book review: "Makamisa: The Search for Rizal's Third Novel" by Ambeth R. Ocampo

MAKAMISA: The Search for Rizal's Third Novel
Ambeth R. Ocampo

No Filipino can graduate from school without having read, or at least pretend to read, the novels of the country's national hero, the Noli me tangere & the El Filibusterismo. As such, the study of the life of Jose Rizal & his works have become a burden & a joyless chore. For anyone to enjoy Ambeth Ocampo's book "Makamisa", one first needs to have a sincere appreciation of Rizal and his legacy.

In "Makamisa", Ocampo takes us with him on a journey as he searches for & eventually finds Rizal's unfinished third novel. Yes, Rizal had not just one, but six unfinished stories, which I was happy to learn about & read in this book. All these unfinished stories give us a glimpse of the wealth of Rizal's imagination and his unfulfilled potential, sadly cut short by his execution by the Spanish. Thus we are left to forever wonder what else he could have accomplished.

And on this year that we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of our national hero, I hope we can truly say that our interest in Rizal is still alive, because there is still more to learn for those who know to look.

Rating:

 

2010 Reads

2 books short of my 50-book goal, but I'm still happy with my approximate average of 4 books per month. Topping the list are historical mysteries [more than half of which are by Anne Perry], followed by the children's & young adult novels.

2010 Reads
01. "Defend and Betray" by Anne Perry
02. "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory
03. "A Breach of Promise" by Anne Perry
04. "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
05. "Crocodile on the Sandbank" by Elizabeth Peters
06. "A Sudden, Fearful Death" by Anne Perry
07. "Postsecret" by Frank Warren
08. "The Fire" by Katherine Neville
09. "Thief of Time" by Terry Pratchett
10. "Charmed Life" by Diana Wynne Jones
11. "The City of Falling Angels" by John Berendt
12. "Funeral in Blue" by Anne Perry
13. "Callander Square" by Anne Perry
14. "The Angel's Game" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
15. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
16. "At Some Disputed Barricade" by Anne Perry
17. "Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose
18. "The Silent Cry" by Anne Perry
19. "Mr. Impossible" by Loretta Chase
20. "No Graves As Yet" by Anne Perry
21. "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" by John Boyne
22. "The Meaning of Tingo" by Adam Jacot de Boinod
23. "The Last Cato" by Matilde Asensi
24. "The Boleyn Inheritance" by Philippa Gregory
25. "The Sins of the Wolf" by Anne Perry
26. "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett
27. "Jim Henson's Return to Labyrinth Volume 1" by Jake T. Forbes
28. "Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder" by Gyles Brandreth
29. "Jim Henson's Return to Labyrinth Volume 2" by Jake T. Forbes
30. "Jim Henson's Return to Labyrinth Volume 3" by Jake T. Forbes
31. "The Mythology Class" by Arnold Arre
32. "The Patient's Eyes" by David Pirie
33. "Book Lust" by Nancy Pearl
34. "Gaudy Night" by Dorothy L. Sayers
35. "Maisie Dobbs" by Jacqueline Winspear
36. "Pyramids" by Terry Pratchett
37. "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by A. Wolf" by Jon Sciezska
38. "Conrad's Fate" by Diana Wynne Jones
39. "The End of the Affair" by Graham Greene
40. "Looking Back" by Ambeth Ocampo
41. "The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff 1: You Wish" by Jason Lethcoe
42. "Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony" by Eoin Colfer
43. "The Prince of Mist" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
44. "Selyo: Philippine History in Postage Stamps" by Reynaldo Gamboa Alejandro, et al
45. "Stone Soup" by Jon J. Muth
46. "The Wizard Comes to Town" by Mercer Mayer
47. "Adele & Simon" by Barbara McClintock
48. "The Principles of Uncertainty" by Maira Kalman

And my Best Reads of 2010
[in the order they were read during the year]: