault. In this social home, priests and nuns and government officials used the tools embraced wholeheartedly by Hitler and Mussolini, and all fascist states: violence and disinformation.

But it isn't all heartbreak. A few individuals stood apart for their refusal to conform to the daily evils all around, and Gimenez gratefully records the self-sacrifice and goodness of the gardener and the villagers whose decency and humanity helped them survive.

When Franco died, Gimenez finally decided to record the trauma of his past, for future generations to learn. This went beyond art, as the prevailing attitude of that time was 'forgive and forget.' But Gimenez knew that historic amnesia meant future reenactments, and persevered despite rejections from most publishers, and even death-threats!

Memory and History are precious precisely because they are social constructs, in the sense that there has to be a collective and ongoing effort to revive it, to help keep it alive. We live in dark times, when our country's collective amnesia is strategically organized thru Tiktok and armies of paid trolls, with political advertisements based on lies, while men with guns enter universities and confiscate books that reveal the truth of the past. (For more information, go to https://handsoffourlibraries.crd.co/ )

It happened in Spain. It has happened here in the Philippines, once before. Let us not permit it to happen again.

"Carlos Gimenez teaches his audience that the history he lived through is part of our collective history, and as such is common patrimony for us all. Because the Franco regime suppressed knowledge of these events, Spaniards had to learn all over again who we were and where we came from, starting by giving life again to that which the regime wanted to remain dead." - from Antonio Martin's introduction

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Book Review: AFTERLIVES by Abdulrazak Gurnah

Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Had to put it down after 30 pages. I just couldn't get into it. Will give it a few years and hopefully write a better review afterwards.
******
(Edited six weeks later)

A friend inspired me to give Gurnah another chance. That's the wonderful thing about being in a book club! :) Am grateful I did, because things got interesting at page 40.

Part mystery, part romance, part family history, I was drawn (for the first time in my literary journey!) into the early part of the 20th century. Germany has colonized East Africa, and African men are recruited into the Schutztruppe (German colonial troops), called askari.

Parts of the book felt like those mandatory canon lists assigned to high school classes, but to be fair, some parts soared and felt like movies writ in words. The most absorbing parts had to be the descriptions of military action. The ending felt absolutely rushed. I was left with the thought: "That's it?!?!"

Then again, perhaps this is the author's deliberate choice, to MAKE the reader think about what they just read.

The first thing I noticed was that Gurnah didn't italicize the Swahili (?) words, nor German. This is a political choice, and an admirable one, too. Thank goodness for Google Translate!

Had I not known that this was his latest novel (published in 2020), I would have thought it was a first novel based on the language: I thought it rather sparse and dry, and not very compelling. Then again, this very efficient style allowed Gurnah to tell the story of two generations in the span of under 300 pages. (I am also aware that my personal preference tends towards those with literary embellishments, so this speaks more about me as a reader rather than Gurnah as an author.)

I also thought it was very crude, in the sense that Gurnah doesn't seek to romanticize nor sanitize anything. Dirty deeds and foul thoughts abound, which makes the protagonists all the more admirable for not sinking to the level of their surroundings.

Unsolicited advice: DO NOT read Gurnah's bibliography in the Nobel Prize website, as it reveals the entire story already! Talk about spoilers! Haha.

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Book Review: NUTSHELL by Ian McEwan

Nutshell by Ian McEwan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"My mother wished my father dead. Now I live inside a story and fret about its outcome."

It was an absolute coincidence that this reader -- fresh from a three-day webinar on Shakespeare (with speakers from Shakespeare gods both British and Filipino) -- picked up this contemporary spin on Hamlet immediately after! What an absolute surprise, and a delight!

An Ian McEwan novel is an automatic purchase for me, and this (my 8th McEwan) reminded me why he is one of those "buy-on-sight-of-cover-no-need-to-look-at-the-blurb-at-the-back" authors. Of those novels I've read, I remember detesting only one, and loving all the others (hey, no author's perfect!). This one belongs to the latter, lovely category.

"Oh God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space -- were it not that I have bad dreams." McEwan put that Hamlet quote before the first page began.

I was immediately sucked in: a baby overhears his mom (Trudy) plotting with his uncle (Claude) how to kill his father! It was impossible to miss the modern-day equivalents of Gertrude and Claudius!

