Update January 7th: I just realised I forgot to mention Mervin Malonzo’s amazing art I feel so embarrassed! As I said when I first posted about “Alternative Alamat: Stories Inspired by Philippine Mythology,” the cover took my breath away. Simply put, there were stories I didn’t want to end but what made things better was the fact that it meant there was a Mervin Malonzo art coming up :)

I’m joining the cool crowd that’s doing these impressions/reviews as I’ve just finished reading the stories. I’ve also just left a review on amazon. It’s very seldom when I buy a book and read it straight away, sometimes it takes seven years. And considering I read this on the computer till my little girl screamed for me, that’s a feat. Hooray!

To start off, here’s the ToC of Alternative Alamat:

“Ana’s Little Pawnshop on Makiling St.” by Eliza Victoria
“Harinuo’s Love Song” by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
“The Last Full Show” by Budjette Tan
“The Alipin’s Tale” by Raymond G. Falgui
“Keeper of My Sky” by Timothy James Dimacali
“Conquering Makiling” by Monique Francisco
“The Sorceress Queen” by Raissa Rivera Falgui
“Beneath The Acacia” by Celestine Trinidad
“Offerings to Aman Sinaya” by Andrei Tupaz
“Balat, Buwan, Ngalan” by David Hontiveros
“A Door Opens:  The Beginning of the Fall of the Ispancialo-in-Hinirang” by Dean Alfar

*** May contain spoilers ***

Ana’s Little Pawnshop opens the volume and was a fun read. New Worlds’ Meann Ortiz mentioned in her early impressions of the book that the pawnshop reminded her of Faerie Market in Gaiman’s ‘Stardust.’ The pawnshop also reminded me of another Gaiman work called “Chivalry” about an elderly woman who finds the Holy Grail in an Oxfam thrift shop (who doesn’t love going to Oxfam???) Eliza Victoria’s writing reads so different here. I like the tone, but I didn’t really feel much for Ana’s loss as described by the narrator. I’ve read a few of Eliza’s stories and many of her poetry. Till the young Ms. Victoria I admired only three people who effortlessly shifted between prose and poetry: James Galvin, Ed Maranan and that bloke from Carmarthenshire, Dylan Thomas. I’d say Eliza’s youth always adds spunk (not the British slang) to whatever she writes. She is not afraid to experiment (read “Summer Evening” on Vanilla Literary & Art Journal). Her grasp of emotions and ability to convey them in writing is, for someone so young, quite remarkable. I remember reading “Prayer” in Stone Telling and having a nightmare after that — a compliment on how the imagery in her work affects you. So I guess, this “fun” in Ana’s Little Pawnshop had to sacrifice that raw emotion you get when you read her other works. Overall, the story is very engaging with its crisp, believable dialogue and a good opener to get readers involved from the start.

Whilst “Harinuo’s Love Song” was well-written and showed Rochita Loenen-Ruiz’s range as an author, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did her other stories, especially those published by Fantasy Magazine. I normally don’t need to be familiar with characters or cultures in order to enjoy a story. “Harinuo” has that feel of that writing she did with “Hi Bugan ya Hi Kinggawan,” yet it took so much for me to get used to the former. But then that’s just me, I get distracted by everything and at one point couldn’t help but google Antoon Postma and read about his works, too! The next story, “The Last Full Show,” on the other hand, reeks of familiarity. No, I haven’t read the Trese books, I meant the familiarity to the setting, reference to urban legends (“Robertson”), amongst others. I really enjoyed this one.

The Sphinx at the museum in Delphi, with me lurking around the corner.

“The Alipin’s Tale” is very rich both in Philippine mythology and historical characters. Endlessly fixated on Greek mythology, this is the first time that I remember encountering a Filipino story that reads like one (do enlighten me of such Filipino stories, please). The tale is rich in events, rich in fantasy, rich in religion… even with the footnotes to the story that so and so was a reference to a myth, I thought that this take was still very original, also enjoyed this one.

“Keeper of My Sky.” Alternate realities, a series of what could have beens, like reading Einstein’s Dreams, trying not to kick up dust. This has to be my favourite in the volume. Beautiful. (This happens to be written by my Sherlock buddy back in college – hi TJ!).

“Conquering Makiling” is sharp, witty and sexy. I felt I was invited by friends for a climb up Makiling and instead of getting nervous and tired, it became a walk in the park and just that – a gathering with friends. (Damn I didn’t realise Philippine myth is this hot haha).

