Cebu - Softcover

Bacho, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0295971320 ISBN 13: 9780295971322

Publisher: University of Washington Press, 1991

Synopsis

This remarkable first novel follows the struggle of Ben Lucero, a young Filipino American priest who must come to terms with his bifurcated notion of home as well as his own religious commitment. Ben’s first visit to the city of Cebu in the Philippines, for his mother’s burial, becomes the occasion of his corruption when he is confronted with the manipulative wiles of two enigmatic women, his powerful Aunt Clara and her glamorous young business associate, Ellen. Ben is inherently corruptible, but his moment of truth is advanced by what he sees as a perversion of Catholicism, namely the crucifixion as a means of bargaining with God. Despair, guilt, and their religious corollary, the need for redemption, follow Ben back to Seattle, where he attempts to unravel his existential dilemma.

Bacho’s vision is darkly comic, and he refuses to sentimentalize his demanding material. He conveys his vision well, balancing aphoristic meditations with the oblique revelations of funny, vivid, believable dialogue. His complex and timely message is underscored with skillful irony; even the denouement has an ambiguous twist, raising as many questions as answers.

The fiction of Carlos Bulosan and Bienvenido N. Santos has long been valued for its depiction of the lives of Filipino immigrants; this book tells the story of those immigrants’ American-born sons and daughters. Bach’s dramatization of the conflict between Filipino and Filipino American cultures conveys the concerns of the post-World War II generation with boldness and skill.

About this title

From the Back Cover

This remarkable first novel follows the struggle of Ben Lucero, a young Filipino American priest who must come to terms with his bifurcated notion of home as well as his own religious commitment.

From Kirkus Reviews

It's coming-of-age time in the Philippines, where a young American priest returns to bury his mother, question his faith, find his home, and fall in love. Ben Lucero first visits Cebu, his mother's hometown near Manila, when he travels there for her funeral. As a guest in the home of his wealthy and powerful Aunt Clara, he finds himself disoriented by the unfamiliarity of Filipino life--especially when confronted by the spectacle of self-inflicted crucifixion, a grisly local custom by which penitents attempt to placate the divine wrath--and overwhelmed by his sudden infatuation for Ellen, his aunt's secretary. Gradually and belatedly, Ben discovers the forces and events that shaped his family and formed the silent, unknown background of his life: the brutality of the Japanese occupation, the poverty and clannishness of Filipino life, the weird syncretism of the indigenous Catholicism, the pervasive corruption of the island authorities. He flees to the security of his native Seattle, but there he finds himself haunted by his recollections of Cebu, and impelled by circumstance to resolve the doubts he has experienced regarding his faith and identity. Bacho writes with a light touch, lending an ambiguity to his narration that can be frustrating but is more usually intriguing. His characters and situations reflect a maturity rarely found in first novels, and his ending, in its refusal to provide a simple resolution, succeeds in adding a new depth to an already-intricate construction. A sensitive--and convincing--debut. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0295971320
• ISBN 13: 9780295971322
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 212