A review by ccallan
Insurrecto by Gina Apostol

3.0

I'm not sure what to think about this book. I loved and hated it, often in the same moment. At times it was just too-too postmodern, show-offy in a "look what I can do" way, that didn't add to the impact of the book. At other times its unconventional methods were brilliantly effective -- as confusing as the jumping around in time was, it did show clear continuities of history, emotion, and experience of both people and Filipino society. On that jumping around, though: did all the characters have to have such similar names, and did each chapter really have to go two pages before it told us which "she" it was referring to? And the uber-educated allusions that got dropped in to listicles seemed more designed to show how sophisticated the narration was than to provide anything to the themes, plot, or characters. It's a wry, clever work -- I don't think I'll ever think about karioke the same way again. Plus a great reminder for American readers that the effects of US misadventures a century ago still matter, even if they are forgotten in the US.

I guess my ambivalence about the book is symbolized by how it ended. I was reading on Kindle, so wasn't quite clear how much more of the book there was to go. And I turned a page, I suddenly found out I had finished, and the rest of it was a (tongue-in-cheek) glossary and acknowledgements. It reminded me of arty French films where all of a sudden the film is over, with no warning. Worth a read, but be prepared for a jolty ride.