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33 reviews for:
Rizal Without the Overcoat: In Commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of Jose Rizal
Ambeth R. Ocampo
4.15 AVERAGE
33 reviews for:
Rizal Without the Overcoat: In Commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of Jose Rizal
Ambeth R. Ocampo
4.15 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
I would have appreciated this more had there been footnotes. Not a fan of Ocampo casually dropping information, perhaps expecting readers to take his word for everything. But it was altogether an entertaining read and made me interested to read more works about and of Rizal.
Anecdotes, musings, and gossip about Rizal. An entertaining book that I read in two sittings. I liked the parts about Rizal's literary legacy and him being a psychic.
I think this serves best as an addendum though and would've been better if I've read a book about Rizal with the overcoat on.
I think this serves best as an addendum though and would've been better if I've read a book about Rizal with the overcoat on.
The copy of the book that I read belongs to my father. His was not well taken care of with the back cover already tearing from the rest of the body of the book, and the spine all creased from being widely opened. On the first page, he writes his name and the date he acquired his copy of Ambeth Ocampo's Rizal Without the Overcoat; 2-21-97. Eight months older than me. Something about preloved books and their crisp, yellow oxygen-deprived pages just bewitch me (plus points if scavenged through parents' libraries).
Ocampo knows the plague of the Filipinos: "short memories and resistance to history." His compilation of columns titled Looking Back imparts a means in unlearning and relearning our history by providing a rather quirky (yet fact-supported!) and reader-friendly approach and reintroducing heroes and personalities under a more human limelight. I personally love the stories about Rizal's brother, Paciano; his true love, Josephine Bracken (yes, not Leonor Rivera and this is the hill I choose to die on), and Ante Radaic's fascination with Rizal and his supposed inferior complex.
But despite the interesting approach, I cannot help but roll my eyes at some stories which contend that Rizal was a psychic, Rizal as the father of Hitler, and how the author gave weight to the Rizalista's seance with the deceased hero's spirit. If we're on the mission of learning history whose foundation rests on facts, especially since we're living in a cesspool of a society on the brink of revisionism, I cannot understand how these tales could hold water; if anything, they are tales that invite conspiracy theorists to spin their own cobwebs.
Ocampo knows the plague of the Filipinos: "short memories and resistance to history." His compilation of columns titled Looking Back imparts a means in unlearning and relearning our history by providing a rather quirky (yet fact-supported!) and reader-friendly approach and reintroducing heroes and personalities under a more human limelight. I personally love the stories about Rizal's brother, Paciano; his true love, Josephine Bracken (yes, not Leonor Rivera and this is the hill I choose to die on), and Ante Radaic's fascination with Rizal and his supposed inferior complex.
But despite the interesting approach, I cannot help but roll my eyes at some stories which contend that Rizal was a psychic, Rizal as the father of Hitler, and how the author gave weight to the Rizalista's seance with the deceased hero's spirit. If we're on the mission of learning history whose foundation rests on facts, especially since we're living in a cesspool of a society on the brink of revisionism, I cannot understand how these tales could hold water; if anything, they are tales that invite conspiracy theorists to spin their own cobwebs.
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
This is a collection of essays about Rizal for the Philippine Daily Inquirer from 1987 to 1990. It truly did what it aimed to: humanize him.
The discussion started with only trivial facts about him to warm you up. It delves deeper into Rizal's habits, talents, intellect and shortcomings as well then it ended with a beautiful afterword.
I'm aware of some criticism about this book yet I would totally recommend this to those who want an easy re-introduction to Rizal. Each essay written made me curious about the specific parts in Rizal's life especially his works.
The discussion started with only trivial facts about him to warm you up. It delves deeper into Rizal's habits, talents, intellect and shortcomings as well then it ended with a beautiful afterword.
I'm aware of some criticism about this book yet I would totally recommend this to those who want an easy re-introduction to Rizal. Each essay written made me curious about the specific parts in Rizal's life especially his works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
informative
fast-paced
This book pretty much achieves what it’s set out to do, which is to provide readers a good understanding of Rizal as a person outside the myth. Coming into this book I did not have a great understanding of the history behind Rizal. I think being aware of the historical context and the myth itself could help enhance your reading of this book.
I do feel that there could have been some more analytical depth in deconstructing the mythology of Rizal and its relation to brother themes of the history and national identity of the Philippines. Perhaps this is not what Ocampo sets out to do in this book but it does feel like a series of trivia facts rather than a historical analysis at times. Although I do respect the lengths of Ocampo's research and found it illuminating.
I do feel that there could have been some more analytical depth in deconstructing the mythology of Rizal and its relation to brother themes of the history and national identity of the Philippines. Perhaps this is not what Ocampo sets out to do in this book but it does feel like a series of trivia facts rather than a historical analysis at times. Although I do respect the lengths of Ocampo's research and found it illuminating.
Ambeth Ocampo sounds like he is a cool teacher who can spout random trivia and can make dry classes interesting. This book contains many new stuff I just knew about Rizal.
But as a book, keri lang.
But as a book, keri lang.