The Descartes Highlands

by Eric Gamalinda

One of the Philippine Daily Inquirer 's Top 10 Books of 2014

A NewPages Book Stand Editor's Pick

"Darkly spellbinding...With a keen eye for splendor amid the grotesque, Gamalinda writes with a poet's heart and a philosopher's mind, while enthralling readers with emotional, gritty storytelling."
-- Booklist

"A mesmerizing story full of mystery...intricate...beautiful writing."
-- Publishers Weekly

"It's Gamalinda's best and most accessible novel yet, deserving to be read by as many people as possible."
-- Philippine Daily Inquirer

"It felt so easy to get swept up in this novel. The language is beautiful....a beautifully written book."
-- NewPages

"The wait for Gamalinda's first US based publication was well worth [it]...An indispensable, powerful portrayal of broken families trapped in the centripetal forces of transnational capital and postcolonial politics."
-- Asian American Literature Fans

"Gamalinda...does indeed write fearlessly...in rich, unflinching prose. This storytelling stayed with me...I was compelled to keep reading by the strength of the writing (it's not for nothing that Gamalinda is the recipient of the Philippine National Book Award, a Palanca Memorial Award, and a Philippine Centennial Prize)."
-- Galatea Ressurects #24

"I recommend this book to those with large, giving hearts, who can afford to spend the emotional capital demanded here."
-- Basso Profundo

" The Descartes Highlands is a psychologically taut drama that unravels right in front of you...I guarantee that you will be richly rewarded."
-- Zachary Mule

"Behind Eric Gamalinda's jagged, ice-pick prose is an urgent need to connect and to understand. Are we more than the sum of our histories? What is this accident of being? Why is there anything at all? Written at the edge of a sinkhole and determined to resist its pull, The Descartes Highlands is about nothing less than the whole bewildering dream that is human consciousness."
-- David Hollander , author of L.I.E.

"No one writes like Eric Gamalinda, though we wish we all could. The Descartes Highlands , an amazing work of brutal candor girded by a philosopher's calm, entwines our present despair with the horrific pasts we will not escape. One of the most dazzling novelists writing in America today, Eric Gamalinda has an almost classical Greek faith in the redemptive power of art. This novel delivers a commitment to beauty as unflinching as the bleak truths it tells--about globalization, about colonialism, about our human madness--offering in turn what seems our only, paradoxical the pained telling of our story--a gorgeous and bitter feast."
-- Gina Apostol , author of Gun Dealers' Daughter

Two men, each unaware of the other, share a common family they were sold for adoption by their American father shortly after their births in the Philippines. Three alternating stories interweave the experiences of father Andrew Breszky and the two sons who try to connect and piece together the puzzle of their reckless, impulsive father. One lives in New York and the other grows up in the south of France, later traveling all over Asia as a documentary filmmaker. Both will discover that their relationships somehow echo that of the young man whose history eludes them.

Celebrated Filipino writer Eric Gamalinda's international debut novel is a contemporary work of ideas that combines mystery, film noir, and existential philosophy. Highly intricate and written in a style reminiscent of the maverick narrative techniques of such filmmakers as Andrei Tarkovsky and Béla Tarr, and with some of the philosophical underpinnings of Michel Houellebecq or Javier Marías. Named after the region of the moon where Apollo 16 landed in the same year these men were born, The Descartes Highlands demonstrates that for lives marked by unrelieved loneliness, the only hope lies in the redemptive power of love.

Genres: Fiction

300 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2014

About the author

Born and raised in Manila, Eric Gamalinda first published in the Philippines four novels: Planet Waves, Confessions of a Volcano, Empire of Memory, and My Sad Republic; a short story collection, Peripheral Vision; and a collection of poems, Lyrics from a Dead Language. All were written and published in the last decade of the twentieth century to literary acclaim and recognized with National Book Awards and the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards many times over, on top of his nonfiction and plays. His fifth novel, The Descartes Highlands, was shortlisted for the Man Asian Prize. His other US publications include the poetry collections Zero Gravity, winner of the Asian American Literary Prize, and Amigo Warfare; and a short story collection, People are Strange.