And McEwan proceeds from there. Hence "to be or not to be" has an altogether new meaning, coming from the mouth of an unborn babe! It was just so imaginative, and witty, and (I think) proof of McEwan's genius, how he would make the baby spout Shakespearean verse (but in prose form!) whenever his reckless mother would drink some wine!

"I'll bind her with this slimy rope,
press-gang her on my birthday with one groggy, newborn stare,
One lonesome seagull wail to harpoon her heart.
Then, indentured by strong-armed love to become my constant nurse,
her freedom but a retreating homeland shore, Trudy will be mind, not Claude's."

That wasn't Shakespeare, but it sure sounded like him! And there were so many other examples of Ian McEwan borrowing from the Bard! Here's another one:

"Grant me all the human agency the human frame can bear,
retrieve my young panther-self of sculpted muscle and long cold stare,
direct him to the most extreme measure --
Killing his uncle to save his father."

I am no scholar, but a mere book lover. And so I will leave the more pedantic analyses to folks with degrees in scansion. All I know is, this book was stressfully joyful to read! Despite all the intellectual counterpoint going on, McEwan never let go of the narrative thread. I was hooked from start to finish! Will the evil plot succeed? WHAT HAPPENS NEXT??!!!??

You THINK you know Hamlet, but then books like these come along, and you have a new appreciation and desire to re-read the high school text your English teacher forced everyone to digest. Thank you, Ian McEwan!

Like all great works of literature, there are so many issues and layers to this book. Above all, it is about the curse/gift of consciousness. Along the way, McEwan raises all the other problems society faces in 2016: migration, religion, the entitlement of the very young, the disparity of wealth amongst countries, etc. It makes one think: What kind of world are we leaving to the next generation? One could even make a stretch and involve this book in the reproductive health debate!

Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys fabulous writing as well as great storytelling, which don't often go together, but in McEwan's case, this is his signature! And I guarantee that, even if you think you know the story will end (because there's no other way... right?), McEwan excels in pulling the rug from under the reader, leaving you gasping and toasting his plotting.

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Book Review: THE PHILIPPINES: HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, CUSTOMS, AGRICULTURE, INDUSTRY, AND COMMERCE OF THE SPANISH COLONIES IN OCEANIA by Jean Mallat

I raved about this amazing book over the course of 4 days on my social media accounts, so I thought I'd share it here as well!

Dear Facebook Stalkers and People of the Page (to borrow from Anne Rice), I apologize if in the course of the next several days I will be flooding this wall with tidbits from what is probably THE COOLEST Filipiniana book I now possess! After heavily skimming its juicy contents, I knew that one post wouldn't be enough to do this book justice!

Here is Jean-Baptiste Mallat de Bassilan (Jean Mallat)'s book on basically EVERYTHING there is to know about the Philippines, originally published in 1846, translated into English and a new edition made readily available to all from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines! I've put the Table of Contents below, for those interested in ordering their own copy from the NHCP (it's VEEEERY reasonably priced, practically one peso per page only! A bit more than half the cost of a brand new trade book from bookstores... For such a rarity!!!).

Ambeth Ocampo wrote that the original was 3 volumes long and that the 3rd one was the most precious and also the most rare, for it had beautiful illustrations and maps. You won't find any of those in this volume, unfortunately. But what is here is amazing already! Totally not the dry history textbook from our elementary days!

I read aloud portions during our family dinner and there were gasps and oohs and aahs all around, because of the scandalous anecdotes and fascinating trivia told in a way that would make any Marites proud!

Mallat fell in love with Manila, and wrote obsessively about EVERYTHING! From the customs and "mores," to taxes, mineral compositions of water in lakes, flora and fauna, the language and history. Mallat's got it all! I can't wait to unpack the rest!

Here's an excerpt from the smitten French doctor:

"Charming city! Enchanting place of sojourn! With you, the kindness, the cordiality, the sweetness, the frank and noble hospitality, the friendly and careless freedom, the sincere generosity, make of the house of your neighbor your own house... Oh, Manila, my last thought will be of you!"

****

I enjoyed reading the first ten chapters (out of 31) in Jean Mallat's THE PHILIPPINES! The first four dealt with the "discovery" of the Philippines by Magellan and all the interesting power struggles, earthquakes and fires until 1846 (the time of the book's publication). The succeeding chapters on the geography, climate, plants and animals are very charming as well. One comes away with the sense that the author felt himself to be in Paradise!

But my favorite thus far is Chapter 10 (The City of Manila and its Surroundings), where Mallat brings his reader on a virtual tour. His 1846 Manila is at once so familiar, yet so different from the Manila of my birth.

"The kindness and courtesy of the inhabitants of Manila would make it the most agreeable place of sojourn in the world, if jealousy and backbiting, which one finds, without exception, in all small villages, were not also rampant in it."

And a charming passage for dog lovers: "The gates of the city are closed at 11 o'clock at night and are not opened until five o'clock in the morning... During this interval, the streets are deserted and nothing is heard except a shout of Alerta (who is there?), as, in the surrounding villages, the little bell of the vigilant Bantay." Hahaha!

Highlights from the first third of the book include:

1. Referring to us "Indians," Mallat writes: "In the climates which prevail where they live, they have nothing to do but to bend down to satisfy all their needs, and as long as their activity is not stimulated by an outside constraint, they will remain incapable of any progress." Ooooof! This made me remember a college Geography class, when our professor mentioned how tropical countries were usually underdeveloped, and that the psychology of having everything you need given to you, with hardly any labor, may have played a part.

2. The British succeeded in driving out the Spaniards from Manila and kept them out for fifteen months!!! They only left when news of the treaty ending the Seven Years' War reached them.

Just think... we very nearly spelled "theater" as "theatre," and would have had tea instead of coffee breaks!

3. Those poor Chinese! 20,000 were massacred in 1603. Thus far, that was the only massacre mentioned in the book, although if memory serves, there were several other violent massacres. Huhu.

4. Man oh man, Mallat fell for the Philippines hard. He swings from disinterested academic to ardent poet, sometimes after only a paragraph! So he'd go and write:

"Everything delights and enchants in these places where nature seems to have exhausted her treasures to give to this savage soil what she is of the richest and of the most beautiful, to this air all that she has of the most cherished and the most scented, to this water the most healthful elements, and to this sky a purity that only the hurricanes come to change sometimes."

Or...

"Oh! Who could paint the sensation felt by a European, transported for the first time amidst those vast and melancholic solitudes where he hears only the warbling of the birds, the cries of monkeys, and the rustle of leaves agitated by the wind! Surrounded all over by the magnificent spectacle of those primitive virgin forest, one is reminded by everything of the grandeur of the Eternal; everything lifts his heart towards the Creator, whose marvels one can never tire of admiring."

And immediately in the next paragraph he goes: "We will end this chapter with particular details about the different species of wood..." * insert lists and numbers *

5. We used to have so many trees! Huhu. Mallat writes: "The still virgin forest of this archipelago would suffice to furnish wood for the whole of Europe; one can even boldly advance that almost all the species produced by Asia and America are found there."

"One sees that this archipelago possesses by itself all the produce which constitutes the wealth of the countries surrounding it, and that, itself an object of envy of its neighbors, there is nothing it envies anybody for."

And so many bananas! "More than fifty varieties of banana plants are counted." Of the list, I only recognized three!

6. I theoretically know how to kill an alligator. Haha! Apparently they were EVERYWHERE and would run after people bathing in the rivers and lakes! So there's a technique involving a sharp weapon and a pointed spear. When the mouth is open, spear it and then stab it! Now you know.

7. Mallat had much respect for the native nipa houses, "built as they were on their unbreakable posts," still standing when all the stone houses would break after an earthquake.

I am LIVING for those instances when Mallat the poet can't help himself and gets carried away in his raptures. Mallat the doctor also shares a bit of his background in Chapter 10, when he shares that he was a doctor treating leprosy patients in San Juan de Dios hospital, the oldest in the country.

One third down, two thirds of this most interesting book to go!

(Image not mine, as this edition has no illustrations, but it is one of the beautiful drawings from the original 3rd volume of the 1846 edition. I think this shows the "Losong" (from which the name Luzon is derived), the mortar where Tagalogs pounded "palay."

Speaking of rice, I appreciate how Mallat differentiates between "bigas" and "canin," and even describes the process!

(Original picture from https://gop.com.ph/the-original-prints-of-the.../)

***

Grateful to have finished my self-imposed 10 chapter assignment despite attending the three hour TV lecture of "Professor" Jessica Soho who interviewed 4 presidential candidates!! Hence, Jean Mallat's comments made about the Philippines in 1846 resonate:

"Nothing is more fatal to the country than the permission granted to the mayors to trade for their own account; the result is that they think only of making a fortune at the expense of the local inhabitants whose interests, on the contrary, are their first duty to defend; they vex and oppress them, making themselves enemies of the men to whom they are sent as protectors."

