Dear Family,
I am now working on the Second Edition of Rizal According to Retana. It will be around 300 pages, including the photoraphs of the original bio.
This has been a long time coming. I was offered a contract to publish it in 2006 but it came to naught. A 3-year contract was signed but after a little back-and-forth on the first chapter, the communications with the publisher dried up. I realized it would be difficult to materialize anyway, because a Spanish historian was assigned to the project to review my ms. and he was a nitpicker -- totally understandable, that he would want the book to be acceptable according to historians' standards. Totally understandable, that the publisher would want the book to conform with its own agenda. Their name would be on it, their money behind it.
Trouble is, the book is for Filipinos -- ordinary, intelligent Filipinos who want to be able to read and understand the Retana biography, which is _absolutely necessary_ to configure the most historically accurate image of Rizal possible. Photographs are not enough. Second-hand accounts are not enough. Even the loving reminiscences of direct family are not enough.
So it is just as well that the mainstream path ended in an impasse. I have to put it out in the world using my own best judgment, i.e., simply to make the biography and its historical context understandable and _alive_ for us today.
I ask my future readers for patience and promise that it will be a GREAT READ. I have had a wonderful time working on it in the previous stages and I enjoy correcting and checking it now. It is a kind of magical dreamtime, to step into the past, for me. I know it is for all of us. The manna is there, and it wants us to taste of it again. Help us regain our promised land, which is inside us above all.
The PDF will be posted _free of charge_ in Vasco Caini's website. Those who want a paper copy will be able to buy it from www.lulu.com.
It is important to get the annotated translation out there, as a resource for Rizal students, as a gift for all Filipinos. Not only for those who "can afford". Not only for the chosen few.
Un abrazo muy grande,
Isabel de Ilocos
3 comments:
Hello Isabel,
today I have enjoyed reading "Sampaguitas en la cordillera" partially, I am enjoying it very much. It is noticed that it is written from the heart.
I wanted to make you a question, "El regreso de Rizal" has been published, could you provide me the ISBN of the book? I might be interested. I read some paragrahps at kaibigan kastila, and it looks very interesting and enjoyable reading.
A good friend mentioned your work to me and I'd love to read it soon.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge to present-day Filipinos.
Best regards!
Hello, dear Anonymous,
My goodness, only now have I seen your comment. Thank you for this feedback.
"El regreso de Rizal" -- do you mean "La visita de Rizal" (Dumalaw Si Rizal), the short story? It has been published in English in Manila though I don't have the details. If you are interested in downloading it, it's available in English and Spanish in Vasco Caini's website: www.xeniaeditrice.it
Un abrazo,
Isabel
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