Scent of Apples: A Collection of Stories [Paperback]

Bienvenido N. Santos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997

"Santos writes simply and skillfully of his countrymen who leave home for America, of the pain of separation, lonliness, longing, yesterday's hopes and tomorrow's dreams. His portraits of these gentle, courageous exiles are moving as he shows how each struggles to make his roots while sustained by the dream of a return home...Santos gets to the heart of what it is like to be uprooted, alone, alien..." --Publishers Weekly "Santos is a writer of deceptive simplicity, one whose graceful storytelling conceals considerable political commitment...His stories capture with warmth and deep humanity the pain of exile and the cost of progress." --Washington Post "The whole collection is affecting--a small, unexpected gift from a writer with a welcome new voice." --Kirkus Reviews " Mr. Santos' best pieces are exquisitely crafted works which examine with irony, humor and humanity the plight of Filipinos in America." --Studies in Short Fiction

Product Details

• Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Washington Pr; 5th edition (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 029595695X
• ISBN-13: 978-0295956954
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #426,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Filipinos In America...A Snapshot From The 1940s and On, June 1, 2003

By 

Chon-ny "Your Sensei's Sensei" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scent of Apples: A Collection of Stories (Paperback)

People are used to tales of racism and alienation, but mostly in the context of African Americans, extended to other races. Bienvenido Santos' "Scent of Apples" is such a tale, but opens a whole bushelful of experiences and different sorts of "racism," in this collection of self-containing, sometimes interconnected short stories.

To better understand this book, it would be best to understand the circumstances of Santos' writing environment. Santos arrived in the United States in 1941: World War II was flying fast and the Civil Rights Movement was nearly two decades away. The Great Depression, which established and brought into focus a labor struggle between impoverished US citizens, and incoming immigrants working for lower pay, had just passed.

Many of Bulosan's adventures and characters come from the so-called "Bachelor Society" that had long been in place. With such a mass exodus from the Philippines for the money promised by America, the Filipino population in America was made up largely of men. They were called a "Bachelor Society" because of a lack of matrimonial prospects, the idea of marrying women of other races, particularly white, a taboo issue at the time. There were even clubs where these men would go and pay just to dance with white women.

This is exactly why this book is often used as a teaching tool in many Asian American literature classes. It introduces readers to an aspect of pre-Civil Rights racism that is fairly unknown, even to most Filipinos. The fact that Santos' writes extremely well, being able to mix the metaphors of apples, flags and walls into his tales, without making the writing too stylish for his readers.

The standouts from this collection of 16 include:
The title story "Scent of Apples," which shows a Kalamazoo, MI, Filipino farmer fawning over Santos who had just given a speech, awed by not only seeing another Filipino, but such a successful one.

"The Day the Dancers Came" which puts a different spin on "Apples"; instead, a Filipino longing for contact with his countrymen is extremely excited by the prospect of watching then meeting a dance troupe from the Philippines. He is severely disappointed when his affections are not returned, a beautiful turn on race-on-race struggles.

Also notable are "And Beyond, More Walls," and a three-story series that delves into the bachelor society, "Manila House," "A Peculiar Rustling" and "Nightclub."

The history is easy to swallow because of Santos' writing. It's understandable how many who have been introduced to the book in a class setting could be soured by it. It may be more advisable to learn more about the context surrounding the book before reading it on your own. It may even be more helpful, if you do have to read it for class, to simply have a strong interest in the topic. Otherwise, this read will be a brick in your hands.

Recommended for Filipinos interested in a part of their history, and for non-Filipinos interested in immigration and racism issues of the time, or in Filipino history.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The art of subtlety, June 4, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Scent of Apples: A Collection of Stories (Paperback)

I only had the chance to read three of the stories from this collection last semester, but I found them to be some of the most intriguing short stories I've seen. Santos is a very capable writer, and it seems one of the more subtle ones I've read in a long time. Particularly in "The Day the Dancers Came," Santos is able to make a universal statement from a very particular situation.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Embodies the true hardships of being a Filipino in America, July 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Scent of Apples: A Collection of Stories (Paperback)

I haven't read this book but I have read a piece of it in my English class in the Philippines. I myself are one of the people who have experieced what Santos have written. I force no one to read or be bored by this book but being a Filipino gives me a true reason to appreciate my country's talents.