NOVEL SURFER

hmmm .. . read the whole story guys, its really interesting. . .ok hers it is a little summary and noverl criticism.

SALAMANCA
by; Dean Francis Alfar

SeTtInG:

The primary setting of Salamanca was done at Tagbaoran which is located at the very heart of Palawan and is one of the Islands in Mindanao. It was also the location where Gaudencio Rivera firs laid eyes on Jacinta Cordova.

It was still in Tagbaoran where Jacinta stayed and was left alone by Gaudencio for he needed to return to Manila to pursue his passion, and that is to write. This was also another scene wherein Gaudencio got into his own pocket, a Sheepskin of Iowa, which is allowing or granting him to fly to the United States of America to be employed and pursue his work as a writer.

Time came when Gaudencio realized to get back to Jacinta in Palawan and engender a child out of their love. Then they translocated to Manila where Jacinta met all the relatives and family members of Gaudencio, both primary and extended family members. And thus, it was the place where she disbursed her life until old age then breathed her last in a humble hamlet of flowers spurting in the garden.

PlOt:

It was in Los Angeles, California when a earthquake occurred, then Gaudencio foretold the happiest story of the most lovely maiden in Tagbaoran ( a place in Palawan) who lived in a glasshouse to Marco Drilon.
He translocated to Tagbaoran, thinking that we would be able to scout for employment in that place. Gaudencio first came upon Herminia Cruz who advised him that the small hamlet was not a good medium for employment for a lad like him. In that place, they already had a mentor and a Baptist missioner, Mrs. Helen Brown who came from Kensington, Pennsylvania.

Furthermore, Jacinta Cordova, who was exquisitely a firm connoisseur of modesty, and has done the multitude of things she could to place herself in a demeanor that was further than reproof, since the parapet of the dwelling she stayed in were apparent.

She was exceedingly gorgeous at 12, which was the cause why people congested in giving birth and the primary rationale on why Mrs. Brown lost some of her students. Gaudencio didn’t compensate a good deal of interest about this gorgeous lady, because his main motive was to scout for employment. When time came that he realized that there was no other means of employment, he resoluted to labor manually instead of being a mentor so as to live and provide food for him. This is where he meets Cesar Abalos, one of the laborers of his preceding occupation. When he translocated to the Don Salazar Copra Factory, he at last set a foremost foretaste at the most gorgeous lady that lived in Tagbaoran.

Upon the meeting of their eyes, (which was the reflection of their inevitable souls) both got a rush that was peculiar for heir hearts desire.
He fell in love with Jacinta upon walking down at the river. Love at first sight was from the part of Gaudencio. And Gaudencio, expects much from the part of Jacinta and she came to rush realizations that she has made strong faults for God by not doing his chase to stay chaste. Three months came and Gaudencio wrote expressions of love on pieces of paper and placed it every evening in the glasshouse with the rationale that Jacinta would be able to read he love quotes in the morning upon waking up.

But it was placed to an end when a natural obstruction occurred. He was frightened for there were cadavers floating around and the rooftops were thrown afar by the servants of Aelous, and houses where gushed away by the flood. Cesar went to Mrs. Brown and they proceeded to Gaudencio jointly with Shiro, the mongrel.

Then Gaudencio fell caused by the gushing of the water and the blowind of the winds. After the obstruction ended, Gaudencio was nowhere to be found and Apolinaria Vergara was not in the glass house already. Gaudencio appeared three days after his fall, and finally Gaudencio asks for Jacinta’s hand in wedlock.

After wedlock, they were the gossip of the town, but Gaudencio deserted her, for 11 days to return to Manila to find a stable occupation as a writer and Cesar Abalos went with him. Gaudencio didn’t discern that Cesar had a huge crush on him.
When Gaudencio was in manila, he had some award-winning novelties about the stories that he wrote. Moreover, in Tagbaoran, Jacinta met Bau Long Hyunh, a Vietnamese Diaspora and admirer and the one who saved Carlito’s life the son of Lucio Abalos and Filomena from drowning in the water.

