random thoughts

Litfili week 8
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Getting Better...

This novel is classified as a chick-lit. I really enjoyed reading this. Di ko nafeel na matatapos ko na pala yung book. hahaha. I can say na I can relate to it kasi so masaya sya basahin. Ganon naman tayo kung san tayo nakakarelate dun tayo nageenjoy. Anyway this novel is about Karen and her world. Advertising agency. Ups and downs of her lovelife. Her friends.

For me the story is realistic. The author cited specific places that made me feel that the story is real. Another is the events in the story can really happen. Like cheating of your boyfriend with your friend, another is there's a part wherein the pitch in advertising is mentioned (which really happens in ad agencies.) The story reflected different things, like some women now are liberated and some men now are metrosexual (or most likely yung pinagkakamalan na natin gay pero di naman talaga.)

Smaller Smaller Circles...

It is a crime fic novel. I also enjoyed reading this, because I'm fond of watching crime scene shows. Kasi naaaliw ako pag nasosolve nila yung crime na given lang naman sila ng small details. The story is basically about the two priest who happened to be a forensic anthropologist and clinic psychologist. They were able to solve the mystery of serial killer.

The author was able to described our country's stand in terms of crimes.

1. Yung incident na naglabas na ng suspect, na hindi pala talaga sya yun. Example nun is yung Nida Blanca case, naglabas lang ng false suspect for publicity or for whatever reason.

2. Another is yung about sa fingerprint, malabo daw na maidentify yung tao. Which is true, di naman automated yung system natin sa fingerprints. Ano yun manually hahanapin nung investigator yung kamatch na print?

3. Media is part of the crime scene. Actually kahit saan naman nandun media hindi lang sa crime scenes.

4. Abused na pero walang ginawa. Or may nawawala na hindi naman nireport. Siguro ang thinking ng mga tao (esp. the lower class) is wala naman sila magagawa since mahirap lang sila. And feeling nila di sila iintindihin pag nagreport sila. So might as well wala na lang sila gawin.

Napansin ko lang sa novel, since crime fic sya dapat napapaisip yung reader kung sino talaga yung killer or what. Kaso masyado given yung details, so ang tendency is may idea ka na kung sino yung killer. And nareveal sya at the middle part of the story. That's why ang effect is parang ang dragging na ng last part.

That's all! :)

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Posted by tina at 6:43 AM | 5 comments
Litfili week 7
Generations...

Aside from Magnificence, this is another story that is quite different from the others. For the short stories, this is the only story that has violence. For me, the story is really a shocking one. I mean the girl killed her own father. And for them it's normal?

At first nahirapan ako intindihin or appreciate yung story. But after our discussion about the story, I realized na, yeah, possible nga sya mangyari. I mean if you are raised sa ganong kind ng environment, na ginawang normal ang pagpatay dahil mas ok na yun since mahirap sila, syempre for them there's nothing wrong with it.

Unlike sa atin, we have rules, we have policies, we have laws sa halos lahat ng bagay. Including yung ginawa nung girl sa story.

In my point of view, these people need to be educated. For them to know what's wrong and what's right.


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Posted by tina at 5:55 AM | 1 comments
Litfili week 6
Document...

In the story, the relationship between the two character is really not clear. And they both didn't do anything to clear things up.

Nowadays, this situation is really happening. I mean sila yung mga tao na pag tinanong mo, "kayo na ba?" "Hindi eh, we're friends lang." But after that question mapapaisip ka. "Oh s*it, friends nga lang ba talaga kami." Pero alam mo sa sarili mo na di lang kayo friends and di rin naman kayo. Oh diba malabo.

Based on my opinion lang to ha. Oh well, tayo kasi mahilig lang tayo makiramdam. Di tayo magsasalita hangga't nakakaya mo pang basahin ang isip ng tao. So instead of magtanong tayo, nakikiramdam na lang tayo.
Maybe that's why may mga malalabong relationships. Because both of them are afraid to ask if ano ba talaga meron sa kanila. Maybe afraid of rejection, kasi takot ka na malaman na ikaw lang pala may akala na may "something" kayo.

The Tale of Peter Pan and Spinster...