Reviews

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a prefatory note: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is the type of book that will be taught in literature courses in years to come. Whatever you think that implies, you’re probably correct. It is a book filled with complicated themes, emotions, and relationships, contradictions and contrasts and juxtapositions – just like real life. The situations described are, at once, beautiful and messy. Often times the prose is brilliantly written and profound, other times more subtle, but requiring contemplation most all of the time. In short, this is a book that requires the reader to pay attention and think. It can be challenging. The plot structure alone requires some deft footwork, as it juggles the interconnected yet almost entirely separate lives of a man and two sons (born of different women) he sold for adoption upon their birth in early 1970’s Philippines. You want complicated? How about abortion, revolution, torture, Danish cinema, Cotard’s syndrome, abandonment, belonging, and search for one’s identity. These are a few of the concepts the author thoughtfully explores. Most of the characters are not particularly likable or, at the very least, their motives not easy to discern and their decisions not always logical. There are frequent and typically graphic sex scenes. And, as in life, not everything is buttoned up nicely just because you reach a milestone. In this case, by end of the book, there are still unanswered questions about some of the characters. Yet, I did not feel the journey was incomplete. It’s more like the driver with whom I had shared a ride was dropping me off near my destination – maybe not at the doorstep, but close enough so that I can get there if that’s still what I want. Then again, I might choose to go somewhere else entirely. Either way, I was treated to a thought-provoking and memorable expedition.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I forced myself to finish this book. Eric Gamalinda pushed his story to extremes employing a jagged narrative and an attempt at dreamlike imagery that did not work. Instead of feeling like a deeply complex novel, it felt contrived and belabored. The existential philosophical thoughts espoused in its preliminary PR were lost within Gamalinda’s overworked meanderings. The title’s reference was far-fetched and overly emphasized. Like the rest of the novel it was a parade of excess.

So why did I give a three star rating for what sounds like a 1 or 2 star review? There is something in the author’s writing that speaks of knowledge, art and skill. He is overreaching with an apt hand. Therefore, I think there is reason to look at Gamalinda’s earlier novels, which were published in his native language, before making a final assessment about his work.

[Jamie Crosby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am sad to say I didn't make it through this book. The first chapter read rather choppy, that's the best way to describe it. It didn't flow well. The second and third chapter, got be extremely interested in the story and what was going to happen. But once I got to the four chapter I couldn't finish it. The graphic scenes and foul language was to much for me.
I am not even going to quote a piece for you to see yourself, I felt that uncomfortable

I received this book from Edelweiss for my review

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The narrative of this book jumps around in time from a father's story to the son's story, but I never felt confident in which timeline or geographic location I was in.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know.

Well-written, for sure ... couldn't put it down; needed to finish it ...

A cacophony of images ... stories ... all connected by sorrow, death, shreds of hope that never ever seem to pan out ... searching, never finding; unable to give or to receive love ... a lot of fucking and sucking ... An empty eroticism ... lost souls looking for the impossible ... WSOWOB - we speak only with our bodies ... and little toils of love ... held in place by gravitational forces ... stuck, if you will ...

I don't know if this is a good book or not ... a melange of suffering ... ending with the strangest of affirmations (nothing more said) ... but an affirmation that seems more despairing, a shrug of the shoulders, than of anything of value ... sort of a, "So What!"

Is life a strange a compilation of weird connections?

Politically, Gamalinda knows and reveals the horrors of American Capitalism - a power unto itself, corrupting everyone and everything it touches ... preferring dictators to democracy.

I read the book quickly ... like a week ... every time I put it down, I wanted to pick it up again, to see if there would be any "resolution" to the sorrow ... does that reveal my own longing for resolution?

I suppose it does ... the happy ending, things getting worked out ... certainly no "happily ever after" sort of thing, but at least something more than the endless, blind, searching for life.

Oh well ... I find myself writing in a loop here, like the book, maybe?

One enters into the mess, spends time in it, and then emerges, only to enter another mess.

