Ex Libris: Local Killings

Amazing enough, I can now admit to reading and finishing three local books (not counting the requisite high school-reading of Jose Rizal's Noli and Fili). The first two local books I read were Eric Gamalinda's realism/postmodernist books Empire of Memory and My Sad Republic. The third is Felisa H. Batacan's Palanca award-winner Smaller and Smaller Circles.

Of course, I blame Dean and Ian for this recommendation. It also helped that U.P. Press had come out with new editions of this literary-award-winning book. (Aside from the Palanca, it also won the the Manila Critics' Circle National Book Award and the Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award.)

In this day and age when there are-- count 'em-- three CSI shows on cable, Batacan's short novel (clocking in at 155 pages) does murders by numbers. Of course, Batacan came out with this work in 1999 long before William Petersen ever essayed the role of the bug-loving Gil Grissom. But I digress.

Batacan's story of a serial killer and the Jesuit forensic expert hunting him amidst the trash dumps of Payatas may not seem much in accordance of genre standards. There's the brilliant detective who loves good music, the notable sidekick, the customary official roadblock, the interesting female character, and-- of course-- the nearly-invincible serial killer. However, the fact that Batacan places the story in a local setting and does it well makes this book worth reading. It's something quite comparable to those books published abroad actually.

Likewise, Batacan addresses-- too little for my taste but that's just me-- local issues on the whys and wherefores on the possibility of serial killers in the Philippines. For example, why aren't there news reports of serial killers in the country? Does that mean there aren't any? (Which reminds me what a local psychologist once said: the reason psychotherapy isn't popular here is because-- aside from the stigma-- people would rather drink their problems down. Heh, I'll leave the conclusions to you.)

Actually, I found the story of a serial killer among the poor of the Payatas dumpsite quite appropriate for a social realist look at poverty in the Philippines. For the poor, an uncertain life and a random death are constant elements in their lives. Now combine that with the unknowable death inherent when human monsters are involved and things can definitely get worse for those less well-off in life. An apt analogy would be a herd of sheep while a hungry wolf stalks the night. Yeeeesh.

Overall, I wouldn't know what literary is even if it bit me in the ass. However, I can say that Batacan's novel is a smart, well-written detective story that every book-loving Filipino should read.

Yes, Filipinos can write and write well indeed.