Dekada '70 resources

I've never read Lualhati Bautista's Dekada '70, a novel about a family's struggles during the martial law regime. Apparently it's required in some schools, but it wasn't in mine.

For the sake of those who have to read it (and maybe some who just want to), here are a few resources:

• Dekada '70 (novel) Wikipedia entry
• Dekada '70 (nobela) Tagalog Wikipedia entry
• Dekada '70 book review at The Edsa Revolution website
• Dekada '70 (film) Wikipedia entry
• "Who's afraid of Lualhati Bautista?" by Abet Zialcita, at Inquirer.net

If you have 100 pesos or so to spare, you can get a copy at your nearest bookstore, because as far as I know it's always in print.

El Fili study guides

OK, so I never finished reading El Filibusterismo, Jose Rizal's sequel to Noli Me Tangere. I got by reading a study guide in the form of a cheap comic book. If I were a student today, I would have tried a little harder.

• El Fili chapter summaries, in Tagalog at www.viloria.com
• Full text of "The Reign of Greed", Charles Derbyshire's El Filibusterismo translation at joserizal.info
• "Foreignness and Vengeance": On Rizal's "El Filibusterismo", a paper by Vicente Rafael
• El Fili Wikipedia entry

Noli Me Tangere, a 1912 English translation

From the archives of Project Gutenberg, here is The Social Cancer, A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere, translated by Charles Derbyshire from the original work of Jose Rizal.

It contains a Translator's Introduction, which describes the Philippines under Spanish rule, Rizal's life, and the context of the novel. If you're writing a Noli book report, the introduction is worth looking at for more insights to guide you. Beware, though -- the translator uses words like "apogee" and "halcyon" -- an online dictionary would come in handy!

There have been many other (possibly better) translations published after this one, but if you need a Noli English version and don't mind when it's from, then at least this is free.

www.gutenberg.net

Project Gutenberg is a site that collects books that are in the public domain, publishing them in various electronic formats.

The ebooks here are free to download, and you can read them on your PC or other gadgets that can read text files. Project Gutenberg has also managed to collect works in Tagalog, Cebuano, and Iloko.

If you can't decide which one of the millions of free ebooks to start with, you can try:

• Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
• Lineage, Life and Labors of José Rizal, Philippine Patriot
• Homer's The Iliad
• Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome