alexiacambaling's reviews
442 reviews

Primarily written in English, But for the Lovers also makes use of Tagalog and Spanish in dialogue in a book that feels like a kaleidoscope, an intimate look into the lives of the residents of a boarding house trying to survive in Japanese occupied Manila. I got to know about this book because of a recently released tv series about the said time period and this book was recommended. But while that show is set at the start of the war (at least at the time of this review), this book is set during its dying days.

This book is dense, heavy, and rich with allusion and allegory. It is a demanding and rewarding book, beautifully written but sometimes opaque and full of references. This, I did not mind. I think it makes it rereadable. At times, I also felt like the book relies on the reader knowing what happens. The boarders in this book are trying to survive, waiting for liberation, but the readers know the steep cost of that liberation. The book is dark, at times comic, but also somewhat hopeful. It is a book that like many classics of Philippine literature, deals with the question of the Filipino identity. Of course, there is a war and such questions always arise in fraught times. 

The Manila of this book is a ruined city, destined to be even more ruined and devastated. In the memories of those inhabit it, it is a beautiful pearl, a city of culture, of churches and theatres. A lot of art and literature set in this time period before and during World War II have a certain tendency to romanticize the city in a way that makes one wonder how beautiful it must have been, how different from the city today. In this novel, the city is in despair, but it is alive. The citizens do not thrive, but they keep living and surviving in Manila until the bitter battle that concluded the occupation. 

It's no exaggeration for me to say that I have never read anything like this book. I've read some novels that experiment with style but nothing like But for the Lovers. It is genuinely one of the best books I've read and I feel no shame in admitting that I don't fully understand everything but I do know what it stood for. It is a postcolonial masterpiece and anti-imperialist. The soul of the Filipino people is downtrodden in this novel and in that time period, but alive and will continue to live on. It's a book I'll continue to think about and will someday re-read.

A few years ago, I bought The Woman Who Had Two Navels and Tales of the Tropical Gothic by Nick Joaquin. I was first exposed to his work through the short story The Summer Solstice which we read for a Philippine literature class and enjoyed it immensely. So of course, when I learned that there was going to be a Penguin Classics edition of his short stories, I needed to have it. I finished a few short stories, skipped The Woman Who Had Two Navels because it was a novel and I decided to buy the novel, and also skipped the play. I still haven't completely finished the collection although I'll try to do that this year. Nevertheless, I thought Nick Joaquin's reputation as a giant of Philippine literature was well deserved. His prose was incredible and the blend of folk tradition and religion in his works bringing a palpable tension in his stories especially regarding what they can say about the Filipino psyche.

While I read Cave and Shadows, I thought it was a very Nick Joaquin work. The description of it being a metaphysical novel was apt because of how it dealt with so many themes. Something that stuck out was that the novel was set in the weeks prior to Martial Law. While this event is never touched upon in the novel, knowing that this event happens brings another dimension- in the novel, Manila is a volcano waiting to erupt. Activists, politicians, neo-pagan cults all play a significant role. It felt like a metaphorical storm waiting to happen in conjunction with the actual storm that happens in the climax of the book.

Cave and Shadows is a mystery novel but not quite a crime novel. There is a central mystery although it's unclear if there is a crime. In the process of unraveling this mystery, the protagonist is drawn to Manila, the capital city, the author's most beloved city. There are times when I wonder if the true protagonist of Nick Joaquin's stories is this city. In this city are activists, politicans, and neo-pagan cults. In the background, the religious establishment. How they all connect to the death of Jack's ex-wife's daughter is the mystery here and in between, the author fuses fact and fiction to create the history of the cave at the center of the mystery.

For me, what truly made this book aside from Nick Joaquin's writing, is the exploration of pre-colonial tradition, folk culture, and Christianity. Today, we recognize that in the process of Catholicism being brought to colonized countries, some folk traditions have survived and has been incorporated in the way we practice. In the novel, there is a dichotomy. What is a Filipino? Do you have to be pagan to be a Filipino?  This is something which I thought is kind of a common theme in his work, the exploration of the Filipino identity. Interspersed are bits of fictionalized history which I thought were really well done.

The main character is also well-written. After 20 years away from Manila, he finds much has changed. He finds that his friends have found high places in politics, have gotten involved in some unsavory and shady dealings, had changed their beliefs, made alliances with unlikely persons, and other things. We see the events through eyes both familiar and unfamiliar with the city.

Overall, I found Cave and Shadows a great read. I loved it and I've really become a fan of the author's writing. I will definitely be picking up The Woman Who Had Two Navels soon and maybe finally finish that collection too.