∎ Libro Gratis A Light in the Cane Fields edition by Enrico Antiporda Literature Fiction eBooks

A Light in the Cane Fields edition by Enrico Antiporda Literature Fiction eBooks

Download As PDF : A Light in the Cane Fields edition by Enrico Antiporda Literature Fiction eBooks

A Light in the Cane Fields edition by Enrico Antiporda Literature Fiction eBooks

This is one of the best books I have read in a very long time!
When it was finished my first thought after reading "The End" was: "what an unbelievably, incredible, amazing story!"

Jando, a twelve-year-old child is the narrator, lying in a 'spider-hole' introducing himself as a boy-soldier - those kids "too tough to be real children, too young to be real men".

The riveting, evocative tale starts with his innocent life on his father's sugar plantation, introducing his family:
Mang Miguel Flores, his dad; Sampaguita Inday - his mom; Tanaya - his adopted little sister, with her pet pig Rosa; Monching - his missing brother; His uncle - Tio Mario: "He was a boulder no one could budge, someone one could hide behind. Today showed me that he was only human "Oso was a member of the Peasants Union and was as disagreeable as a swollen canker sore."

Jando is still discovering the world around him, describing his life from every angle: the smells of the forests and plantations, his mom's masterful cooking of traditional foods; the colors of the insects, animals, mountains, flowers, clouds; the detail of the community's dresses, believes, habits, history and languages. We are taken into the lives of decent, hardworking people living an uncomplicated life.

And abruptly his life changed when he also was confronted with the ugliness of revolution, war, politics and greed in which his family's - as well as those of many people around them's lives would forever change.

"Bad wind never blows alone, so goes the Filipino saying.

But I wasn't listening. I wanted to be alone. I was mad. Mad at Mama and Papa for delaying me, mad at Father Rufino for leaving me, mad at Tio Mario for interrupting me, mad at Leilani for cheating on Oso, mad at Oso for being a fool, mad at Tato for getting himself killed, and mad at everything else. I punched the air with my fist. It was a stupid world with stupid people living in it.

The author blended love, family, hardships, war, and unbelievable violence into a poetic tale of hope and determination.

The story is fast moving, exact, riveting. "The sun rose and fell and the days peeled away like the pages of a calendar."
Every page would shock, mesmerize, and grip the reader as a silent witness to this remarkable historical accurate, yet fictitious tale.

The reader is left breathless at the end, yet also grateful for a young boy's integrity, compassion and love for his country and his people and the price he was willing to pay to honor the people he loved and to keep his promises.

"The memories still haunt us, but they are faded now, like the pages of an old manuscript left out in the sun."


Tags : A Light in the Cane Fields - Kindle edition by Enrico Antiporda. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading A Light in the Cane Fields.,ebook,Enrico Antiporda,A Light in the Cane Fields,Blue Owl Editions,FICTION Coming of Age,FICTION Historical

A Light in the Cane Fields edition by Enrico Antiporda Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews

Book Review for A Light in the Cane Fields
Author Enrico Antiporda
Edition

As a courtesy from the author, I received a copy of the e-book in exchange for doing an unbiased review. Per review guidelines, the review includes the following components characterization, writing style, pace, length, plot, symbolism, language (spelling and grammar), settings, and personal reaction. The review will be organized in this order.

Introduction

This novel is set in the Philippines. I know only a little about the Philippines. I have never been there and the only contact I have had with the country has been through people I have met from the Philippines. The novel motivated me to spend some time with a few reference books in my library because I felt knowing the history of the country (consisting of over 7,000 islands!!) was important to understanding this novel.

The Philippines is a republic in the SW Pacific Ocean. It's capitol is Manila. The Spanish held the islands until 1898 when, as a result of the Spanish-American war, it was transferred to the United States. It is named after the king of Spain during the 16th century (Philip II). It was occupied by the Japanese during WWII until U.S. General MacArthur showed up. It gained independence in 1946. It was under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos from 1965-1986. Marcos was granted exile in the U.S.