Years passed, Gaudencio and Cesar had a major fight that made Cesar decide to go back to Tagbaoran, and a small number of years later he accepted the invitation to be a writer in Iowa, somewhere part of USA and joined the academe.

When Cesar got back, he was warmly greeted and there he told Jacinta on what really had happened. But all that Jacinta did was to move on with her life. Time passed when Gaudencio came to his senses how much he misses her wife and later decided to go back to Tagbaoran and engender a child.

Jacinta agreed in barter for her autonomy from their wedlock, so he went on with Gaudencio leaving the poor Bau Long Hyunh. They translocated to Manila and met Gaudencio’s mother, Pacifica Dolores Rivera and the primary and extended family relative of her beloved half of her life.

Jacinta got to be acquainted with Maria Elena Francisco upon staying at Gaudencio’s mother. When Jacinta was filled with the Holy Spirit in her womb, she gave birth to twins. But alas, the other child breathed her last even without a chance of knowing him. It remained vague to her, only when Gaudencio Antonio Rivera lived. After a few harvests, she was still writing to Intang and stayed quiet and tranquil. Jacinta bore their youngest gift from God, Emmanuel Crisanto. Who breathed his last from an upheaval at such a juvenile age. Some dead driver crashed into him while they where buying some sago.

Gaudencio and Jacinta were very much saddened with Washington Yu, who was his godfather. The entire family mourned for him, for this son has a gift of art, and he was so willing to hear the stories of her mother way back in Tagbaoran. Yet, a few more harvests came to pass and Jacinta gave her entire life for the welfare of her family and garden. She still continued writing to Filomena, she stayed quiet and still through out his days.

Antonio got married to Irene Ledesma, his girlfriend for 3 harvests and soon they already had gifts of God, their Children. Gaudencio suddenly became optically-challenged while he was writing and as for Jacinta, at that night she saw her son Emmanuel, she already knew that he is going to be with his son already. What she did was to write her last to letters the one and only friend, Filomena.

Pleading that it could be her parting letter and to Guadencio with the motive that all through these years, he knows how much she loves him. The break of day arrived and she called everyone to eat dinner at her house. She called Maria Elena and Washington Yu and his son. She asked his son to send the letter to Filomena and the other one to interpret it to Gaudencio.
When she sat subsequently to Gaudencio, she kissed him deeply and then she breathed her last. All and sundry in the dwelling was lamenting, even Gaudencio who was optically-challenged shed a tear for her dearly loved consort. The first one to discern the dwelling is Maria Elena Francisco-Yu, it all twisted into a glasshouse.

cHaRaCtErS:

Gaudencio Rivera- the lead actor, a splendid writer who wants to engender a child
with his phenomenal sexuality and is the consort of Jacinta.
Jacinta Cordova- the gorgeous lady from the hamlet of Tagbaoran, and the wife of
Gaudencio who has a dwelling that is a glass house, who was
chaste lover of Bau Long Hyunh before wedlock.
Cesar Abalos- he has a massive affection on Gaudencio and his friend.
Filomena Abalos- mother of Carlos/Carlito Abalos, wife of Lucio Abalos,
Apolinaria Vergara- Jacinta’s aunt and died through the storm, and has strong
faith in God.
Mrs. Helen Brown- acted as a mentor in Tagbaoran, who came from Kensington
Pennsylvania.
Shiro- the three legged mongrel.
Bau Long Huynh-a Vietnamese Diaspora and fell in love with Jacinta.
Maria Elena Francisco-Yu- married to Washington Yu.
Washington Yu- godfather of Emmanuel Crisanto and married to
Maria Elena Francisco.
Isabel Cortez-a writer and had an affair with Gaudencio while he was still
in Manila.
Lucio Abalos- Cesar Abalos ‘uncle, father of Carlito and husband of
Filomena Cruz.
Gilberta Abalos Salazar- Cesar’s sister and Ricardo Salazar’s wife.
Ricardo Salazar- niece of Don Salazar, husband of Gilberta Abalos.
Carlos/Carlito Abalos- he was foretold by Jacinta to stay away from the
water coz it might be the one to end up his life.
Captain Hideo Izuma- the last undiscovered Japanese straggler and loyal servant
of Emperor Hirohito.
G.I. Alejandro-one of the captive officers of the Hukbalahap movement.
Rommel Rodriguez- the neighbor of Mrs. Brown, owner of a butterfly farm.

