My Sad Republic

The first (of many more) Eric Gamalinda read introduces itself as a forlorn, mystical undertaking that effectively is a compressed revision of Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo in a manner that is much more spiritual, and intensely sexual (read: the sex here is astoundingly graphic, but not boyishly employed without reason.)

If anything, its freewheeling adaptation of a true-to-life spiritual leader in the Negros Revolution sheds light on Philippine History and its future in a manner so damningly strong that one can't help but be impressed. The final act of this film really turns things up, where the intensities that the war builds up just spills over and begins to be something so enchanting and tragic.

Summatively, this book is an enrapturing story of holy prophets who were born to deliver salvation at a time when everything doesn't make sense.