Review of Wonks
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Review of Wonks
[Following is a volunteer review of "Wonks" by William Reese Hamilton.]
The Filipino word, “katatagan” or resiliency in English, is a wonderfully inherent trait that seemed to have been naturally embedded perhaps into every Filipino’s core or consciousness.
An admirably invariable trait that has kept these people from the Far East somewhat immune to all kinds of adversities or sufferings as they try to weave around the monstrosities (obviously unperturbed) posed by everyday dilemmas and such other adversarial “storms” of life.
This was perhaps an exemplary badge of equanimity that was also congenially at work from behind the young frame of mind of a boy named Johnny Oldfield who comes of age amidst the horrors of World War II in the book Wonks, a masterfully written tale told by William Reese Hamilton.
Fueled by the love from his mother Ruth; whose husband had left young Johnny when he was still a child (rumored to be hiding out in the mountain provinces of Benguet as an insurgent) the former grew up to become fiercely independent and accustomed early on to the ways of the world and therefore it was no mystery when he soon began befriending the other American POW’S who were held captive at the Japanese internment camp at Sto. Tomas, a local university campus in the Philippines.
These struggling band of misfits whom Oldfield would later become enamored with was led by the gentlemanly Harry Barnes, a writer of obscure origins, Southy Jack, an ex-professional boxer with the eagle-eye and the unassuming smile, the Colonel, the pipe loving-extraordinaire-tinkerer, and Polecat, the Filipino-American mestizo who eventually became his blood brother as a result of a freak boxing match.
Moreover, the young lad came to realize the stiflingly evoking madness from the prison camp, that bitter holocaust wherein alas, he had his first tangible vision of Hell: the prevalent flashes of barbaric hostility perpetually exhibited by the Japanese army against American POW’S, the deprived living conditions, the mindless monotony of prison life, and the surprising yet wonderful evocations of courage in bleak and unexpected moments while trying to find one’s way especially towards the road to freedom.
I was coolly mesmerized by the stark realism and the engaging dialogue between oddly contrasting characters in this book which is the stuff, I believe, to be the cream of good delicious fiction.
And never mind some of the negatively-opinionated remarks being floated around by other book critics, to me, this book has that soulfully Hemingwayish-Joaquin feel to it, and for those who do not know Nick Joaquin, he was that legendary Filipino writer who had made a mark as an icon in Philippine literature but what made him famous was his reinventions of the English language based on Filipinisms which are warped English phrases in general use among Filipinos.
Moreover, the author has grandly captured the essence of Filipino temperaments/culture and even the homegrown descriptions of local culinary cuisine down pat and I greatly appreciate how he had described in an earlier chapter about Filipinos being generally warm and hospitable people who would treat even a total stranger most especially foreigners like VIPs to the point of welcoming them appreciatively into their humble abodes.
This book may not have those non-stop and silly action scenarios but at least it is sober and well-tempered as compared to other war-fiction novellas wherein the action is meandering along and egregiously is worth more than the storyline which for me muddles the essence of a great read.
Although I found a dual speck of grammatical errors which means this book was not professionally edited I would still rate this book 4 out of four stars, a perfect rating since this book has fulfilled its promise of becoming a pleasurable reading experience for me.
With this in mind, I gladly recommend this book to everyone who wants to be grandiosely entertained from start to finish.
And speaking of endings, I think there is one takeaway (mentioned in the last chapter) a sequel perhaps that is possibly brewing in the works as the grim-faced Harry Barnes look out of the void as if rather looking for a long lost specter out there beyond the wild blue yonder as this story fades to black.
******
Wonks
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Filipino word, “katatagan” or resiliency in English, is a wonderfully inherent trait that seemed to have been naturally embedded perhaps into every Filipino’s core or consciousness.
An admirably invariable trait that has kept these people from the Far East somewhat immune to all kinds of adversities or sufferings as they try to weave around the monstrosities (obviously unperturbed) posed by everyday dilemmas and such other adversarial “storms” of life.
This was perhaps an exemplary badge of equanimity that was also congenially at work from behind the young frame of mind of a boy named Johnny Oldfield who comes of age amidst the horrors of World War II in the book Wonks, a masterfully written tale told by William Reese Hamilton.
Fueled by the love from his mother Ruth; whose husband had left young Johnny when he was still a child (rumored to be hiding out in the mountain provinces of Benguet as an insurgent) the former grew up to become fiercely independent and accustomed early on to the ways of the world and therefore it was no mystery when he soon began befriending the other American POW’S who were held captive at the Japanese internment camp at Sto. Tomas, a local university campus in the Philippines.
These struggling band of misfits whom Oldfield would later become enamored with was led by the gentlemanly Harry Barnes, a writer of obscure origins, Southy Jack, an ex-professional boxer with the eagle-eye and the unassuming smile, the Colonel, the pipe loving-extraordinaire-tinkerer, and Polecat, the Filipino-American mestizo who eventually became his blood brother as a result of a freak boxing match.
Moreover, the young lad came to realize the stiflingly evoking madness from the prison camp, that bitter holocaust wherein alas, he had his first tangible vision of Hell: the prevalent flashes of barbaric hostility perpetually exhibited by the Japanese army against American POW’S, the deprived living conditions, the mindless monotony of prison life, and the surprising yet wonderful evocations of courage in bleak and unexpected moments while trying to find one’s way especially towards the road to freedom.
I was coolly mesmerized by the stark realism and the engaging dialogue between oddly contrasting characters in this book which is the stuff, I believe, to be the cream of good delicious fiction.
And never mind some of the negatively-opinionated remarks being floated around by other book critics, to me, this book has that soulfully Hemingwayish-Joaquin feel to it, and for those who do not know Nick Joaquin, he was that legendary Filipino writer who had made a mark as an icon in Philippine literature but what made him famous was his reinventions of the English language based on Filipinisms which are warped English phrases in general use among Filipinos.
Moreover, the author has grandly captured the essence of Filipino temperaments/culture and even the homegrown descriptions of local culinary cuisine down pat and I greatly appreciate how he had described in an earlier chapter about Filipinos being generally warm and hospitable people who would treat even a total stranger most especially foreigners like VIPs to the point of welcoming them appreciatively into their humble abodes.
This book may not have those non-stop and silly action scenarios but at least it is sober and well-tempered as compared to other war-fiction novellas wherein the action is meandering along and egregiously is worth more than the storyline which for me muddles the essence of a great read.
Although I found a dual speck of grammatical errors which means this book was not professionally edited I would still rate this book 4 out of four stars, a perfect rating since this book has fulfilled its promise of becoming a pleasurable reading experience for me.
With this in mind, I gladly recommend this book to everyone who wants to be grandiosely entertained from start to finish.
And speaking of endings, I think there is one takeaway (mentioned in the last chapter) a sequel perhaps that is possibly brewing in the works as the grim-faced Harry Barnes look out of the void as if rather looking for a long lost specter out there beyond the wild blue yonder as this story fades to black.
******
Wonks
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks by Morton E Tavel, MD
