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Title: Scent of Apples: A Collection of Stories by Bienvenido N. Santos ISBN: 0-295-95695-X Publisher: University of Washington Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3 (4 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Filipinos In America...A Snapshot From The 1940s and On
Comment: People are used to tales of racism and alienation, but mostly in the context of African Americans, extended to other races. Bienvenido Santos' "Scent of Apples" is such a tale, but opens a whole bushelful of experiences and different sorts of "racism," in this collection of self-containing, sometimes interconnected short stories.
To better understand this book, it would be best to understand the circumstances of Santos' writing environment. Santos arrived in the United States in 1941: World War II was flying fast and the Civil Rights Movement was nearly two decades away. The Great Depression, which established and brought into focus a labor struggle between impoverished US citizens, and incoming immigrants working for lower pay, had just passed.
Many of Bulosan's adventures and characters come from the so-called "Bachelor Society" that had long been in place. With such a mass exodus from the Philippines for the money promised by America, the Filipino population in America was made up largely of men. They were called a "Bachelor Society" because of a lack of matrimonial prospects, the idea of marrying women of other races, particularly white, a taboo issue at the time. There were even clubs where these men would go and pay just to dance with white women.
This is exactly why this book is often used as a teaching tool in many Asian American literature classes. It introduces readers to an aspect of pre-Civil Rights racism that is fairly unknown, even to most Filipinos. The fact that Santos' writes extremely well, being able to mix the metaphors of apples, flags and walls into his tales, without making the writing too stylish for his readers.
The standouts from this collection of 16 include:
The title story "Scent of Apples," which shows a Kalamazoo, MI, Filipino farmer fawning over Santos who had just given a speech, awed by not only seeing another Filipino, but such a successful one.
"The Day the Dancers Came" which puts a different spin on "Apples"; instead, a Filipino longing for contact with his countrymen is extremely excited by the prospect of watching then meeting a dance troupe from the Philippines. He is severely disappointed when his affections are not returned, a beautiful turn on race-on-race struggles.
Also notable are "And Beyond, More Walls," and a three-story series that delves into the bachelor society, "Manila House," "A Peculiar Rustling" and "Nightclub."
The history is easy to swallow because of Santos' writing. It's understandable how many who have been introduced to the book in a class setting could be soured by it. It may be more advisable to learn more about the context surrounding the book before reading it on your own. It may even be more helpful, if you do have to read it for class, to simply have a strong interest in the topic. Otherwise, this read will be a brick in your hands.
Recommended for Filipinos interested in a part of their history, and for non-Filipinos interested in immigration and racism issues of the time, or in Filipino history.
Rating: 3
Summary: Embodies the true hardships of being a Filipino in America
Comment: I haven't read this book but I have read a piece of it in my English class in the Philippines. I myself are one of the people who have experieced what Santos have written. I force no one to read or be bored by this book but being a Filipino gives me a true reason to appreciate my country's talents.
Rating: 5
Summary: The art of subtlety
Comment: I only had the chance to read three of the stories from this collection last semester, but I found them to be some of the most intriguing short stories I've seen. Santos is a very capable writer, and it seems one of the more subtle ones I've read in a long time. Particularly in "The Day the Dancers Came," Santos is able to make a universal statement from a very particular situation.
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Title: Bulletproof Buddhists (Intersections - Asian and Pacific AmericanTranscultural Studies) by Frank Chin ISBN: 0824819594 Publisher: University of Hawaii Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1998 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Clay Walls (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game) by Kim Ronyoung ISBN: 1877946788 Publisher: Permanent Press (NY) Pub. Date: 01 March, 1996 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Dogeaters (Contemporary American Fiction) by Jessica Hagedorn ISBN: 014014904X Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1991 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: China Men (Vintage International (Paperback)) by Maxine Hong Kingston ISBN: 0679723285 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 April, 1989 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: America Is in the Heart: A Personal History (Washington Paperbacks, Wp-68) by Carlos Bulosan ISBN: 029595289X Publisher: University of Washington Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1974 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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