AMDG
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| The first book in the series that got me reading on. |
After reading Ambeth Ocampo's Looking Back (and even writing a review on it), I got a hold of his other collection of essays. What's common about the books in his Looking Back series is that he presents history in a more familiar and interesting manner. A historical presentation that we can relate to. Interesting and intriguing. His presentation of history in the series is not the average: This hero was born on ... Born at... Died on... Died at... Contributed the... Lived to be... Had _ number of spouses... Holidays dedicated include... Known for...Can be seen on the _-peso money...
And here are is his other books in the series:
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| Don't let the title stop you from buying the book even if you're a teenager. :D |
This was the second book in the series that I got at the local bookstore. Yes, the title may make the mind think of an array of thoughts of many topics. I remember buying the book and the cashier's reaction: "Dirty Dancing...". O_o. I have had to explain to friends who've seen the cover that the title of the book is based on the title of the first essay which isn't even really dirty. Nonetheless, I've read the book and the essays. And once again, Ambeth Ocampo hasn't failed to give history a more relevance (intrigue?) to the lives of the common Filipino. It's history beyond the textbook. The things that would normally be left out of a history textbook are once again continued in the second book of the series. The first book is a little more of laughable nature. The second still sends smiles to its readers (me and friends). It's history, culture and what not. For stuff that the history textbook leaves out, but we common people are more concerned with (chismis siguro?), this is a great addition if you have the first book! A great Christmas gift for those who don't enjoy reading kilo-metric books; this is better because it has nice, short essays.
Content: Fun, intriguing, history with a twist!
Easy to Read: Totally! Short and easy to understand words.
Price: Just right. Worth it .Affordable 95 PHP at National Bookstore.
Bottom line: Great and funny!
Death by Garrote: Looking Back 3 by Ambeth Ocampo.
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| It's not all about death. |
I got a copy of this book at Greenbelt since that was one of the venues of our field trip (and because I couldn't get my hands on it at the local bookstore). I read it from cover to cover the night I bought it (with a little help from a can of latte). This book wasn't one of the hilarious books I was used to from the Looking Back series, but was rather a more serious, yet still interesting book. Serious in a sense that it doesn't make you laugh, but still keeps your finger clinging to the corner of the book waiting for your signal to flip the page. It has the odds and ends of history that aren't funny but still interesting. From the births of heroes to their names, this book is full of the interesting things on history that we would consider is more to our liking than that of textbook history. This book is a nice reminder that history does not necessarily have to be deep, but can be nice to have a laugh at, yet there are still serious bits to it. For a 100-paged book it isn't that hard to read since the words and essay-lengths just right. A perfect balancer to the Looking Back series.
Content: A little less of the laughs, but still interesting.
Easy to Read: As always, yes!
Price: A worth it 95 PHP. (That's only near the price of a coffeehouse blended beverage (R)).
Bottom line: Less funny, still interesting!
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Thanks for reading!
God bless :D
All photos of the books are from: Mr. Ocampo's Facebook Fan Page . (I do not own any of the images and they are property of their respective owners.) Most if not all of the comments written above are personal opinion.
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