94. Title & Author: Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal, translated by Soledad Lacson-Locsin (452 pages)Genre: Fiction--Filipino Literature
Completed: 25 May 2009
Summary & Review:
The young Filipino Cristostomo Ibarra returns home to his motherland of the Philippines after a seven year education in Europe. Upon his return, he learns of his father's imprisonment and death, yet he tries to find happiness in his engagment to the beautiful Maria Clara and in his philanthropic efforts to build a school in the town of San Diego. But, in a country riddeld with corruption and run by a hypocritical and omnipotent cadre of Catholic priests and Spanish officials, he soon gains many enemies set on his destruction. A coup takes place in the quiet town and Ibarra is pinned as the planner and financier of the rebellion. He is arrested, his engagement is broken, his family home is burned, and he loses his faith in the system that runs his beloved home country with blood and terror sanctioned by religion.
I was incredibly impressed with this work. Rizal was a true patriot of his country and he took a bold stand against unjust institutions that were seen as untouchable, such as the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Hence, the title Noli Me Tangere, Latin for Touch Me Not. He aptly used juxtapositions to expose the hypocrisies and crimes of the power hungry priets that had more power than any government official in the nineteenth century Philippines. It was a powerfully tragic story.
Rizal is honored as a National Hero in the Philippines, as he should be. For his revolutionary efforts he was executed by firing squad by the Spanish government of the Philippines in 1896, just two years before the country declared its independence from Spain.
Rating: 8.5
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