The Rivera Family
Pacifica Dolores Rivera- mother of Gaudencio Rivera.
Emilio and Rolando- Older brothers of Gaudencio.
Gaudencio Lorenzo Rivera (+)-son of Gaudencio and Jacinta, died in a
heart failure.
Gaudencio Antonio Rivera- son of Gaudencio and Jacinta.
Emmanuel Crisanto Rivera- second son of Gaudencio and Jacinta.
Irene Ledesma Rivera- Antonio’s girlfriend for 3 years and the wife of
Antonio Rivera.
Jennifer and Jemina Ledesma Rivera the first born twins in Antonio and Irene.
Jacinta Ledesma Rivera- the favorite granddaughter of Jacinta.
Justine Ledesma Rivera and Joanna Ledesma Rivera- the fourth and the fifth baby
of Irene and Antonio Rivera, they were next to Jacinta.
Julio Ledesma Rivera- the last baby of Irene Ledesma and Antonio.

ThEmE:

The story Salamanca can be considered as diverse in emotional appeal. It stirs the emotion too much based on the different moods found in the story. A prodigious sexuality mixed with mishaps and happiness can be considered diverse in some ways. The themes are love, sexual desire, happiness, sadness, loyalty and trust by the characters in the story.

The above mentioned themes have helped so much in the clearer interpretation of the story by the readers. The themes present made the vague picture clear. The different themes aides in striking the deep recesses of the human emotion by it emotional appeal which is interpretative literature.

Analysis:
The story did strike me most because of its diversity in the roles of the different characters found in the chapters. The first part was a funny scene in the story due to the realizations of Gaudencio of his abnormal sexuality. As the story unfolds through the different chapters, I realized that a lot of scenes were very striking for me because I can relate it with my real life situation as a human being and also a writer in my respect.

The last part of the story was very striking which moved me to tears due to the lines which seemed so touching for me. It can be very much realized from families all over the world whose family members have lost their ways and can make use of this story as a medium of patching up the loopholes in the basic unit of the society, the family.

AuThOr:

Dean Francis Alfar is a superb writer respect to his splendid literary works which are full of art, beauty and power of words. Dean Francis Alfar’s plays have been performed in venues across the country, while his articles and fiction have been published both locally and abroad, most recently in Strange Horizons, Rabid Transit and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror.

It’s in that Dean has won the prestigious Grand Prize for Novel, which is only handed out every four years, and he is incredibly grateful and humbled by the company of other novel winners. “I actually feel like one of my characters, living in a magic realist scenario. It’s surreal in a good way.” He wrote Salamanca as part of National Novel Writing Month, where authors all over the world would attempt to complete a novel in a month’s time. Dean wrote after work every day last November and the product was Salamanca, which he describes as revolving around “the love story of two people, beginning in Palawan in the 1950s and ending 50 years later in Manila.” Up next for the busy Dean will be more speculative fiction, including an anthology from Filipino authors, more comic books, keeping his blog hopping and perhaps even another novel. Now that is certainly something fantastic.

His writing awards include eight Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature—most recently the Grand Prize for Novel in 2005 for Salamanca (Ateneo Press, 2006)—and the Manila Critics’ Circle National Book Award for the acclaimed graphic novel Siglo: Freedom. He is an advocate of the literature of the fantastic, recently editing the first volume of Philippine Speculative Fiction (Kestrel, 2005), as well as a comic book creator (The Lost, ab ovo, and the grafiction anthology Siglo: Passion) and an inveterate blogger. Alfar is also an entrepreneur—running two businesses, the pet store Petty Pets and the integrated marketing company Kestrel IMC. He lives in Manila with his wife Nikki and their daughter Sage.

It goes beyond the eight Palanca Awards he’s won, or the fact that his wife Nikki won her own Palanca this year (third in Short Story for Children).