On the Book When the Elephants Dance
Review: When the Elephants Dance, by Tess Uriza Holthe (2002)
I really liked this book. It had a good framing device - Philippines as it was during World War 2 - and equally good short stories ranging from the fanatical (Mang Pedro and Diagos the tikbalang against Faust, Roman with the Chulthu demon god, Carlito and the sinking church) to the heartbreaking (Tay Federico and his lover Divina, Aling Anna with his sister Cora).
The book lights up my pride as I read pages of Filipinos fighting with the Americans against the Japanese, with the Japanese against the Americans, with the insulares and the mestizos against the friars. This concept is something that I feel is being actively twisted in history, actively erased, invoking an image of the country and Filipinos as some shapeless blob being fought by foreign entities. No, we were present (not only as heroes, not only as villains, but victims and oppressors alike), we were there, we were active participants in the war for our independence.
If there is one thing to criticize, the framing story seems to have been rushed by the end. What was once days to trek became hours, and things happen not because they happen, but rather willed to happen by some invisible hand.
Still, a good read! History buffs interested in Filipino stories with a lot of variety will specially like this.
4/5.