The story is all about making fantasies but in the end you will just realize it's still a fantasy not reality. I can see that the fantasies of the girl are different with what she have. Maybe yun yung way nya para at least makuha yung mga things na wala sya.

Feeling ko naman halos lahat tayo is nangangarap din. And most of our dreams are yung mga wala tayo na gusto natin makuha. Kaya ka nga na-ngangarap eh, para at least sa pangarap mo is nakuha or nagawa mo yung mga gusto gawin.

But don't forget that you have a reality. Some of our dreams can be reality but most of them can't be. So wag lang masyado mangarap ng sobra, yung tipong napakaimposible mangyari and in the end ma didisappoint ka. I mean lahat naman ng sobra is mali. So limit yourself na lang. Pero sabi nila hindi daw bawal ang mangarap or walang limitasyon ang mangarap, dahil libre ito. But I do believe that everything has limitations.

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Posted by tina at 5:09 AM | 1 comments
Litfili week 5
Monday, April 7, 2008
Games and Magnificence
These two stories are written during the contemporary time unlike withthe past stories.

Magnificence...

I really liked this story. It's different with the other stories that usually talk about love, family, or relationship. These story also reflected those things but in a different manner.

In the story, Estrella Aflon used a different situation wherein the magnificence of a mother is tested. Her own child is sexually harassed and she handled the situation. Unlike the typical mother that will experience the same situation, that will just get hysterical and all, she handled it very calmly.

And I really admired her for that. It's really hard to control anger, plus the fact na ganon ang nangyari sa anak mo.

I can really say being a mother is really hard to do. Imagine baby pa lang tayo, nagsacrifice na sya ng nine months na nasa loob tayo ng tyan nya. And everyone knows that being pregnant is really not an easy thing. Another is they used to be our "takbuhan" halos sa lahat ng bagay. Part of being a mother is to take good care of her children. Sabi nga nila na "kayamanan nila ang mga anak nila". I think that's why they are really protective with their children.

Games...

Self insecurities can lead to any kind of problem. Noelle De Jesus was able to show the effect of being insecure in a relationship. In the story, Mia is used to changing her voice and even her personality every time she calls Joseph. Because of her insecurities she loves to pretend someone that she liked to be.

In reality, probably meron mga "Mia" out there. You can't blame them. Because I believe that media and technology has something to do with it. Because, everywhere you can see print ads or commercials that are suggesting that if you're white, you're beautiful. Or if you're slim, you're beautiful. These ads are suggesting that you could be someone that you're not. Oh diba, pano ba naman di maiinsecure ang babae nyan. Hahaha.

But I do believe na meron pa din hindi "Mia" out there. :)



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Posted by tina at 9:32 PM | 2 comments
Litfili Week 4
Love in the Cornhusks and The Corral
Both stories reflected regretting something and the effect of the pressure of society. During the early times, women are expected to get married when they turn 20s. For them it is the right age to get married. These stories showed that regardless of the status of a woman, they all still have the same dilemma.

Love in the Cornhusks...

In this story, for such a long time, Tinang thought that he was abandoned by his lover, Amado. He didn't realized that he was really loved by him. When she realized this, it was too late. She already married someone and has a child.

I believe that, at first Tinang kinda regretted her decision for marrying her husband. If Tinang was given a chance, he would probably get back to Amado. But she has considerations for her decision, so she might as well continue her new life with her husband.

When she discovered what really happened to Amado, it served as a closure for the two of them. Because when Amado left, "hanging yung situation nila". So, i think it's ok na din na finally nalaman ni Tinang yung reason. Yun nga lang medyo, may "sayang" factor.

In reality, I think what Tinang did is just normal for girls. Minsan kasi may pagkasigurista din ang mga girls. Syempre inisip ni Tinang what will happen with her relationship with Amado, eh iniwan nga sya, and may another guy din naman na nanliligaw sa kanya. So might as well, piliin na kung san mas safe. Plus the fact na, right age for marriage si Tinang, maybe she's afraid that she will not be able to marry Amado, so she chose another guy that can marry her.

The corral...

