Padre Faura St.

Finally made it into Solidaridad Bookshop along Padre Street in Ermita. And it's an interesting walk really, once you get off along Taft Ave. and you slip into it--it gets interesting. The Supreme Court is there, UP Manila, Dept. of Justice (had the sudden urge to check if i could spot Sec. Lila Delima)--all bunched up in this narrow street. Food stalls and carts can be seen along the pavement, even your usual pirated DVDs--but on Faura, it was my first time to see books! I mean books laid on a tarp sold like dried fish in the market--and mind you the titles aren't your low brow drudgery, the titles I saw were Foucault, Kant, Heidegger etc. in almost brand new condition (this made me smile) Come to think of it I should've bought Foucault's History of Sexuality Vol. 1 for Php 350. Shet. --I'm starting to regret it *stop *stop *stop --I held on to my bills for the store I was looking for so I didn't let go that easy--

And along this road, F. Sionil Jose's book shop is something of an oddity--a small two-storey building done in the old style with an arched trellis on the side. What can I say, I fell in love with it instantly.
Even though it's a small store, the titles are pretty good--many of them are not readily available on the big chain bookstores especially the Filipiniana section which I think is one of its great strengths. There are books on Philosophy, Religion etc., and a wall dedicated to East Asian titles. I got into a book buying frenzy in a snap--only to be dampened by the realization that I have to stretch my ATM amo until Valentine's Day Hahaha!

But what I really came there for was Sir José's books.

To be honest I haven't read any of his works though readily available in National Bookstore. And from the accounts of friends and colleagues--how he's translated into more than a dozen languages, how he should win the Nobel Prize...

I got curious.

So, I wanted to read his masterpiece "The Rosales Saga" a cycle of 5 novels. What can I say, I have a soft spot for thick novels--but on inspection they are rather slim volumes (these are the Philippine edition)--then...then! I saw the handsome Modern Library Edition compiled into 3 paperbacks! (Dusk/Don Vicente/The Samsons) --sadly I couldn't buy the complete set so I bought the middle one: Don Vicente which contains, "Trees" and "My Brother My Executioner". I wanted to peruse each shelf more thoroughly but unfortunately I arrived late and they close at 6pm.

I read it along the jeep back to Recto.

*By the way
I love how most Jeeps in Manila are well lit inside. I don't know if it's true everywhere but so far ALL the jeeps I've been in have ample lighting to make reading possible especially as dusk approaches. Simple Joys

As I walked into the train station I realized that I wanted to read it more so I chilled at the Isetan foodcourt and curled up in a corner bench there.

--being alone with books ain't so bad