July 03, 2006

Rizal on Penguin Classics

How cool can this be? Jose Rizal has now joined the pantheon of Classical author thanks to the Penguin Group of Publishers.



Elda Rotor, a Fil-American working at Penguin Books has this to say:

Monday June 19th is the birthday of Jose Rizal and I'm pleased to announce that NOLI ME TANGERE makes its debut as the first work of Filipino literature to be published in Penguin Classics. Harold Augenbraum, executive director of the National Book Foundation, wrote this new translation with an introduction and notes.

The book is available at the end of June. It is the 60th anniversary year of Penguin Classics, and I have just started as the new Executive Editor for the imprint. As a Filipino-American, I'm excited about this new publication and wanted to share it with all of you. Look out for the book, check out www.us.penguinclassics.com. Watch out for events in New York and San Francisco this summer and fall.

8 comments:

Abaniko said...

This is good news, indeed. I hope more Filipino works will soon be noticed and published by leading international publishers.

yuri said...

i sued to play dona victorin when i was in hs during school plays,,, thse were the days

Nick Ballesteros said...

Uuuuyyy ang gandang news nito!

E. S. de Montemayor said...

abaniko: Ditto! sana sina angela manalang-gloria, nick joaquin and manuel arguelles international na din...hehehe

yuri: hahahaha... buti pa may plays kayo na noli... kami, hanggang memorize ng book and we had a hard time understanding Tagalog.

watson: now, rizal is no longer a local literary classic.

j said...

I'll check out the link, thanks :)

Anonymous said...

guys, the book is available at national bookstore at crossings quezon ave near aberdeen? hotel just a street away from panay ave.

P500+

Anonymous said...

excitement about the new noli translation has some suggestions about being filipino. this new translation became part of the penguin classics pantheon because the translator has close ties with the publisher? why could not the previous translator - a filipina (in the 1997 translation) not be part of penguin pantheon? the inclusion of the noli in the 'penguin classics' smacks of of something akin to colonialism or even racism. is this new translation really better? can filipino lit only be legitimized as classic and universal once it has gained approval as a penguin classic?

E. S. de Montemayor said...

hi anonymous,

much you would like to color the whole affair with racial overtones, it is not the case. i read guerrero's translation and locsin (the woman you were referring to) and both, although good, were lacking in some aspects. Guerrero is ok but not complete in its translation, locsin has a not-so-good flow of words. So far, this new translation is far better. It just so happened that the one who translated it was white (and Director of the National Book something in the US). Hope you compare all three translations before playing the racial game.

Penguin will surely help the Noli get out of obscurity that's for sure.

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/lecture_circuit/scene_at_the_noli_me_tangere_reading_41375.asp