Scan barcode
A review by thebobsphere
Insurrecto by Gina Apostol
4.0
If I could summarise Insurrecto in one word it would be meta. This novel’s plot just self references itself constantly,
A film makers daughter enlists the help of a translator to help her find her father, who was missing after he shot a film about American soldiers slaughtering thousands of Philippine residents on the island of Samar. The daughter, also decides to write a film script about this event while the translator writes her own version of the slaughtering. The end result is a novel which encompasses many topics: media distortion of reality, PTSD, materialism and many more.
Consisting of irregularly numbered chapters, mashed up and intersecting timelines and a lot of diversions, Insurrecto sometimes feels like a game of sorts but the message comes out clear and it’s not too difficult to join the dots, after all if fiction was easy going would it be a satisfying read?
Before reading Insurrecto, I have never heard of the massacre on Samar, I’ve always maintained that fiction should help create awareness and open the reader’s eyes. Insurrecto definitely does that and at the same time, is a unique read.
A film makers daughter enlists the help of a translator to help her find her father, who was missing after he shot a film about American soldiers slaughtering thousands of Philippine residents on the island of Samar. The daughter, also decides to write a film script about this event while the translator writes her own version of the slaughtering. The end result is a novel which encompasses many topics: media distortion of reality, PTSD, materialism and many more.
Consisting of irregularly numbered chapters, mashed up and intersecting timelines and a lot of diversions, Insurrecto sometimes feels like a game of sorts but the message comes out clear and it’s not too difficult to join the dots, after all if fiction was easy going would it be a satisfying read?
Before reading Insurrecto, I have never heard of the massacre on Samar, I’ve always maintained that fiction should help create awareness and open the reader’s eyes. Insurrecto definitely does that and at the same time, is a unique read.