Dreameden [Paperback]

Linda Ty-Casper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997

Recent events in the Philippines -- the 1986 People Power Revolution, the ouster of President Marcos, the election of Corazon Aquino, and the coup of 1989 -- are the backdrop of this new novel by a celebrated Filipina writer. She focuses on the experiences of the people in and beyond Gulod, a barrio that "has spread like a field sown by a blind hand" on the outskirts of Manila, on the fringes of power, in the tangled roots of dreams. The story is told through the conflicting lives and ambitions of disillusioned lawyer Benhur, the politician Osong for whom he works. Osong's wife Sally, the retired Col. Moscoso, and many others whose potent but fragile hopes are shaved and destroyed in a context of ceaseless revolutionary change.

A gifted novelist at the height of her powers, Linda Ty-Casper combines historical objectivity with convincing moral authority and provides readers with a remarkable sense of people and place, a leap of insight into what it is to live in the Philippines today at a critical juncture in the nation's history. Research in newspaper archives and interviews with participants in the revolution inform her narrative. The events are actual; her fictional characters are believable; her prose is sardonic, compassionate, and virtuosic.

This is an enduring book, essentially tragic in its vision but richly leavened with humor and poetry, courage and hope. Because Ty-Casper is a profound observer of ordinary, people thrust into a precarious relationship with the state, DreamEden succeeds not only as an accurate and compelling historical novel but also as a universal and timeless human story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A portrait of the Philippines since the 1986 elections that pitted Ferdinand Marcos against Corazon Aquino, Ty-Casper's (Ten Thousand Seeds) ambitious but overburdened novel details historical events at the expense of narrative energy. As he ventures between his childhood home of Gulod, a barrio on the fringes of Manila where "all sorts of people seem to have been washed ashore," and his office in Manila, attorney Benhur Vitaliano attempts to gain redemption for his past and to provide support for his extended family. While Benhur strives to maintain his integrity in the turbulent and corrupt political climate, his childhood friend, Osong Moscoso, reaps the benefits of corruption, including a sizable income. Benhur is willing to give everything for the revolution, even his life, while Osong exploits all events to further his political career. Through them and an abundance of other characters, Ty-Casper charts the movements of recent Philippine history, returning to the theme of a lost paradise as she moves from the election of 1986 through Aquino's "people power" revolution and the bloodless coup of 1989. She attempts to juxtapose the private world and the public, historical world in order to give us the weight of tragedy. But the public world crushes her narrative, much of which reads like newswire reports, and her characters too often remain only names embedded in cold dispatches.

Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

LIT

Product Details

• Paperback: 460 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Washington Pr (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295975865
• ISBN-13: 978-0295975863
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,537,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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