Martes, Enero 22, 2013

Ang Rosales Saga; The Saga Review

Ang Rosales Saga ay limang nobelang isunulat ng ating Pambansang Alagad ng Sining na si Fransisco Sionil Jose. Ang limang libro ay ang mga sumusunod; "Po-on", "Tree", My Brother, my Executioner", "Pretenders" at "Mass". Limang nobelang naglalakbay ng isang daang taon mula sa panahon ng mga Kastila hangang sa mga unang taon ng Martial Law. Bagamat magkakarugtong ang mga nobela maaari mo itong basahin ng indibidwal at nang hindi sunod-sunod. Bawat nobela ay nakakatayong magisa sa kwento nito.  Lahat ng ito ay nasulat sa lenggwaheng ingles, dahil ito raw pinakakomportable wika ni Ginoong Jose.

Naumpisahan kong mabasa ang "Po-on"(Unang nobela sa Saga) sa huling mga buwang ng taong 2011, at dun ko rin nagpagisipang basahin ang limang nobela sa RS. Ang nabasa kong "Po-on" ay nasalin na sa Filipino ni Lilia Antonio. Ito ang naging rebyu ko sa nobela mula sa Goodreads.


Nobyembre 2011
 "Na-score ko 'tong librong ito one time sa NBS Bicutan, natsempuhang naka-sale. 100 pesos, kaya dampot agad punta sa counter para magbayad. Grabe galak at tuwa ko nun, dahil gusto kong mabasa ang Po-on at eto na nga ang tumambad sa harap ko, Po-on ni Sionil ang nakakatuwa pa, ung translated berso sa Filipino. Isang bagay lang ang nakakalungkot sa librong ito, medyo nagdedeteriorate na ang mga pahina, kumakawala na sila sa pagkakabind, kaya pala nakasale. Para hindi naman masayang ang librong ito, ginawan ko sya nang paraan tulad ng paggawa ko ng paraan sa mga lumang librong meron ako na inooperahan ko ang nilalagyan ng staple ang mga gilid ng binding, napagisip-isip ko sa susunod ung staple na de-baril na ang gagamitin ko para kumagat sa bawat pahina nito.

Balik tayo sa libro, ang bersyon ng librong ito ay salin sa Filipino ni Lilia Antonio isang manunula at essayist. Propesor ng Foriegn Studies sa Osaka Japan.

Ang Po-on unang libro sa tinaguriang Rosales Saga, limang konektadong libro na nilikha ng Natl Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose. Ang limang libro ay konektado sa isa't isa, ngunit maari raw basahin ng magkakahiwalay o kahit hindi sunudsunod. Sinasabi rin ng iba na ang Po-on ang pinaka magandang nobela sa lima, at sabi nila parang tinamad na si Sionil sa apat na kasunod na nobela. Hindi ko panapapatunayan ito sa aking sarili dahil hindi ko pa nababasa ang apat na iba pang nobela, pero totoong naganda ako sa unang nobela ng rosales saga kahit pa ito ay naisalin na sa wikang Filipino. Minsan iniisip ko nga kung binasa ko ito sa Ingles mas magandahan kaya ako? Dahil syempre, hindi naman eksakto o perpekto sa perspektibo ni Sionil sa pagsalin ni Lilia. Ngunit gayon pa man, hindi nabawasan para sa akin ang ganda ng libro.

Ang libro ay tumatalakay sa isang pamayanan na ngalan ay Po-on at ang pamilya nila Estaqio Salvador na lumikas mula norte papuntang lambak pero nakita ang lugar nila sa Rosales, Pangasinan. Dito sila nagsimula muli ng bagong pamayanan na tinawag nilang Cabugawan. Ang istorya ng Po-on ay umiikot sa pamilya ni Estaqio o mas kilalang Istak, isang dating sakristan na pinangarap maging pari ngunit na udlot na may dumating na bagong pari at pina balik sya sa Po-on nang malaman ni Istak nang hindi sinasadya ang pagabuso nito sa isang dalaga. (spoiler!) At naging sukdulan ang lahat ng hindi sinasadyang mapatay ng ama ni Istak ang bagong pari. Dun nagsimula ang kanilang paglalakbay papuntang timog. Kung saan kailangan muli nilang magsimula sa wala. Magnakaw ng bukid sa kagubatan at hawan ang mga lupa upang maging bukid. Naging manggagamot si Istak kanilang maliit na bayan, marami syang nalalaman. Ito'y dahil na rin sa kanyang karanasan sa sakritiya at mga natutunan mula sa matandang pari na si Padre Jose na tinuturing niyang guro at mabait na prayle. Hangang sa dumating ang mga bagong mananakop, dumating ang mga Amerikano. At dito na nga lumabas ang dalawang kilalang bayani ng ating bansa, pero tulad ng ibang rebyu dito, hindi ko sasabihin kung sino sila. Pero sa bandang huli ng libro dito kung saan sila lalabas, magiging nakapaka interesante at baka tapusin mo na at hindi bitawan tulad nagawa ko. 5 Stars"




 Ang "Tree" naman ang sinunod ko bumili ako nito sa Fullybooked. At agad binasa. Naisipan kong basahin sa buong RS sa taon na sumunod(2012).  Manipis lang ang libro at malungkot, ito ang naging rebyu ko.