The history of the country is, quite frankly, textbook colonialism a small country with rich resources that is exploited by bigger countries then after it gains its independence, is torn apart by internal conflicts. My perception of the Philippines is that it has been beaten up from all sides--politically, geographically, and environmentally. Thus, it is the epitome of the result of colonialism and once handed independence, was/is plagued by internal struggles for power.

Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) had hit so even as I was reading this book, I was looking at the television news showing the wrath of this storm on the Filipino people including the complete destruction of places like Tacloban. This was surreal--to be doing a review of a book set in a country that was just hit by a catastrophic storm (and the book includes a scene where a typhoon hits). It seems the destiny of the Philippines is to constantly endure hardship and pain. It is this constant hardship and pain that I feel personifies this book.

Characterization

The book is written in the first person, in the voice of a 12 year old boy named Jando who lives in the Pampanga Province. He is from the upper or better-well-off classes out of Manila. It is set in 1967. The book follows his evolution (or de-evolution depending on how you think of it) as he transitions from child to man. His strongest emotional ties are to the women in his life such as his mother, an American woman who is there to "help" the country, and a tribal leader named Maya. I feel the characterization is excellent. The personality of each person is clearly defined and you perceive each character as the individual they are--with their own history and "issues". The story is character-rich. You are constantly meeting new characters. I did find myself flipping back and forth to refresh my memory on "who is who" but the author creates cohesion in the story by sticking to a core group of characters. This is still a relatively high number but is necessary for the type of story it is.

Writing Style

The most distinctive thing about this novel is in fact, the writing style which is a first person narrative. Jando is telling his story. There is a difference between reporting a story and telling a story. This book does only one of these. It can come across sometimes as tedious and dry though I think part of this is it is a adolescent boy telling the story and the writing style is meant to mimic how an adolescent boy might talk. Still, I needed to take a break from it sometimes. I perhaps would have broken it up with more esthetic interplay, perhaps some author intervention, reverting to some other writing style as I found it did become somewhat tedious at times. It is extremely difficult to write a story like this, especially one as rich in detail and subplots as this, and not wear a bit on the reader. For me, this was the main drawback in reading the book.

Pace

Pace is fast but then again, the characters are fighting for their lives--the lives of their country and their own. I feel the pace is a strong point of the novel and offsets how complex it can get.

Length

I might have edited some portions of it out only because the book is so rich with detail. Length is long.

Plot

The plot is intense and compelling. The story is a familiar one in the world of colonialism exploitation by larger countries, the struggle for independence, independence gained then the internecine rivalries kick in (it is a tragedy of the human species that even in 2013 we still see this playing out globally; as a species, we seem destined to play this same scenario out over and over. Why?). As with so many struggles of this type, innocent children are conscripted to fight. Jando is one of them and this is the over-riding theme of the story.

There is a lot of violence in the book. The cultural chasm is represented by the Americans in the story who are there to "help". The author does a great job showing how stilted their adjustment is and their tendency to romanticize. The story has all the components of internecine struggles bribery, political corruption, stressed and strained loyalties, death, murder, grief, loss of innocence, anger, betrayal...it is all here in this story which makes it almost too rich in plot and subplot. There is a lot to keep track of including characters, their backgrounds/histories, familial relationships--it is a busy book. It can also be grisly at times. The plot is compelling and did keep me on the edge of my seat even though I had a feeling it would end the way it did. In this way, it was somewhat predictable, a tad contrived, but still compelling.

One of the most interesting things about continually suffering under a state of injustice is the rationalization that has to kick-in in order to endure it. The story begins where Jando sees things as many children do--as they really are but as with all the characters in the story, they are forced to resort to rationalizing regarding what is happening to and all around them just to keep going. We all know what happens with rationalization--it allows us to keep our emotions, our reactions, such as anger to injustice, unfairness, etc. in check. Jando is not only growing older in the book or "maturing" under incredible stress and loss, but he is also learning to think "like an adult"...

