Set against the backdrop of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's brilliant novel weaves myth and legen... read full description
reviews
Dec 19, 2010
Palh
rated it: 
Booklist, Sept 1, 1994 v91 n1 p22(1)
When the Rainbow Goddess Wept. (book reviews) Kathleen Hughes.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 1994 American Library Association
Yvonne Macairag is a nine-year-old living in the Philippines during World War II. She plays contentedly with her cousin, Esperanza, and spends quiet evenings on the veranda with her grandfather. Her family life is idyllic. All of this is lost when the Japanese invade the Philippines. Yvonne flees to the jung More...
When the Rainbow Goddess Wept. (book reviews) Kathleen Hughes.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 1994 American Library Association
Yvonne Macairag is a nine-year-old living in the Philippines during World War II. She plays contentedly with her cousin, Esperanza, and spends quiet evenings on the veranda with her grandfather. Her family life is idyllic. All of this is lost when the Japanese invade the Philippines. Yvonne flees to the jung More...
Feb 08, 2011
Brian
rated it: 
An entertaining read, Brainard's novel offers an engaging story that revolves around the Filipino guerilla movement during the Japanese occupation of the islands in WWII. "Entertaining," is about as far as I think I will go to describe it, though. Perhaps I've had my fill of Bildungsroman lately, but the coming-of-age device seems contrived and too simplistic. Even worse is the narrative's attempted integration of traditional spirituality. This was no Famished Road (whose magical reali
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Jan 07, 2011
Osho
rated it: 
Narrated by Yvonne, a Filipina girl, this novel blends local legends and the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, heightening their parallels (and those of the legends and the plot) in a slightly folkloric, slightly magical realistic blend. I enjoyed the narrator's voice and found the story easy to follow and poignant. Read with Davenport's Song of the Exile, Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, and Kim's Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood for a broader fictional representation of the effects of J
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Feb 08, 2008
Rona
rated it: 
This isn't the most literary or mind-blowing book I've read, but the author has succeeded at painting a realistic yet poignant picture of the Philippines during the WWII occupation by the Japanese that made me better understand why my relatives who lived through the war may behave the way they do, even now, in this country. By using the character of Yvonne, a pre-adolescent girl who grows to young womanhood during the course of the book, as her protagonist, Manguerra-Brainerd is able to give us
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Feb 08, 2011
Aishe
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This book has changed my life, it really has. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about life in the Philippines during the second world war. It lent me a lens with which to understand my own family history.
Nov 02, 2008
Arthur
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The story takes place in words of a young girl next to her cousin and best friend. Together they survive through the wars and fighting and bombing. Yvonne comes at the beginning of the age, while under the supervision of Laydan, the oldest woman who they knew and understood, crimson to the understanding of life. This story has a complete turn of events the exchange of experiences and stories about epics and the ongoing war.
Aug 06, 2007
Jean
rated it:
Quick read. I thought this book would focus more on Filipino folklore but as I read on I found out that this book was more of a narrative of a family joining the guerillas against the Japanese during World War II. I liked Holthe's "When the Elephants Dance" more for this reason. I don't think the author was as talented in presenting Filipino folklore in such colorful language as Holthe did. Overall, a little disappointed.
Sep 16, 2011
Mairi
rated it:
The narrator is a child during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during WWII. She finds comfort in epic stories, particularly those of warrior women, to deal with the horrors around her. It was simply told, more YA-leaning than I had expected but still interesting. I'm pretty sure that my reading of this book suffered for having read it right after Broken Verses.
Feb 02, 2011
Parnee
rated it:
Powerful fictional story from a 10 year old Filipina's perspective during WWII Japanese occupation of the Philippines. With traumatic events surrounding her, Young Yvonne comforts herself with empowering Filipino mythological stories told to her by her housemaid.
Sep 15, 2008
Ryan
rated it:
Great fictionalized account of a family in the Phillipines during the japanese invasion of WWII.
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