In this story, Pilar is pressured by the society or even her father that she should already marry. Since she’s kind of “napaglipasan ng panahon”, the selection for her husband to be are limited. She can choose between Mr. Perfecto- the rich man but not that goodlooking and Gregorio- the poor one but handsome.

Even though her choice is limited or I should say she has no choice between these two person. She's still forced to choose between them. Due to the pressure that she should already get married. Being an old maid, is not consider as a choice during those times. Discrimination for old maid is really high during the early times. So women chose to get married with someone they love or not, it doesn't matter anymore.

In reality, we (women) are lucky enough that our generation doesn't have this kind of thinking. Women can freely do what they want. We can marry the guy we want, or even the woman we want, or not to get married at all.

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Posted by tina at 8:38 PM | 1 comments
Litfili Week 3
Bread of Salt vs. Summer Solstice
These two stories are both about love. But it's in different levels.

Bread of Salt...

I can say that the feeling of the main character is just an infatuation. I can say that infatuation is still a form of love. It is defined as a state of being completely carried away by unreasoning love. For me, infatuation is the first stage of a relationship. Because in this stage you are attracted to someone because of their looks or what they have that caught your attention. Let's admit it, we get attracted to someone without knowing them so much.

In the story, the guy really liked Aida without knowing her that well. So when he found out something that he doesn't like or more likely the girl's flaw, he completely lost his admiration for the girl.

That's because the feeling is not that developed, since it's just only an infatuation which is usually associated with the youth.

Summer Solstice...

Adore. Admire. These words are also part of the so called "love". Sometimes love is not enough.

In the story, Lupe just wanted to be adored by her husband. But it shows that it’s hard for Don Rafael to admit or say that he adored Lupe. The story reflected the patriarchal system that is happening in our country. Don Rafael doesn't want to feel inferior to Lupe, so its hard for him to express that he adored Lupe.

In reality, men are afraid to feel that women can control them. They have these “ego” that don’t want to be stepped on.

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Posted by tina at 6:51 PM | 1 comments
litfili week 2
Monday, February 4, 2008

Francisco Arcellana wrote the two short stories, “The Mats” and “Divide by two”. Arcellana believes that a good fiction should be close to reality. I could say that he did not fail us in making his stories realistic. Both stories showed a situation wherein it could really happen to anybody- loosing someone and accepting the truth. 

Which is more realistic?
The Mats.
Loosing someone you love is probably the hardest thing that could happen to a person. Death is inevitable and you really don’t know when it will come. And that is the most painful reality that could happen to anybody. But still it is hard to accept that someone who became a part of your life, and with just one snap, will be gone for you forever. It really takes time for a person to accept or really move on with this kind of tragedy. It may take months, years, for the pain to fade away or totally disappear.
In the story, Mr. Angeles is not always there for his family because of the demands of his work. Although he supported them in terms of the financial matters, but the presence is what he can’t or barely give to his family. The gap between Mr. Angeles and his children is established by the writer by addressing Mr. Angeles as Mr. Angeles not father or tatay. Unlike their mother which the children call her as Nana Emilia. And through the actions, gesture or treatment of the children to Mr. Angeles compared to Nana Emilia, I can say that there are closer to their mom.
When the death of his three children is mentioned, Mr. Angeles became very hysterical. I think that he is still in mourning. He is still recovering or adjusting with the situation that he lost his three children. Probably when his three children died, he was not there. So it is more painful for him to accept it compare to the other members of the family. Probably because he will blame himself for not being there when the children need him the most. And for sure Mr. Angeles didn’t want that to happen. Of course if given a chance he likes to be with his family always.

Divide by two.
“God knows I hate the sight of violence. But is it really violence I cannot stand? Isn’t it rather truth?”
In the story the house of the two couple is divided by adobe blocks. Tension between the two couples is established by the writer. I think both couple have something that they try to hide from each other. Even though they try to hide it, it is shown in their actions and gestures. But they don’t have the courage or maybe they are afraid of knowing or accepting the truth.

According to the stories, I can say that women are…
The one who stays in the house and do house hold chores.
The one who take good care of the children.
The one who value the feelings of other people.
Like to be liked.
Sensitive and emotional.

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Posted by tina at 6:29 AM | 4 comments