Chapters 11-15 were, admittedly, the most "textbook-y" thus far, as Mallat listed all the provinces and included charts with the names of towns and the number of residents (one column for tributes, paid per family, and another column for individual inhabitants), as well as the produce to be found.

Chapter 16-18 were about the civil, religious, and military agencies.

On the justice system: "More than one misdemeanor has been committed because they know in advance that it will remain unpunished and that it will be easy to escape prosecution by justice."

On the influence of priests: "In reality it is the parish priest alone who governs and maintains order... In each priest, the King had in the Philippines a captain-general and a whole army... The priests are men who have dedicated themselves... it has been noted that madness is very common among the religious, and this has been attributed to the conflicts between nature and the privations imposed by celibacy."

Chapter 19 was about the economy, exports and income earned, and we end again with a gloriously chatty Chapter 20: Physical Characteristics and Customs of the Indios!

On the very old sport of sabong: "One must not forget the right of keeping arenas for cockfights... these fights are the passion of the Indios, who always have their cock beside them, and would rather to do without their wives than without this companion." Haha!

Mallat describes moonlight processions and promenades by courting couples, the indio's love for drink and gambling, and the elaborate (and frequent) bathing done in rivers, featuring gugo shampoo and lots of snacks eaten by hand! Hmmm maybe I ought to try eating tapa, mangoes, and ham during my next riverside bath.

He also mentions our local monsters: the "nono," the "patiana" (I think he meant our "tiyanak"), and the "tigbalang," and while I'm grateful that Netflix's TRESE has made the international community familiar with our country's folklore, Mallat mentions other monsters that I am unfamiliar with. I need to do more research on the succubus "matruculan," and "aman" and "tiguanat."

Speaking of monsters, I need to know more about Don Juan Surriano Mallares! This parish priest apparently assassinated 57 people in order to free his mom from a curse!?! WHAAAAAAAAT??? Mallat, of course, assures us: "He was strangled in the year 1840."

The picture below is from Christie's website, which says it is one of the illustrations from the original 1846 edition (3rd volume), and that it sold for about half a million pesos in 1998! Based on the text, I think this illustration show how the "Bisaya" were dressed.

"The men more generally cover their heads with a handkerchief folded into a turban; sometimes they let their hair grow and gather it in the back like the Malays, which is hardly done by inhabitants of Luzon."

Last eleven chapters to go!

***

Sundays are the best reading days! Finally got to finish the final third of this incredible book over a cup of tsokolate eh (the thick kind)!

I have no pictures of my chocolate, but just look at this incredible photo (not mine, as my 2021 English edition has no illustrations) courtesy of Christie's, from the original 1846 edition (3rd volume) of Jean Mallat's THE PHILIPPINES. To the left we have the "Yfugao," and to the right we have the "high class" indios and mestizos.

On the "Yfugaos," supposedly descended from Japanese who made incursions around 1591: "They like to wait in ambush to assassinate passers-by, cutting off their heads without robbing them, sucking the brains and afterwards bring the still bloody heads to turn them into the finest ornament of their huts."

A blend of Savagery and Civilization. That's how Mallat saw the Philippines he fell passionately in love with (it shows!).

Chapters 21-23 would appeal to anthropologists, as Mallat describes the traits and customs of the "wild races" (un-Christianized indios), the mestizos, and the Chinese.

On the mores of "the whites," Mallat wrote: "It must also be added that husbands in the Philippines do not have pretensions to the most scrupulous fidelity." Sigh.

On the Busaos: "There are some who wear large rings in their ears; others wear rather heavy pieces of wood which prolong prodigiously the cartilage of the ear. This custom is also found among the inhabitants of Vanikoro, Tahiti and several other archipelagos of the Pacific Ocean; it is very difficult to explain how this similarity could have arisen, since as far as it is known the Busaos have never had close relations with these islands; it is therefore natural to conclude that the former descended from those islanders some of whose ships must have been brought to the coasts of the island of Luzon."

In short, when Moana asked "How far I'll go," the answer is: "Luzon!!!"

Chapter 24 is a personal favorite! It contains a chart of baybayin, the translation of the Lord's Prayer in Tagalog and Bisaya, and 60+ pages of a phrase book (2 pictures are attached below).

