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| Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin by Bob Ong |
"Mula sa kasumpa-sumpang kahirapan at kalunos-lunos na kaignorantehan sa mundong kanyang kinagisnan, namulat si Marie sa tunay na mukha ng matamis at mapapakasakit na pag-ibig.
Ngunit makakayanan niya ba ang mga hamon ng bukas?
Ano ang kanyang magiging kapalaran?
Huwag na huwag palalampasin ang mga tagpo ngayong gabi sa telesineryenobela na kumpleto sa mga pang-aapi, paghihiganti, impostor, amnesia, kasal at diary!"
Rating:
I love Bob Ong, I mean, who doesn’t? He’s one of the most influential authors I’ve read. I always thought that if you want an eye-opener or a straightforward reality check on the Philippines and its citizens’ flaws, Bob Ong is your man. You only need to open one of his books to make you feel guilty of your own biases and try to change for the better. At least to me, it’s a constant feeling I get whenever I read any of his books. With Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin (meaning “Get away from me” in English) though, I just felt annoyed.
This book is about the clichés of Philippine films and how badly the media can easily influence, to put it lightly (manipulate would be a better word), the Filipino people. The book is written in a script-like format where you see the dialog, setting and whatnot of each scene that is supposedly parts of a film.
As much as I think this book tackled on a lot of serious problems regarding the film and media industry of the Philippines, reading this was tedious because of the “parinig” approach (I don’t know how to properly explain it in English but it means: “a method of avoiding direct confrontation with somebody by talking/complaining within his or her earshot while acting as though one is addressing it to no one” Source: Y! Answers).
I understand what the author is trying to point out to its readers, but somehow all the sarcasm just made it hard for me to appreciate it. I know that aside from the jokes and bickers, there are sardonic takes on the issues whenever Bob Ong writes his books. After reading the other 8 books though, I feel like the whole tactic is just getting old.