Enero  2012
"Death---

Tree is the 2nd novel of F. Sionil Jose's most epic work commonly known as the Rosales Saga. Five novels that spans 100 years that depicts Philippine History and portraying Filipino lives.

The book tells a story of a young boy who grew up in a Hacienda up north with his father, relatives, servants and other people below his social class. His father was an "encargador" to a wealthy haciendero, Don Vicente. His father's task as an encargador is to manage and overview Don Vicente's land. As expected of F. Sionil this book has its share of social criticism. Oppression and social injustice bleeds in every chapter of this book. Souring farmer peasant to landlord relationship and land grabbing by cheating farmers in torrens title(reminds me of Amado Hernandez's "Langaw sa isang basong gatas").

He tells the story of his childhood and memories and stories of his friends. I like the story about his Tio Baldo and Old David. Can't remember the boy's(narrator) name, I don't think he even mention it in the book. What I know is, his grandfather was in the first novel of Rosales Saga, Po-on: Isang Nobela who later died pleasantly while asleep with him in this sequel.

This is a story of grief, failure and death and a tree. Balete tree. Where most of significant setting was plotted. Under the shade of this tree, Istak and his family once rest and shade, this is where Baldo hanged himself, the venue for almost all the important gatherings.

They say that Po-on was the only book worth reading in his 5 novel-saga. I have read the the first novel(Po-on) and this(Tree) to see for myself if its true and hope to finish the other 3 books this year. And I'll be honest, this was inferior to the first but I think this book is still worth reading. Four stars."


Pagkatapos nun, natigil ako, medyo mahal ang mga sumunod na libro at ayoko rin naman bumili ng newsprint. Tapos bigla nalang may nagbenta ng "Mass" sa internet. At dun ko nabili ang segunda manong kopya ko. Pero pagkakataon nga naman, napareserve ko ang librong ito sa internet ng isang araw pumunta ako sa bookcovering meet-up ng grupo namin sa Goodreads para sa isang outreach program nang may magregalo sa akin ng buong RS na si Miss Ronie! Doble copy ika nya, pero hindi ko naman akalain na ang dobleng kopya nya ay ang buong RS! Ang saya nung araw nayun parang pasko.

Sumunod kong basahin ang "Mass" at binasa kong kopya ay yung nabili ko sa internet para hindi maluma agad ang regalo sa akin, yun din yung panahon na yun na namahinga na ang lola ko sa Pangasinan(Manaoag) ang "Mass" din ang librong dinala ko nung umuwi kami sa probinsya para sa lamay at libing isang Linggo rin ako naroon. At nakita ko na rin sa wakas ang Rosales, hindi mo yun makakaligtaan dahil makikita mo ang "SM ROSALES" sa highway.



Ito ang naging rebyu ko sa "Mass"


Marso 2012
"I expected so much from this book, I'm disappointed or maybe I was disappointed the way the story turned out to be or maybe I was boxed on the idea of other novels set in the same dark era;A nationalistic protagonist challenging a rotten system, being so idealistic as a youth.

Mass tells about a story of Pepe Samson, a native from Cabugawan, a young lad who has a laid back attitude, loves to eats and hates going to school but loves literature. He finds himself in a cluttered and densely populated city of Manila trying to get a degree but more than that he was trying to find his own identity. He hopes to enroll in a state university but he soon found out his money was not enough because he spent much of his money eating at restaurants and watching movies rather taking entrance exams on state universities, he later found himself in a diploma mill.

This was the last installment of the Rosales Saga which started in Rosales Pangasinan. Pepe was a descendant of Istak Samsom, who was was the protagonist in Po-on, the first novel in the Saga.

The story revolves around him and his ways, his attutides and his path to self exploration and trying to know himself, his roots.

It was an unlikely character/protagonist for someone like F. Sionil to have, specially if you are a writer like him who likes to dealt and writes socially relevant stories and novels. But the story really turned out good.4Stars "


Pagkatapos nun, nakakuha ako ng trabo, buwan ng Abril ng isunod kong basahin ang "My Brother, my Excetioner". 



Abril 2012

"I have always admired F. Sionil Jose's works, from short stories to his novels but this one, I felt like I'm reading his previous works in the Saga. He is repeating himself, preaching. Not that I don't like the book or the story of the book, maybe if I'm a newbie in his styles and point of views and social commentaries from his other books, I would really like this one. So lets rate this book as if this was my first Sionil Jose book.

This(again) was part of the fame Rosales Saga, 5 Chronological novels Sionil Jose written from the past decades and can be read individually. My brother, my executioner was a story of half brothers Luis and Vic separated by fate and principles.

They say this was the most emotional or dramatic book from the saga and this was my fourth book from it, and I could say that this was the emo one. The story goes like this, this might sound telanovelic, Luis the older one was a son of a Haciendero that would automatically make him a heir. While Vic was a son of a farmer who later died when his they are both young. They both shared they're childhood in a small town Sipnet with their mother and grandfather till the time Luis was summoned by his father Don Vicente Asperri.

