thanks again abb for another wonderful book

[kampanaryo_spy]

abb,

thank you so, so much for giving me another wonderful book. it allowed me to enter a quaint albeit a bit "cruel" world. once again it displayed the power of words to liberate and to create wonderful thoughts.

i almost finished it in one go at davao international airport because my flight to manila was delayed for an hour. i couldn't put it down! i had a great laugh when they tagged along the little chinese seamstress to a movie (her first time) and the open space was already crawling with people and they had no choice but to watch it behind the screen where figures were left handed and inverted.... hahaha it brought back childhood memories when we watched movies courtesy of Darigold "panel." We did exactly just that! Especially when the movie was showing at the jeep terminal---dapit ka emily! adto kami sa likod nan telon mutan-aw kay malingaw kami na bale an mga tao! hahaha

when it comes to thrill and fun, there's no substitute for reading. this makes me want to join kris aquino's advocacy to bring back the love for reading. reading has become a lost art and being a bibliophile I'm sad because these people don't know what they're missing.

thanks again, abb. i had a great time reading it and i can't wait for the movie version!

[Alibangbang]

K-Spy,

You’re welcome…. It made me so happy that you enjoyed it.

I love this book because it not only enlarged my imaginations it made me realize that the power of literary art transcends all races. Dai Sijie is Chinese, he wrote this book in French, Ina Rilke translated it into English, became America’s national bestseller and now 2 filipinos (ehem you and I) can physically relate to it. hahahaha

When the seamstress ran outside to get some plants/herbs to boil to help Lou with his fever --- in our younger years Nanay often forced me and my siblings to drink yucky tea brewed from leaves and roots, etc, etc.. to help with belly ache, fever and other ailments. More often than not IT worked. hahaha...

When Lou, Four Eyes and the Narrator were cooking their meat dish at Four Eyes house--- Boy... do I know the feeling… Elementary ako sa Falcon mag gutos going home in the afternoon, the cooking smells at Iya Asay’s kitchen (cousin walter’s grandma) I inhale when I stopped for a drink of water, I’m famished so it plunged me into same degree of frenzied anticipation because I know "ya asay will give me a plate full to take home.

The descriptions of lives, times, and places gave me, and the rest of the world a glimpse of struggle to survive against all odds.

And what about the tailor’s social status? Hahahaha…..

It’s poignant, humorous and YES… romantic.

I read this in 2002 that year adults and young adults in my Christmas list got one. hahaha

Dear bloggers if you have time check this book out.

[kampanaryo_spy]

abb,

oh well, don't get me started on this one.

we find resonance in the book simply because of our chinese inculturation. the writer spoke of things we actually practice----superstition, herbal remedies, tooth extraction and all!!!!

i see myself as Lou. in high school our father (bless his soul: what i am now i owe everything to my father because he was the one who instilled in us early in life the value of art appreciation and reading----reading most especially!!!!) would send us to tandag to watch movies on weekends and then my classmates would eagerly wait for me on mondays when i would relate to them the movie, frame-by-frame, dialogue-by-dialogue!

ay, ay balitaw an father nan seamstress, amo? kibali taraw si anhin yo tacoy dapiton. imajina si yo tacoy na gakabiba nan makina, maglibot sa kailayhan tapos kada abtan na lugar, singkitar kaniya artista kay kuyaputan taraw nan mga tao.

and yes, the rooster on the clock.....and how deftly the leads wound back the hands of time just so they could spend more time sleeping and reading. hahahaha

this book encourages us to read the classics, no not necessarily to do what the little chinese seamstress did in the end, but to open our eyes to the beauty of the world beyond.

i've lent the book to a kindred soul in davao, with two others now forming a queue.