Ilustrado

by Miguel Syjuco

HAMISH HAMILTON CANADA | May 4, 2010 | Hardcover

Based on 6 ratings | Rate this

It begins with a body. On a clear day in winter, the battered corpse of Crispin Salvador is pulled out of the Hudson River-and taken from the world is the controversial lion of Philippine literature. Gone, too, is the only manuscript of his final book, a work meant to rescue him from obscurity by exposing the crimes of the Filipino ruling families. Miguel, his student and only remaining friend, sets out for Manila to investigate.

 
            To understand the death, Miguel scours the life, piecing together Salvador's story through his poetry, interviews, novels, polemics, and memoirs. The result is a rich and dramatic family saga of four generations, tracing a hundred and fifty years of Philippine history forged under the Spanish, the Americans, and the Filipinos themselves. Ultimately we learn that this story belongs to young Miguel as much as to his lost mentor, and we are treated to an unhindered view of a society caught between reckless decay and hopeful progress.
 
            Exuberant and wise, wildly funny and deeply moving, Ilustrado explores the hidden truths that haunt every family. It is a daring and inventive debut by an ambitious and wholly original new voice.
Usually ships in 1-2 weeks
This item is eligible for FREE SHIPPING.
See details
save 34%

$22.44

was $34.00

$21.32

Member Price

or, Used from $5.04

add to cart
add to wish list add to gift list
Found in: Fiction and Literature
  • Was this review helpful?
    1
    0
    Very Inspiring Book!
    by Kenneth Ryan Andres
    2 years ago

    I really adore this book when I finished reading late last year and I read it again in the summer of this year. I bought this book because it won the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2008 and I thought, why not?. If it won the Man Asian Literary Award, I bet it is a good book. The book itself is rather written unconventionally, of which I mean, it is going to be a new experience if you are a book worm who have read many novels in the past. The book is basically a skilfully interwoven sets of stories about a Filipino who tried his best make change in his home country, through the books but committed suicide, a young man trying to retrace the writer's life, a child's experience in WW2, stories of the marshal law in the Philippines, love life, and a whole lot more. I really want more people to read this book to just roughly understand the underlying reason of the exodus of many Filipino-Canadians who now come to Canada to escape the economic upheavals, in a country that was once known as the "Pearl of the Orient Seas."

  • My Gift List
  • My Wish List
  • Shopping Cart