“The Sorceress Queen” reads like a modern fairy tale with lots of twists and turns. Interestingly as I read I began relating the setting to a smaller one, such as that of a household, that is, of mine. Men, women, pride, two different kingdoms or countries, where shall we live?

“Beneath the Acacia” was also enjoyable because not only it is fantasy, there is also a lot of mystery with the characters discussing clues / red herrings. The entire story already felt like the climax / reaching for a resolution. I wanted more. Celestine could write a full-length novel based on this story. One story that deals with the kapre, Victoria and Mang Andres, surrounded by the story of Juan and Maria.

I got drawn to “Offerings to Aman Sinaya” because of the boat and water details.  Fascinating. I don’t know why this made me think of the film “Whale Rider.” Maybe because the author lives in New Zealand?

This is the first time I’ve read David Hontiveros (I’m missing out, I know). I felt like I was dodging bullets. So many thoughts on a page. God that was manic – exhausting, in a good way. Reading this anthology was like a roller-coaster experience. The styles are simply so varied. I have to admit that whilst I have favourite stories in the anthology, Mr. Hontiveros’ writing is the kind that I like. That thing that’s said about (some) male authors expressing in a page what (some) women authors would write in 10. I like the reference to HR Giger, amongst others, which made me dig up these photos below from my files:

Alien. At the HR Giger Bar/Museum in Gruyères. We love their cheese. I couldn't smell. "The whole town smelled of feet," my husband said later.

Dean Alfar’s “A Door Opens:  The Beginning of the Fall of the Ispancialo-in-Hinirang” ends the volume. I was prepared to be put off when I heard that this story made use of footnotes. I know it helped that the story is not as long as “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell,” which footnotes I became very impatient with. Mr. Alfar’s writing, was, as usual, excellent and very readable. Loved the part when some heroes appeared which sort of equaled the good number of women appearing in this book :)

I have yet to read the appendices, just thought of posting these random notes. Browsing through these last pages gives one an idea why this took a year or so in the making. Kudos to editor and publisher Paolo Chikiamco of Rocket Kapre for putting this volume together. Congratulations, an excellent work indeed, well done! Having worked with him in “Ruin and Resolve,” this is the kind of editor who will stand alongside his author and dissect a story till it is in its possible best form. I was about to say “Alternative Alamat” should be studied in schools but DeptEd might say some of the text is PG, you know how they are. I’m not familiar with some of these tales, or maybe I just don’t remember them. Now I’d like to read the original stories.

As it has been repeatedly said, these gods and goddesses come in different forms across the islands. We have different names for them, we have our own stories about them. The trouble is there is not a single reference book for all these myths. You know them based on what your grandparents’/playmates’ stories. But not many would really be patient to read the nonfiction stuff/related literature. This anthology is probably the only one you’ll find today that brings back these stories to us and one that speaks to today’s society. Roll in volume 2 :)

***

I regularly read stories and poems online, all of them are either just on the websites or PDF copies. I’ve had my Amazon account for years but it was only when I had bought Alternative Alamat that I had opened a Kindle (for my PC) account. I’d like to write about this experience as well, in relation to a post I recently read on PGS entitled “Tablets, e-readers closing book on ink-and-paper era.”

I am just for clicking and reading, that is, using all the basic icons. If I’m able to click on full screen and back, I’m okay. Even with these fancy readers, I don’t use the icons on the left hand side at all. Mike, my husband, is the tekkie type in our family, the kind who has nine terabytes of storage back in the garage of our old house. Our 14-month-old tends to turn toys upside down as though wanting to see how they work – these two must get it from Mike’s grandfather who repaired aircrafts during the war. I, on the other hand, panic when I see icons on my computer that shouldn’t be there. If I want to bookmark a page, I jot the number down, I press control + find if I’d like to find which page I had left off. My mobile phone which I hardly ever use was Mike’s first phone, a 11 or 12 year-old Nokia, my current computer was the one I had bought in Oslo in 2005, it used to be in Norwegian till Mike had changed the language into English. I use gadgets till the day they die, also explains why I live in an old house, oh you must get the picture now. What I’m trying to say is, as much as I am a sucker for impulse purchases after trying something, I didn’t find myself getting addicted to Kindle. I share the same sentiment as the others about Alternative Alamat, and that is, I hope there’s a physical copy. A hardback, even!

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