I think more Filipinos should actually read this, just to sort of see how far we've come and how little we haven't. (I wish more Filipinos would read, PERIOD, but that's another story) It's fun just to read the kinds of day-in-the-life passages of late 19th century Manila, but it's also great to see the kind of internal debate that was going on with Rizal in how best to approach fighting for the freedom of Filipinos. Rizal is a hero for very good reason, and reading this gives you a sense of the courage and utter fears he had during this pivotal era of Philippine history.