|
By Kristelle Joy Festin, Special to The
Manila Times
Deceitful, dishonest, fraudulent. Don’t worry,
Palanca awardee Eros Atalia’s Peksman (mamatay ka man).
Nagsisinungaling Ako (at iba pang kwentong
kasinungalingan na di pa dapat paniwalaan) is not as evil as that. A
prequel of his Manwal ng Napapagal, Peksman shows how its main
character, Karl Vladimir Lennon J. Villalobos, gets his first job
after long months of waiting.
Using the contemporary style of writing, better
known as the makulit strategy, Atalia exposes the things that
humanity has chosen to ignore.
“I just gave attention to those things that
are oftentimes ignored,” Atalia says.
In this prequel, he plays with the thoughts that
no one has ever dared to think about. He questions the cape as one
of the must-haves of a superhero costume. He also challenges the
limitations of the superheroes, saying that the roles they play are
all “kainutilan [stupidity].” He imagines how the world will go
if all of the superheroes will have a day off from their
crime-busting activities and instead do the charitable works
humanity has been in need of, like cleaning the rivers, helping
plant trees and other humanitarian activities. Bet it would be a
wonderful place to live in.
Peksman does not only focuses on the
complexities of being a superhero. The realities in the Philippine
society, all of its criticisms and critical analysis, are embedded
beneath the funny and immortal humor of Atalia.
From street signs, to classified ads and even
the shows of primetime televisions, Atalia successfully relates it
all with the society at large. Realizations about poverty and
questions of how far does the Philippine society has gone so far are
some of the thoughts one will surely have after reading Peksman.
“I just want to be true to myself,” says
Atalia in defense of his writing style. He clears that he is not
afraid that readers might take his society-based subjects as light
and not serious like his manner of writing.
“Beware, Bob Ong,” says Vim Nadera, director
of University of the Philippines’ Institute of Creative Writing,
as a blurb for Atalia’s Peksman. However, Atalia says in between
giggles that the one who should be threatened is him saying some
fans of Ong might lose their temper on him charging the former of
copying the latter’s writing style. On the other hand, Atalia
draws the line between Ong and him saying that he is focused on
fiction writing while the other is on essays. “I am not
competing,” clarifies Atalia
Atalia says that there is more to come after
Peksman. He says that he is working with a new prequel of Peksman
and thinks of making a sequel for Taguan-Pung wherein a big twist
will surely excite the readers to read it down to its last page.
Atalia confesses that he has exerted much effort
in balancing subjectivity and objectivity in his works. Though he
refuses to identify the parts wherein he is not himself in Peksman,
he emphasizes that the concept of suicide, which was discussed in
his Manwal ng Napapagal, is not a reflection of him.
Atalia has bagged literary awards such as the
Gawad Balagtas, Talaang Ginto, Gawad Soc Rodrigo, Gantimpalang
Collantes sa Sanaysay, Pambansang Timpalak sa Pagsulat ng Tula ng
panday Lipi Ink, and the Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature sa
Maikling Kwento.
An analytical view of the Philippine society,
exposing the complexities of the lifestyle of the Filipinos, and
other idiosyncrasies that can only be found in the Philippines,
Peksman [mamatay ka man] Nagsisinungaling Ako [at iba pang kwentong
kasinungalingan na di pa dapat paniwalaan] is an absolutely
must-read. Totally entertaining yet intellectually and morally
stimulating, this 174-page book is a treasure.
|
