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F. Sionil Jose holds two distinctions in Philippine writing: one as
only author to write a series of novels that displays an epic
narrative of a century of Philippine life; and two, as perhaps the
most recognized and translated Filipino writer abroad, with only the
exception of national hero and celebrated scribe Jose Rizal.
Readers were first introduced to the world of
Sionil Jose through Po-on, his earliest novel in terms of
chronology, set in the latter part of the 19th century and during
the decaying years of the Spanish empire. It was followed by Tree,
which examines the relationships and situations of the country and
its citizens after the revolution, which saw the change of colonial
masters from Spanish to American.
Despite the injustices experienced by tenants of
the land and the laborers in small-scale industries, they decided to
fight the next invaders¯the Japanese¯as guerrillas, with the hope
of improved living conditions at the end of the war. My Brother, My
Executioner occurs at this point in Sionil Jose’s narrative,
presenting the activities of two half-brothers, one a dispossessed
guerrilla.
The master-servant relationship was also seen in
industrial Manila and specifically in the story of Antonio Samson in
The Pretenders. Samson overcomes the disadvantages of his rural
birth, only to be trapped by a powerful agro-industrial baron and
drawn into a loveless marriage. From Mass emerges a rich complex
picture of the years before and after the proclamation of martial
law, with Antonio Samson’s bastard son Pepe at the epicenter of a
struggle for human, student and tenant’s rights, women’s
liberation, and eventually a mass of protests manipulated by
fraudulent leaders.
Sins looks back on the country’s history
during much of the 20th century through the eyes of the amoral Don
Carlos Corbello, or C.C., who on his deathbed, is reaping much of
what he sowed; while Dusk jumps back to the time of the
Spanish-American War, whose Philippine theater is largely unknown to
most Americans.
Through Sionil Jose’s literary work, readers
are presented an increasingly defined picture of Philippine,
populated by all kinds of individuals, from the coward to the
heroic, the greedy to the philanthropic. Despite the many tragedies
found in the pages of his books, Sionil Jose’s epic still carries
the feeling of hope, with a majority of his characters still able to
say “We shall overcome.”
For the month of January, Sionil Jose has been
chosen by Powerbooks as its author of the month.
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