BOOKS FROM PHILIPPINESBibliolepsy
by Gina Apostol
Description:
Moving, sexy, and archly funny, Gina Apostol’s Philippine National Book Award-winning Bibliolepsy is a love letter to the written word and a brilliantly unorthodox look at the rebellion that brought down a dictatorship Gina Apostol’s debut novel, available for the first time in the US, tells of a young woman caught between a lifelong desire to escape into books and a real-world revolution. It is the mid-eighties, two decades into the kleptocratic, brutal rule of Ferdinand Marcos. The Philippine economy is in deep recession, and civil unrest is growing by the day. But Primi Peregrino has her own priorities: tracking down books and pursuing romantic connections with their authors. For Primi, the nascent revolution means that writers are gathering more often, and with greater urgency, so that every poetry reading she attends presents a veritable “Justice League” of authors for her to choose among. As the Marcos dictatorship stands poised to topple, Primi remains true to her fantasy: that she, “a vagabond from history, a runaway from time,” can be saved by sex, love, and books.
Reviews:
(6 months ago) |
06 Apr, 2025
2½⭐️ A good story that never really gets off the ground. This book starts off really well, with rich descriptions and full characters but as the story progresses the characters, rather than gain more depth, begin to fall flat and become two dimensional. The main character’s love of books is replaced with just lists of books and authors and poets that have no real connection to anything. There are loose threads, themes and motifs, that just seem to trail off. It’s unfortunate because it does start so good. I would not categorize it as historical fiction. The story is set against the backdrop of political unrest and reform, but is neither about that nor much influenced by it. In fact the main character shows little interest in the demonstrations taking place.
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