Mallat didn't just write useful phrases. He wrote mini-dramas! Most have conflict and resolution! I thought boredom would make me skip the phrase book, but I found myself captivated! The scenarios range from how to inquire if stockings are from Parañaque or Pandacan, to fact-checking the gossip that someone brings, as well as how to rent a house or gamble.

He said, "The Tagalog language... is clear, rich, elegant, metaphorical, poetic... It is rich, sonorous, expressive, and would not take long in having its own literature, worthy of taking its place among those of the peoples in Europe."

With gorgeous phrases for "My soul," "light of my eyes," "daughter of my heart," some mini-dramas were quite funny as well! Look at this exchange:

A: You sing delightfully.

B: Now, the Spanish guitar.

A: The first string is worthless. (hahahaha!)

A: I seem to be in a terrestrial paradise.

B: Are you learning Tagal?

A: I am trying my best to learn it.

B: It's a beautiful and useful language.

A: It is also pleasing and full of wit.

B: In eight lessons one can read it fluently and in twenty, understand perfectly any book with the help of a good dictionary. (Oh really, Jean-Baptiste? Because this speaker, born in Manila, still needs a good dictionary understanding it after 35 years of existence!?)

A: I'm afraid to speak, for fear of speaking nonsense.

B: It's by speaking that we learn to speak. (Ooooh thanks for the reminder to keep practicing, Mallat!)

I was also struck by how every phrase had "po" in it, for the Tagalog translation. Mallat, too, spoke of our extreme courtesy.

In Chapter 25 (Education), Mallat tells us that UST isn't the oldest university, but that the Jesuits founded the College of San Jose first.

He also said, "In the churches we have heard waltzes of Mozart and the gayest tunes of French comic operas." I would have LOVED to hear this!!!

Chapters 26-27 were about Agriculture and Industry. I was struck with this anecdote on piña cloth, which Mallat loved so much! He described the process of making it, in 2 separate chapters!

"A work ... presented to us during our stay in Manila ... astonished us beyond expression. It was a piña kerchief in the center of which was embroidered the portrait of Rossini; on the sides, the titles of all his works, and at the four corners, trophies of musical instruments. The Indio artist...told us that he intended it for one of his friends he called the Rossini of Oceanian Italy, for the Indios of the Philippines say their archipelago is the Italy of Oceania with respect to music." AAAAAAAMEEEEEEN.

Chapters 28-30 were about Commerce, and had numerous tables for export duties as well as the protocol for receiving ships at the port, exact amounts of imports from various countries, cost of producing different plants and expected profits, etc.

The last chapter (the 31st) contained his summary of a country that thoroughly enthralled him. He foresaw greatness for us!

"We would like to hope that our work will offer some use, especially at a time when through the opening of the ports of China, the Philippines will be called to play such a great role in the political scene in this part of the world."

The description "must-read" is too liberally applied about books, but I feel that this very affordable edition is necessary in every Filipino's home library! It's cheaper than that Colleen Hoover thriller you've been eyeing, and it gives one a precious look into an imperfect yet fascinating past.

It must be said that there were noticeably more typos in the last third of the book, perhaps this could be remedied in future editions. Hopefully the illustrations could be included in the next edition as well! It would surely drive up the price of the book, but I'm sure it will be worth the extra expense.

For those interested in getting a copy, just email property@nhcp.gov.ph !

Book Review: EXTREME MEDICINE by Kevin Fong, M.D.

Extreme Medicine: How Exploration Transformed Medicine in the Twentieth Century by Kevin Fong
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a very interesting book written for the curious layman, bringing together trauma experienced in extremes (which marked the names of the chapters: Ice, Fire, Water, Orbit, Mars, etc. Go Captain Planet! LOL), medicine and exploration.

What I found interesting was the author's background: he has advanced degrees in medicine, astrophysics and engineering! And he was kind enough to explain the functions of both bodily processes and satellites and machinery in terms that any person could understand, even humorously at times ("And then, in one of the most effective rapid weight-loss programs the world has ever known, I go from being 336 pounds to weighing nothing," Fong writes of his weightlessness training in "The Vomit Comet.").

Fong wrote in the introduction that his book is "about life: its fragility, its fractal beauty, and its resilience." And it truly was! Along the way, I enjoyed learning about the origins of plastic surgery, of the British infantryman who survived being shot in the heart in World War I for at least 23 years afterwards, as well as the ABCs of trauma care codified by the incredibly brave James Styner, who overcame great personal tragedy and did his best to make sure no one would go through what his family went through.

