LIKE the Indonesian writer Praomedya Ananta Toer and the Thai writer Pira Sudham, the novels of Amado V. Hernandez recreate the spiritual geographies of a nation, the soul of a race. Hernandez wrote the outline and first draft of his first novel, "Mga Ibong Mandaragit," while in jail.

It was the middle of the Cold War, whose unfortunate effects also reached the American neocolony that was the Philippines. He was charged with the alleged crime of complex rebellion, which was primarily rebellion against the state, along with arson and robbery. He was shunted off to various military camps and detention centers for five years. If Oscar Wilde said that writing is the best revenge, then Hernandez did just that. He wrote three books while in detention at the National Penitentiary: an epic poem, a play and his first novel.

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