Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
Gun Dealers' Daughter: A Novel: A Novel
by
Gina Apostol (Goodreads Author)
Soon after she leaves home for university in Manila, Soledad Soliman (Sol) transforms herself from bookish rich girl to communist rebel. But is her allegiance to the principles of Mao or to Jed, the comrade she’s in love with? Can she really be a part of the movement or is she just a “useful fool,” a spoiled brat playing at revolution?
Far from the Philippines, in a mansio...more
Far from the Philippines, in a mansio...more
Hardcover, 294 pages
Published
July 9th 2012
by W. W. Norton & Company
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
160)
By Part 3 (the final section) the plot picks up a lot of steam, and much of the rest of the book begins to resolve itself into some degree of sense or purpose. Until that point, the plot plodded along slowly, and lots of arcana fill up a lot of space. It's obviously a very thought-out, cerebral, rich book, and after reading the end, I am tempted to go back and piece together more of the beginning sections.
After meeting the author at Amherst, the fractured narration and the panoply of voices and...more
After meeting the author at Amherst, the fractured narration and the panoply of voices and...more
Gina Apostol's riveting novel, The Gun Dealers' Daughter, is a very different kind of thriller... one filled with fabulous words to look up... and enough political is personal than many of us would ever wish to see in a lifetime.
The book is narrated by Solidad Soliman (Sol), the only and very spoiled child of a couple who are in with Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos---in as in guns and ammo. The insulated life Sol enjoys begins to fold in on itself when she attends a semester at university in Manila...more
The book is narrated by Solidad Soliman (Sol), the only and very spoiled child of a couple who are in with Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos---in as in guns and ammo. The insulated life Sol enjoys begins to fold in on itself when she attends a semester at university in Manila...more
This is a vivid, sensual portrayal of the late Marcos years through the clouded eyes of an elite daughter of the revolution -- or, more accurately, daughter of the counter-insurgency whose political allegiance lies elsewhere, though in a confused, solipsistic way. I'm a little apprehensive about fictional accounts of the Marcos/martial law era because it's been mined to death for cultural capital outside the Philippines, but there's a richness to Gun Dealers' Daughter that exceeds less substanti...more
Not as compelling as Rosca's State of War but the shifts, confusion, indecision, and desires of the character keep you with her until the last page. I can easily imagine the privilege to choose to struggle or to just surrender in her gilded cage that Sol projects.
http://www.bookslut.com/features/2012...
Haven't read this yet, but the interview, link above, is great - talk of literature techniques and influences, political involvement, history, etc. Looking forward to reading her novel/s...
Haven't read this yet, but the interview, link above, is great - talk of literature techniques and influences, political involvement, history, etc. Looking forward to reading her novel/s...
I received this book from goodreads firstreads giveaways. After I first started this book, I had to put it aside, as I had no idea what was going on. My second attempt went a little better, once I made it past the initial confusing vagueness, I could follow the story, for the most part. Honestly, even after finishing I am not sure I know what happened, exactly. Perhaps that is the point, but I found it annoying. At times her specific vagueness: "he died in Lynn or Lexington" why not just say Mas...more
The ending was fitting but I don't think the book should have been more than 200 pages. A lot of the things she wrote were irrelevant, unreliable and mindless rants that didn't help move the story along.
A little hard to read at first, but then got easier to read towards the middle of the book and the plot unfolds.
Great historical input that makes me want to learn more about Philippine history.
Great historical input that makes me want to learn more about Philippine history.
Ah, there is something about Filipino Am literature I always love; perhaps it's the overt politicism. This novel reminds me a bit of Ninotschka Rosca's State of War.
I'm not sure how or why this book showed up on my doorstep, but I'm glad it did. This novel of fantastical wordplay and rich descriptions of the Philippines took me completely by surprise, carrying me through the history of a country I knew nothing about. I think we will be hearing a lot more about Gina Apostol in the future.
READ IF:
1) You're a fan of Isabel Allende. Although Apostol is writing about a completely different culture, their styles are surprisingly similar.
2) You're interested in th...more
READ IF:
1) You're a fan of Isabel Allende. Although Apostol is writing about a completely different culture, their styles are surprisingly similar.
2) You're interested in th...more
Hard to get into but then it did pick up & kept my attention to the extent that I wanted to find out the end of the story. But I wouldn't recommend this book. It was just ok.
Nah.
Apr 30, 2013
yukari
marked it as to-read
Apr 30, 2013
Mitch Cerda
marked it as to-read
Apr 24, 2013
Soma
marked it as to-read
Apr 16, 2013
Alma
marked it as to-read
Apr 04, 2013
Marty
marked it as to-read
Apr 03, 2013
Amanda Kruckenberg
marked it as to-read
Feb 08, 2013
Barry
marked it as to-read
Jan 17, 2013
Sarah
marked it as to-read
Jan 08, 2013
Kit Kwe
is currently reading it
Dec 30, 2012
Bernadette
marked it as to-read
Nov 27, 2012
Yvonne Kodl
marked it as to-read
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Just received in the mail...why? | 1 | 8 | Jul 20, 2012 04:50pm |
Gina Apostol was born in Manila and lives in New York. Her first novel, Bibliolepsy, won the 1998 Philippine National Book Award for Fiction. She just completed her third novel, The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata, a comic historical novel-in-footnotes about the Philippine war for independence against Spain and America in 1896.
More about Gina Apostol...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Wondering about your comment re: Fil Am lit and overt politicism. Is this not the case wit...more
Jul 25, 2012 12:25pm