Luis will later find out his own history on what happened to his father and his mother, his fathers history and how it works on the hacienda and the politics of power his family holds. He was on his way wondering and trying to decipher himself, he was an Emo, a man who had so much but was so empty and hollow inside, then there was his brother Vic who became a rebel commander, firm and sure with his own convictions and was trying to reform and change the system only now he was not after foreign conquerors but with his own kin and only brother.


This book is still very relevant today, our social classes, the governments atrocities, the agrarian disputes and the mainstream media and the exploitation of the thing, the shitness of our culture and ways. This book has everything you should know about ourselves and about our race.4Stars"


Pagtapos nun, natigil ako bigla, hindi ko agad sinunod basahin ang "The Pretenders", hindi ko rin alam. Pero hindi naman natapos ang pagbabasa kong FSJ books nun, sa katunayan ang mga sumunod kong binasa noon ay "Ermita"

At ayun na nga, dumating na ang Disyembre ng taong 2012, dun ako tineympo basahin ang "The Pretenders". Nagcram sa huling Linggo ng taon ng Disyembre. At dito ko ipopost ang rebyu ko.
 
Disyembre 2012

Matapos ang matagal na pagkabakante sa pagbabasa ng RS, Disyembre na nang maalala kong kailangan ko itong tapusin bago mag 2013. At ayun nga dalawang Linggo bago magpalit ng taon ang hinugot ko ito mula sa aklatan ko para basahin at magcram! 









Ang kwento sa nobela ay umiikot kay Antonio Samsom at ang kanyang paghahanap ng kanyang sariling identidad at paghahanap ng kanyang sariling pinagugatan. Sa ibang bansa habang kumukuha siya ng Phd. nakilala nya ang si Carmen Villa, mula sa prominenteng pamilya sa Pilipinas na kasalukuyang nagaaral din tulad nya. Dun na rin marahil namuo ang kanilang pagsinta na nauwi sa huli sa kasawian. Haha.

Kakaiba ang kwentong ito, bagaman hindi pa rin nawawala ang sosyal na komentaryo at pagpukaw ni FSJ sa mga problema ng ating kamalayan at aspetong sosyal, dito ay pinakita nya kung papaanong ang isang taong naghahanap ng katuparan para alisin ang tanikala sa kamalayan sa pamamagitan ng pagtuturo ay napilitan talikuran ang lahat at unti-unti nilamon ng kurapsyon. 

Naging malupit ang kapalaran ni Anton, pero sa huli siya rin ang nagpasya kung papaano wawakasan ito. Dito gustong ipakita ni FSJ na lahat ng bagay ay magpresyo, kahit tao at kaluluwa nito. Pero hindi ang pagkatao ni Anton. Dito pinapakita nya kung papaanong nakokontrol ng mga iilang malalaking pamilya ang mga lalaking bagay na pwedeng bumigo at lalong ilugmok ang bansa natin sa kahirap, mga pagsasamantala na pwede nilang idulot sa mga maliit na tao at kung papaano ito patatahimikin at tila palabasin na walang nangyari, walang naargabyado.

“Sometimes you look at yourself in the mirror, any mirror, and you wonder why that nose looks as it does, or those eyes--what is behind them, what depths can they reach. Your flesh, your skin, your lips--you know that that face which you behold is not yours alone but is already something which belongs to those who love it, to your family and all those who esteem you. But a person is more than a face or a bundle of nerves and a spigot of blood; a person is more than talking and feeling and being sensitive to the changes in the weather, to the opinions of people. A person is part of a clan, a race. And knowing this, you wonder where you came from and who preceded you; you wonder if you are strong, as you know those who lived before you were strong, and then you realize that there is a durable thread which ties you to a past you did not create but which created you. Then you know that you have to be sure about who you are and if you are not sure or if you do not know, you have to go back, trace those who hold the secret to your past. The search may not be fruitful; from this moment of awareness, there is nothing more frustrating than the belief that you have been meaningless. A man who knows himself can live with his imperfections; he knows instinctively that he is part of a wave that started from great, unnavigable expanses.” - F.Sionil Jose; The Pretenders.


Hindi ako binigo ni FSJ sa kanyang Rosales Saga, tingin ko ito na ang pinaka maganda katha na meron tayo(Pilipino). Pwede na rin siguro natin ito ituring na "Greatest Filipino Novel". Marami akong natutunan sa pagbabasa ng limang nobelang ito, mula sa mga halamang gamot, ang relasyon noon ang mga haciendero- encargador - at alipin, ilang pamamaraan ng pagtotorture, ilang lutong Ilocano, marami pa- hindi ko lang kayang sabihin lahat,haha. Mas maganda kung babasahin nyo rin mismo at mula sa libro nyo natutunan ang mga bagay na hindi na sasabi o ni pahapyaw ay natuturo sa loob ng silid aralan. 

Sana Mabasa mo rin ito- 










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