Reading the chapter on SARS, the first pandemic of the century in 2003, strikes differently in the middle of this current pandemic, and reminds us how, while the public did not experience that many fatalities compared with COVID 19, it was only due to the sacrifices of the healthcare workers like Dr. Carlo Urbani who literally shielded us with their lives. It was very chilling to read of the similarities of SARS and COVID... SARS was also a coronavirus that jumped from civet cats to humans, and it was first detected in China as well.

"The fight against epidemics... is won not by high-tech interventions but by public-health measures... indeed, the polio epidemic, which gave birth to the specialty of intensive care, was defeated not by ventilators, adrenaline pumps, or dialysis machines but by a program of vaccination - a campaign so effective that today the polio virus stands on the brink of eradication from the world."

It speaks much about the need for public education when Fong wrote this in 2012, but that as late as 2019, there were still polio outbreaks in the Philippines, despite the polio vaccine being readily available.

Books like Fong's bring comfort because they provide much-needed perspective, and hope. But doctors and scientists can only do so much. We should do our part and listen to them, and set aside all politics, all ego when we do so.

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Book Review: THE OTHER WIND (Earthsea Cycle # 6) by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes a book makes you cry, uncontrollably. With a single word.

This is the first time it happened, but it came on so unexpectedly, it was like a mini geyser exploded in my eyes!!

And THAT's power. That is literary sorcery, of which Ursula Le Guin possesses PUH-LENTY.

The sixth and final novel in the Earthsea series seemed much longer than the others. If it was a movie, it would have been a "talkie," because, like in real life, the saving of souls and the afterlife is slow work. Don't worry, the action comes in the end. Talking doesn't stop the dead from crossing over, when the wall that maintains the order of the world is crumbling down.

I'll always remember this one fondly for the barest hint of an 'enemies-to-lovers' trope that somehow fed my romance-hungry soul more than the best/worst romance novels! All I can say is... Thank goodness for AO3!

I also appreciate how Le Guin writes of aging characters, of how powerful the powerless and poor actually are. There are no perfect happy endings, there is always much sacrifice, but Le Guin shows that the choice to be saved or damned lies in us, that it is important to have "many skills, the greatest of which is kindness," and that joy lies not in possessing the beloved, but in setting them free.

***

My edition had four more short stores after this sixth novel, which added more color to other new characters from the same world. Am grateful for these short blessings that put off the leavetaking for a while longer, for I am now one of those who feel Earthsea to be every bit as real as our own world.

Looking back on the edition as a whole, was it worth shelling out precious book money for? YAS QUEEN!! The text of Le Guin's lecture at the end, EARTHSEA REVISIONED, is one of the best things about this edition.

Important things for future readers to know:

Books 1-3 were written for YA audiences ('A Wizard of Earthsea,' 'The Tombs of Atuan,' and 'The Farthest Shore'), but Books 4-6 are strictly for mature audiences only ('Tehanu,' 'Tales from Earthsea,' and 'The Other Wind'). While all were incredible in their own way, TEHANU was by the far the most powerful, and also the most emotionally traumatic one to read.

Is it essential reading? Yes. I'm kicking myself for having read the series only now, so I'm spreading the gospel, as it were. It doesn't matter if you're a beginning reader, or a jaded one in the middle of a book slump. Le Guin is for everyone, and the moral weight of these stories are comparable to Tolkien's and C.S. Lewis' masterpieces, even more so because of how Le Guin portrays men and women in the later books.

Gender is a big thing in all of Le Guin's fiction. It is 2022 and while we have made steps as a society, there are still a lot of folks who need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the light. As Le Guin said, "When the world turns over, you can't go on thinking upside down. What was innocence is now irresponsibility."

She goes on to say that "A rule may be unjust, yet its servants may be just." If these books can help start a conversation going about gender roles in literature and real life, then that is plenty of good done already.

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Book Review: TALES FROM EARTHSEA (The Earthsea Cycle # 5) by Ursula K. Le Guin

Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Fragments. Remmants!"
"Beginnings."

It took me quite some time to get over the emotional scarring from the previous, fourth Earthsea book (TEHANU... simultaneously the best and most terrible in the series, for me). But now that I've moved on and finished this fifth Earthsea novel, I'm glad.

If TEHANU was a brilliant, all-consuming flame, TALES is the welcoming fire at the hearth. It is a gentle homecoming to a world Le Guin revisited after eleven years.

