Bob Ong and Eros Atalia: Great Authors of a New Genre

I don’t read a lot of Filipino written works. Di naman yun dahil ako’y coño or anything to that effect medyo mas comfortable lang talaga ako sa English. Sabihin na lang natin na I can explain and express myself better on that language. Pero nakabasa na naman ako ng ilang akda sa Tagalog, una karamihan mga klasikong akda lang tulad ng Noli Me Tangere, El Filibusterismo at yung Ibong Madaragit ni Amando Hernandez. Highschool pa ako nun pero dun ko umpisang na-appreciate ang mga tagalog master pieces. Tapos natuto akong bumasa ng mga alternatibong akda ni Lualhati Bautista, halos nga ata lahat ng librong sinulat nya nabasa ko.

Then out of the blue, inabutan ako ng ex-boyfriend ko (na ngayo’y asawa ko na) ng ibang librong gawa ni Bob Ong…at yun ang nagging umpisa ng mahaba-haba ding istorya ng pagsunod ko sa mga librong gawa ng misteryosong author nay un. Misteryoso kse walang nakakakilala sa kanya (maliban na lang siguro sa kanyang publisher).  Until now naman I still follow Bob Ong, tuwing may bagong libro na gawa nya bili naman ako. (Sorry kung mukhang pa-sosyal  ang dating ng huling sentence na yun, if it means anything ako rin mejo na artehan sa dating nun pero sabi ko nga mas comfortable ako sa English so panigurado Tag-lish ang labas ng blog na ito). Sana walang maasar…hehehe!

Anyways, a few months ago I learned that there’s another author that writes almost the same way as Bob Ong, at this time tahasang nakabalandra ang tunay na pangalan ng author. Not that it would make any difference to me as a reader, wala lang gusto ko lang i-mention, bakit ba?

So the author is Eros Atalia. Tuwa ako sa pangalan nya kasi mahilig din ako sa Greek myth at unang nakatawag sa akin yung pangalan nya. Sa Greek kasi sa ilang di nakakaalam Eros means Love. Si Eros ay anak ni Aphrodite or mas kilala silang mag-ina sa tawag na Cupid (Eros) at Venus (Aphrodite). Oh ayan, tapos na ang Greek myth lesson. Anyways, curious ako sa akda nitong si Eros Atalia…lalo pa at yung unang nakita kong libro nya eh yung “Ligo na U, Lapit na me”. Oh di ba, very wholesome ang dating? Hehehe! Pero promise, di sya ganun ka-wholesome!

Maganda yung libro, masaya at makatutuhanan ang istoryo. Isa sa pinaka-gusto ko sa mga ganitong akda eh yung pagiging makatutuhanan nya. Galit kung galit at malaswa kung malaswa ang lengwahe but that’s what makes them so different from other authors out there. They were bold enough to go against the norms and I love that. Sa akin lang, more power to both Bob Ong and Eros Atalia for the genre they chose.

Ang pinag-iba nga lang ng dalawang author na ito eh yung kanilang phasing. Si Bob Ong yung tipong author na iga-grab agad ang attention mo, mag-lull ng konti sa gitna only to pump up the interest once again at the end of the book. Actually, it’s a good things since it keeps you interested and keep you coming back for more. Mahilig din si Bob Ong nga clip hangers at the end of each chapter.  At the end you feel content with what you’ve read.

Si Eros Atalia naman, picks up the phase slowly but as you read along it gets better and better and really grab you at the middle and carry you through to the end. The end result is that you feel the closure of the story. Pwede di masaya, pwedeng nakaka-disappoint but at the end of it that’s what makes a book good (in my humble opinion lang naman) kasi nga it evokes a feeling on the reader. May naiiwan sa iyong emosyon at di lang ang pakiramdam na tapos ang libro – ano ngayon?

Di ko masabi kung sino ang mas gusto ko, di ko rin gusting i-try nai-decide. Basta I like them both, mas sanay nga lang ako sa mga akda ni Bob Ong sa ngayon kasi mas matagal ko na syang sinusunda, pero malay natin ilang libro pa at pantay na sila ni Eros Atalia sa isipan ko. Wide reader naman ako, I can like them both at the same time and be complete happy with that fact.

Advice ko lang kung gusto mo si Bob Ong, safe din i-try yung mga akda ni Eros Atalia…you will enjoy it. Promise.

Bob Ong: Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan

Just finished reading Bod Ong’s newest book, or should I say master piece.. really I can’t decide. And in the tradition of Bob Ong’s work it is done in the first person narrative which to me seems to be his best and most comfortable genre.

It’s Bob Ong’s first take at horror and I must say it was very, very good. This time Bob Ong delved his hands into the horror-suspense genre and succeeded – Proving once and for all that he can write masterpieces even outside his comfort zone. And though it is more on the scary side the book still contain that funny, witty and smart-ass attitude that Bob Ong’s books always seem to have.

To add to the disturbingly gothic nature of the book, Bob Ong revealed that the book was actually based on real events. According to him parts of the book was lifted from the journal of the real Galo.

I have always loved Asian horror stories as they are very close to home and even more so when the story is done in Filipino; I guess it’s because you grew up hearing stories about these supernatural things that goes on around you. The all so familiar stories of ‘aswang’(ghouls); malign (evil spirits); ‘kapre’ (a tall, dark human-like being with the lower body of a horse); ‘barang’ (voodoo); ‘kulam’ (witchcraft); and of course the proverbial white lady are things we have come to accept as part and parcel of our culture.  These are things we hear about from neighbors, older folks and sometimes even from people of our own age who have at one point or another encountered these unseen beings.

‘Ang mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan’ leads us through the life of Gilberto Manansala (Galo), a normal teenage boy who came from a troubled family. He spent his early years living with his grandmother in the province before he was sent to live with his Uncle’s family in the city to continue his education. Galo have come to love and enjoy city life but as always when you’re living with relatives he always had to walk on tip toes around his uncle’s family. When he received word that his grandmother was gravely ill, Galo decided to return to the province for an indefinite visit.  It is on this visit that strange events start to happen…

The book is set up in a narrative, first person format where the story teller takes us into the mind of the main character. We are given a look at Galo’s journal where the reader follows Galo through his day to day struggles and teenage angst…and the disturbing events that he found himself involved in during his visit to his native town. The open-ended conclusion of the book actually explodes with possibility and opens a wide avenue for the reader’s mind to explore…numerous questions came to mind as I turned the last page…was Galo able to escape? What happened to Niko? Where is Jezel? ……