I liked the little jolt when it was revealed that the beginning of the book ties in tightly to the end (and I cannot say much more per spoiling it).

Symbolism

This was a strong aspect of the story. The incredibly rich culture of the Philippines is woven into the narrative including the superstition, the native plants and animals of the island, intriguing recipes (!), and cultural habits. As a professional biologist, I LOVED this! The author includes the names of many native plants and animals, and aspects of their natural history. This was one of the most delightful aspects of the book for me.

If the title of a book is meant to be symbolic regarding what's IN the book, I do not think the title matches the intensity of the book. "Light in the Cane Fields" implied something to me I did not find in the book--a kind of soft, poetic, artistic fluidity...While the story definitely offers an aesthetic experience, it is not what I would call poetic it's 'brass tacks and nails', sharp edges and jagged rocks, guns, machetes, knives, and blood. Violence and struggle. Yes, sure there is the bougainvillea behind the "ruins of the old Spanish citadel" (to which Jando thinks, "it's just a bunch of crumbling walls" as the American woman there (Rachel) romanticizes it). I suggest a different title to match the story the book is telling and to who the story is being told.

Language/Grammar

Saw a few minor edits. Language is very careful--tries to walk the very difficult line between reflecting how people talk in the real world and being grammatically correct. (I recognized it because I struggled with this in my novel; in exchange for editing something to be grammatically correct, do we sacrifice the characterization?). I detected this struggle in the book but it also may have been because the story is being told by a young boy who is one age in the beginning of the story then older at the end. At times, this style came across as awkward.

Settings

Exemplary. This is where the book excels. I felt like I was there. This is where the aesthetic element of the story comes in per descriptions of the natural environment, the crumbling Spanish citadels, the "spider hole" Jando is hunkered down into. The story is rich in this aspect and I greatly enjoyed it. I offer a few examples

"A bouquet of frangipani flowers bloomed in a milk jar, oozing perfume. Kalachuchi, we called them in Tagalog. Temple flowers. We had a whole grove of them in the orchard."

"This is beautiful, " Rachel said, watching a hawk land on a guava tree that grew out of a crack in the parapet."

"I trailed a finger along its fine marquetry. Three types of wood had been used to make it narra, mahogany, and kamagong wood, which stood for God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."

"Mama prepared pork adobo over rice with six halves of fried plantain. Carameled sugar oozed from the plaintains, making a brown pool in the bottom of the canister. A bottle of Choco Vim and a hardboiled egg peeled off its hard shell completed the fare. Leave it to Mama to overfeed."

"....but Mama said it was only chicken blood which people used to wax a dirt floor."

Additional vignettes from the book (I can't include some I really want to because it would constitute acting as spoilers)

"And because no one knew her, they made up stories about her."

"Tanaya stood in the yard; blowing hibiscus sap bubbles from a homemade wire loop."

"I wrinkled my nose. "What a toilet," I thought. Everywhere I looked, I saw misery and disease. Naked bug-eyed children played in mud pits infested with swarms of glistening flies. Not far away, a pack of scrawny dogs snarled at each other, fighting over a mound of carabao dung. In a nearby hut, an infant with a bloated stomach with a dead mouse as his mother gazed listlessly from a hole in the shack. I looked away and saw Father Rufino and Rachel watching me. "Now you know why we're here," he said."

"I had attended my first funeral at six and seen my first dead person at seven as had most kids my age. In the provinces where people died of diseases like cholera, malaria, and dysentery, funerals were not all that uncommon."

"Too tough to be real children, too young to be real men."

"He has to be elected president first," she said. "Oh the masses will vote for him. I am sure of that. He can win
in a landslide. Whether they will let it happen is another thing. We can't wait for the fruit to drop, Dante (Jando).
We must do what we've always done. Fight."

SUMMARY Anyone going to the Philippines should read this book as a primer not only of the politics and
struggles but to learn about the incredibly rich culture. Not being an expert on the Philippines, it seems this novel includes nearly every facet of what it means to live in the Philippines and in this way, it may be too ambitious. It is a story about a child turning into a man via the definition of the violent situation and men around him, it is a story about love, it is a story about the brutality of politics (on every level), and it is a story of an environmentally rich place and its culture. Overall, I was deeply affected by the story and enriched by the things I learned about this place named after a 16th century Spanish king.

Virginia Arthur, Author
Birdbrain
This is a superb book. The writing is rich and evocative, each word perfectly chosen. The first part details Jando's life on a plantation with his family, and the anxieties and stresses they deal with. We see the life of Philippine farmers and experience it in all its depths. The rest of the book deals with Jando's experiences as a guerrilla fighter in training, the brutalities he witnesses and his responses to them. The book is not for the faint-hearted; it would be an R rated film.

As I read I became anxious that Jando would succumb to the bloody-mindedness around him, and was pleased that he maintained his compassion for others, which I think would be hard for most 12 year old boys in such a situation. He remains an admirable character. It provided insight into what the lives of child soldiers must be like.

The use of occasional Filipino words and phrases adds to the realism of the tale, and pulls the reader into the life of the Philippines even more. Details of scenery, cooking, and weather are woven into it in a way reminiscent of James Lee Burke's writing.

The ending is satisfying. It's true the epilogue is short, but telling the story of the Marcos' downfall in similar detail would have required another book. I am pleased to have come across such a beautifully written book.
I downloaded it to my during a free promotion on Kboards.
Victoria Randall,
author Get on Board Little Children
This is one of the best books I have read in a very long time!
When it was finished my first thought after reading "The End" was "what an unbelievably, incredible, amazing story!"

Jando, a twelve-year-old child is the narrator, lying in a 'spider-hole' introducing himself as a boy-soldier - those kids "too tough to be real children, too young to be real men".

The riveting, evocative tale starts with his innocent life on his father's sugar plantation, introducing his family
Mang Miguel Flores, his dad; Sampaguita Inday - his mom; Tanaya - his adopted little sister, with her pet pig Rosa; Monching - his missing brother; His uncle - Tio Mario "He was a boulder no one could budge, someone one could hide behind. Today showed me that he was only human "Oso was a member of the Peasants Union and was as disagreeable as a swollen canker sore."

Jando is still discovering the world around him, describing his life from every angle the smells of the forests and plantations, his mom's masterful cooking of traditional foods; the colors of the insects, animals, mountains, flowers, clouds; the detail of the community's dresses, believes, habits, history and languages. We are taken into the lives of decent, hardworking people living an uncomplicated life.

And abruptly his life changed when he also was confronted with the ugliness of revolution, war, politics and greed in which his family's - as well as those of many people around them's lives would forever change.

"Bad wind never blows alone, so goes the Filipino saying.

But I wasn't listening. I wanted to be alone. I was mad. Mad at Mama and Papa for delaying me, mad at Father Rufino for leaving me, mad at Tio Mario for interrupting me, mad at Leilani for cheating on Oso, mad at Oso for being a fool, mad at Tato for getting himself killed, and mad at everything else. I punched the air with my fist. It was a stupid world with stupid people living in it.

The author blended love, family, hardships, war, and unbelievable violence into a poetic tale of hope and determination.

The story is fast moving, exact, riveting. "The sun rose and fell and the days peeled away like the pages of a calendar."
Every page would shock, mesmerize, and grip the reader as a silent witness to this remarkable historical accurate, yet fictitious tale.

The reader is left breathless at the end, yet also grateful for a young boy's integrity, compassion and love for his country and his people and the price he was willing to pay to honor the people he loved and to keep his promises.

"The memories still haunt us, but they are faded now, like the pages of an old manuscript left out in the sun."