TALES FROM EARTHSEA is made up of five stories, all taking place in different time periods, some before, and some in the middle of the previous Earthsea novels.

(By the way, there is a Studio Ghibli film with this same title. I've seen it, and it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in common with the book, apart from the same name.)

I think the reader needs to have read the previous novels in order to fully appreciate the homecoming of sorts, for there's nothing like seeing the backstory of familiar friends fleshed out, or witnessing how another literary companion meets their end. Threads of previous tales, woven tighter, making the overall pattern more brilliant.

"I am lost among wonders."

I am struck anew with Le Guin's uniquely gritty approach to fantasy. It is a world with dragons and magic, yes, but it feels REAL because the humans in her books act like humans in reality. The pettiness and shallow pride, the self-sacrifice and casual cruelty... none of it is glossed over. I cannot recommend this book for any child younger than high school, because there are sentences that hint of unspeakable evils, hinted at and easily missed if one were to merely skim the pages. But for more mature readers, this fifth book is as rich as the previous ones. To live in Earthsea is to be reminded that the salvation of the world is a never-ending burden, that the hard work is never finished. To be in Earthsea is to value the magic of names and language, to be wary of liars for "their lie, spoken, may change the world." This is Fantasy that rings of the deep truths of myths, classic and immortal.

It is not finished yet. The final book awaits. To think that only one book remains fills me with incredible sadness, made sweeter with the promise of re-reading them in some other, kinder time.

"And if not a happy ending, that was a true joy, which may be enough to ask for, after all."

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Book Review: TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC by James A. Michener

Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"I pray to God that never in your history will you have an enemy so near your shores."

I have Mr. Michener to thank for keeping me company during the queue for my 3rd vaccine shot, as well as keeping me up til 1 am because GOSHDANGIT I couldn't put this book down once I had opened it!

This is my third Michener book since the pandemic, the other two being IBERIA (Spain) and CARAVANS (Afghanistan). All hail THE GREAT MICHENER! He is now one of my all-time faves. You know how our parents' generation had thick Micheners in all their home libraries? I now understand why!!!

He's a teacher's dream in written form: able to cram so much historically accurate information, wrapped up in easy-to-read prose, but sprinkled liberally with several penetrating insights that elevate his books from mere airport purchases. As another fan put it, "Why isn't he in the canon?!" If more people read Michener, we'd have more open hearts, open minds. We'd have more people in love and in awe of the world, for Michener loved every thing he wrote about and infects his readers with his passion.

Listen to this opening paragraph:

"I wish I could tell you about the South Pacific. The way it actually was. The endless ocean. The infinite specks of coral we called islands. Coconut palms nodding gracefully toward the ocean. Reefs upon which waves broke into spray, and inner lagoons, lovely beyond description..."

What amazes me is that this Pulitzer prize winning masterpiece was Michener's FIRST book. How can anyone write THIS GOOD, the first time?! Well no wonder Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote a classic Broadway musical, which got turned into a classic film!

We have around nineteen short stories/chapters, each featuring a person or an episode inspired by Michener's experiences in World War II as an island hopper around modern day Vanuatu. Michener makes you care about this large cast of characters so quickly, so passionately, that when the epic final chapters come around, you're reading breathlessly, praying and hoping that they survive, when they've been preparing for that grand battle for so many years.

I loved the story about the granddaughter of Fletcher Christian (the mutineer on the Bounty) on Norfolk Island, and I don't think I've read a more beautiful love letter than the one in the censorship chapter (and the worst one was in there, too, hehe).

"We will shortly be faced with responsibilities almost beyond our capacity to perform. At that time there will be no place for weaklings."

I don't recall reading a better battle narrative than the chapter "The Landing on Kuralei." I think Michener chose to combine the stories of actual battles on Tarawa and Guadalcanal, to show the peril in fighting against Japanese commanders educated in the U.S., and Japanese banzai chargers who would sacrifice themselves while causing maximum damage.

"Before me lay the dead, the heroic dead who took the island. Over them the sea birds dipped in endless homage. Above them the deep sky erected a cathedral... Never again will we be surrounded only by heroes."

We come away with renewed respect for the common bravery of this great generation, who fought for an idea called democracy, and laid down their lives so people today could fight over bodily autonomy in vaccination campaigns. The way I see it, we are in the midst of our own generation's war: a fight of reason and science versus fear and politicking. And while Michener's book, very much a product of its time (with passages that will offend some for its sexism and racism), has a few parts that didn't age well, on the whole it is brilliant and inspiring, and is definitely a must-read! Best read in private because this thing will alternately have you whooping from laughter, and quietly weeping by the end.

