Contrary to popular belief, the first Filipino novel is not Rizal's Noli me tangere (Berlin, 1887) but the now forgotten Ninay (Madrid, 1885) by Pedro Paterno.
In my decades of collecting rare Filipiniana Ninay has always eluded me and I have always wanted a copy as a historical curiosity. The novel is not to my liking, and I imagine that after reading it, Rizal didn't waste time criticizing it. Instead, Rizal decided to show Paterno what a novel is all about and wrote the Noli. One could ...
Published on August 13, 2022 04:46