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A review by jasonrcf
A Question of Heroes by Nick Joaquín
5.0
Nick Joaquin’s A Question of Heroes pushes back strongly against the institutionally augmented narratives and themes that run through Philippine history, both deflating the hagiographies popularly championed by many a nationalist historian, and introducing a new way to fit them into a grander and more complex story of revolution that does not end with the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo in Palanan in 1901, but further down the line with the death of Artemio Ricarte in 1945.
I’m really glad that I was able to read many other history books before this one, especially the works of Teodoro A. Agoncillo (to whom Joaquin often seems to be directly rebutting), because it helped me appreciate just how subversive and fresh Joaquin’s writing was (and still is), and especially how important it is to have well-written and researched retorts or counterbalances to narratives so entrenched and established that we've ended up taking them as fact.
Fascinating stuff, really glad that this and Culture and History continue to be reprinted every few years.
I’m really glad that I was able to read many other history books before this one, especially the works of Teodoro A. Agoncillo (to whom Joaquin often seems to be directly rebutting), because it helped me appreciate just how subversive and fresh Joaquin’s writing was (and still is), and especially how important it is to have well-written and researched retorts or counterbalances to narratives so entrenched and established that we've ended up taking them as fact.
Fascinating stuff, really glad that this and Culture and History continue to be reprinted every few years.