And now it's a time for a re-watch of the musical!

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Book Review: TOKYO TRAVEL SKETCHBOOK by Amaia Arrazola

Tokyo Travel Sketchbook: Kawaii Culture, Wabi Sabi Design, Female Samurais and Other Obsessions by Amaia Arrazola
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was a present from me to my mother, who loves all things Japanese. The best thing about giving books as presents to family members is, it's a gift that keeps on giving! It's like gifting YOURSELF as well, hehe, so I was very happy when my mom let me read it when she was done.

I think we were not the target audience for the book, though. Don't get me wrong: the illustrations are LOVELY (but definitely not for children, tee hee only for mature audiences!). But I was struck with the general lack of the minimum of scholarly research undertaken for the project. There were quite a few pages where the artist would label an item - perhaps a piece of food - as "Unknown," and leave it at that. Whatever happened to researching it afterwards on the Internet?! The editor must be taken to task for this, as well!

Conclusion? It's a book for those who know nothing of Japan, and haven't been. It's an introduction, of the shallowest kind. And if that's what you're looking for, then that's what you'll get. But there are other, and better books, out there.

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Book Review: GOODBYE TO ALL THAT by Robert Graves

Good-Bye to All That: An Autobiography by Robert Graves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quite a few booklovers on social media had written posts about this 1929 memoir, saying that it was a suitable read for lockdown. So when I saw this worn and tattered copy in our library, I looked past the dilapidated cover and dove in, having had very pleasant memories of I, CLAUDIUS, which Graves had written as well.

It was a great deal funnier than I expected it to be, considering that most of it (the best parts) was about the author's experiences in World War I France! Graves vividly writes of the day-to-day life in the trenches as an officer. He does not come away unscathed, narrowly surviving death by shrapnel and the Spanish influenza, and struggles to adjust to civilian life as a husband and father in Oxford and Egypt after the war (he even taught the future Nasser and became quite close with Sassoon and T.E. Lawrence).

It's always an education to read the honest, no-holds-barred musings of people generations past. Robert Graves comes across, to this Oriental, as a privileged snob all right. But one who is unpretentious; he neither hides nor makes any apology for who and what he is (after all, it isn't his fault that he was born into all that upper crust privilege, and whatever moral failings he had, he more than made up for in terms of services rendered during the war).

What I will remember about this book is the sense of honor and decency that seemed to drive most of the English men (and even the Germans!) fighting in the war. I thought that the Christmas Truce in 1914 was a special case, but apparently not! Graves wrote of unspoken gentlemen's agreements that, when defenses were being erected, the opposing sides would stop shooting at each other for a bit. Or how they would pass messages like schoolboys, thrown inside empty grenades, from trench to trench.

There's this line from the theme song of the HBO series BAND OF BROTHERS that goes: "Young men who died for old men's wars, gone to paradise." That's exactly what Graves and Sassoon thought of the whole enterprise. And yet, they fought for their regiment/platoon. For THEIR band of brothers, to the point that, when faced with a choice of home service after injury or going back abroad, they would plead with their doctors to let them return to their comrades in France.

My favorite part was when he quoted the famous article "A MOTHER'S ANSWER TO A COMMON SOLDIER," which was the response of the mother of an only child to a pacifist. Maaaaan, I was bawling like a pig after that one. "If the men fall, the women won't." AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Graves writes dispassionately about every-day horrors, so it comes as a bit of a shock when he tells heartbreaking stories of self-sacrifice and courage so nonchalantly, like the tales of the Catholics following their fearless priests into battle where they wouldn't follow their C.O., and the man who died cramming his throat with his fingers in an effort to prevent his cries of pain escaping, so his comrades wouldn't risk their lives to try and drag him from No Man's Land. * tear *

It was interesting to note what he brought with him to battle, coming from leave: "I also took a Shakespeare and a Bible, a Catullus and a Lucretius..." apart from the usual torch/flashlight and wire-cutters, sleeping-bag and folding arm-chairs.

So why is this suitable quarantine reading? I suppose it's a wonderful way to gain the perspective of history, to compare the burden of this generation to that of theirs. Graves showed that all troubles could be borne with the help of books and friends. This book is well worth cracking open.

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