smaller and smaller circles by fh batacan

indeed, the philippine literature has come a long way from being just about life in the province and love in the time of war. and it has been strongly affirmed by the arrival of this novella which is, interestingly enough, also by a female writer. people have learned to broaden their horizons by accepting the fact that even females can write well.

first of all, the thing that impresses me most about this book is the fact that it is the first of its kind. female-authored, mystery novella set in places i am considerably familiar with. it fulfilled the missions of good story: to entertain and, sometimes, to make one think. but i've read a lot of mystery novels that involved serial killers and a roadmap to be drawn by the investigator. it was nothing new to me. i think it was just like those of sheldon's, and other authors, but with more interesting characters and more familiar places. but just because i compared it to the murder stories i've read before doesn't mean i think it belongs in the wastebasket. i think it's good:) i particularly like the parts where the author told the stories of the mothers, how they were struggling with life, and how they learned about the deaths of their respective sons. it was something we filipinos arguably living in a matriarchal society can identify with. i also like the characters. they were noteworthy, indeed. they're very interesting. men probably want to be like father gus and women probably want to be like joanna bonifacio. they are such extraordinary human beings. how can i forget them. also, i think it's sort of political. it exposed what's rotten in our country: the way of thinking. even if there are already a lot of advancements in our country, and gay people are slowly becoming accepted, there is still a certain part of the society that grapples with backwardness. and that certain part is the government. okay, maybe not the entire government, but a branch of it. isn't it any wonder why those scientists the government rejected before are gaining fame and money overseas? on a different note, i also wondered why people in the novel looked like they didn't exert a great deal of effort in order to save the last victim. with all the clues they had at the time, i think it would have been very possible to salvage that poor kid. so there. interesting story, at par with some of the novels involving murder that i've read.