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BUHAY SA ANGONO (Life in Angono)
A dual language book in Filipino & English
by Timoteo Medina Saguinsin
English Version by
Leonor S. Bautista-Samson

Virginia Beach: Timoteo M. Saguinsin

BOOK REVIEW:

The book is a tribute and a recall of balagtasan poetic readings so familiar to those growing up in the provinces, beginning in grade school when one is taught the musical cadence of Balagtasan recitation. The prime example was Francisco Balthazar's Florante at Laura, a love story of epic proportions recited with equal passion in the cadence of local lore. Tim Saguinsin is one of the leading "makata" readers in Virginia Beach, where the Navy retirees' community boast of an annual festival in Balagtasan..

Saguinsin offers to the Filipino reader abroad a chance to entice their children who are entrenched in hip hop to listen to the Angono tales the Balagtasan way. The book is divided into sections of verses under 2 headings (Pamagat / Titles of Verses and Mga Pilantik at Kuru-kuro / Critiques and Reflections) with an abundance of photos depicting community life in Virginia Beach and in Angono, Rizal Province. While the English translation by Bautista-Samson leaves out much of the musicality inherent in the Pilipino original, it serves as an aid to what the verses are all about.

Pilipino Schools and Tagalog classes in the U.S. should find this dual language book more than an introduction to Pilipino, the language. Buhay sa Angono provides a kaleidescope on the culture of Pinoy communities as well as memories of growing up in rural Philippines, where nostalgia truly claims the Filipino abroad. (rag)

OOV Bookshelf 2005

DECEMBER 2005 FEATURE In Ordinary Time: Poems, Parables, Poetics (1973-2003) by Gémino H. Abad Ilustrado Politics: Filipino Elite Responses to American Rule by Michael Cullinane One Hundred Love Poems: Philippine Love Poetry Since 1905 by Gémino H. Abad and Alfred A. Yuson SEPTEMBER 2005 FEATURE Tutubi, Tutubi, Wag Kang Magpahuli sa Mamang Salbahe ni Jun Cruz Reyes Fourteen Love Stories edited by Jose Y. Dalisay Jr. and Angelo R. Lacuesta Makinilyang Altar ni Luna Sicat-Cleto The Givenchy Code: An Homage and a Parody by ER Escober Bago ang Babae: Mga Tula ni Rebecca T. Añonuevo Southeast Asian Archaeology: Wilhelm G. Solheim II Festschrift edited by Victor Paz Pablo Neruda: Mga Piling Tula edited by Virgilio Arlmario and Romulo P. Baquiran, Jr. Remembering NVM by Jose Y. Dalisay, Jr. JUNE 2005 FEATURE A Book of Her Own by Leny M. Strobel Ang Singsing ng Dalagang Marmol by Isabelo de los Reyes Ipaghiganti Mo Ako by Precioso Palma Sa Ngalan ng Diyos by Faustino S. Aguilar Selected Poems by Merlie M. Alunan Decimal Places by Ricardo M. de Ungria Mga Kaluluwa sa Kumunoy ni Efren R. Abueg Sapagkat Iniibig Kita ni Epifanio San Juan, Jr. Constructing the Filipina: a history of women's magazines (1891-2002) by Georgina Reyes Encanto APRIL 2005 FEATURE A Country of Our Own: Partitioning the Philippines by David C. Martinez I Take Thee, English, for My Beloved by Eileen R. Tabios Habagat at Niyebe ni Edgar Bacong The Forbidden Book: The Philippine American War in Political Cartoons by Abe Ignacio, Enrique de la Cruz, Jorge Emmanuel and Helen Toribio JANUARY 2005 FEATURE Cousins of Color by William Schroeder Buhay sa Angono (Life in Angono) by Timoteo Saguinsin Waiting for Mariang Makiling: Essays in Philippine Cultural History by Resil B. Mojares The Invisible Palace by José Manuel Tesoro Matadora poems by Sarah Gambito Servants of Globalization by Rhacel Salazar Parreñas