[Yza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gamalinda is great with the non-linear timeline, but not as great with the multiple POVs. Though I liked the storytelling and his way with words, this is not a story I will want to read again. I was captivated and repulsed and confused and overwhelmed all at the same time. I struggled, but I also couldn't stop reading. It is easy to relate to a the Philippines he describes in this book. In short, I liked this book for all the feelings it made me feel. And despite the bleakness of the story/ies, it ends with hope.

"Seek those who are not afraid to be joyful and full of love. They are so few, but they will give you strength. Because only those who truly love us can forgive our necessary betrayals."

[Marge Dugaduga]

For a book with different vignettes and voices, only the author’s could be heard. Quite political, which is not usually my go to genre, but made for a great book club discussion (colonialism, abortion, cautious treading around Martial Law).

Also, I could have lived the rest of my life having not read “the dog scene” but here we are, and so with that, I will not be rushing to pick this book up again.

PS: Pam, might still try and read another book of his but allow me 15 palate cleansers first 😅

[Honey Mariel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really wanted to like this story. It just didnt hit the spot for me. This is a story of 3 lost souls. Mathieu was the most interesting of the bunch. The start was confusing. The middle had promise. But the story itself felt directionless. And there wasnt much closure at the end. Could do with less graphic scenes and less sexual exploits too. I feel it doesnt really add much substance to the story.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three narrators, varied settings, including the Philippines, mystery, violence, trauma, and love ... The story was difficult to read, and somewhat difficult to follow, and I almost threw in the towel several times but Gamalinda's proficiency with language and the tantalizing plot threads he wove through the story kept me reading until the end.

[Trisha Pehrson · Rating 2 out of 5]

eh. the first 1/4 read like beautiful poetry. then it was just too much sex and weirdness. don't bother.

[Steven W · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a dark sad book. It did have a lot to say about the connection between the US and the Philippines but it was tough to finish.

[Isabel Isabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Luke Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since finishing "The Descartes Highlands" I have been trying to feel qualified to review it. Multiple parallel threads, set in two time periods, laden with high choler and sometimes mysterious motivations – these are the initial challenges of this book.

Mr. Gamalinda tells the story of two young men, born to two Philippine women but fathered by one American man, who pursue answers to their mysterious pasts through different channels. One was adopted by married French filmmakers, the other by a woman who operated an abortion clinic near New York. The uncertainty of their origins, and their resulting mistrust of everyone around them, puts them at odds with their lives. The energy generated by this tension drives the narrative forward.

Well – it partly drives the narrative, because the most abundant element here is rage. The anger comes through so strongly and unremittingly that I think it can only be authorial. He directs it at American imperialism in the Vietnam War era, state corruption and oppression under Marcos, and the hopelessness still rampant in Manila. He also trains his anger at the selfish modern approach to love.

The story builds in an organic fashion, and for me, keeps the reader at a distance from the hints that would most clearly reveal plot and thematic intent. Mr. Gamalinda has produced a plaintive novel, dense with emotion and the high stakes of loving someone, in which victims abound and solutions come at staggering cost. This book focuses the reader on some demanding, timeless issues, and challenges her to bring high energy to a story crying for resolutions. I recommend this book to those with large, giving hearts, who can afford to spend the emotional capital demanded here.

http://bassoprofundo1.blogspot.com/20...

[Jerome Baladad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've just finished reading this minutes ago. I find it very interesting & fascinating, such that I took my copy with me to & fro my trips in the many neighborhoods of NYC. For once, Philippine-culture bashing has been seemingly well-deserved & fair, given some misgivings I've got about it. The country's becoming economically more strong solidly --- so it does not matter much if a writer tends to highlight what's negative about the country. Also, that country's complex as it is, and its culture & history need to be written about more & more by writers from all over the world -- it's overflowing with raw materials to create fiction & non-fiction works. Among the many subplots of this fiction work, I just have a very minor problem with the description on one of the female characters who was one of the moms of the 2 brothers (was she Anna? I can't recall now). I understand she's supposed to have worked as an entertainer in Japan, but I am aware our numerous Japayuki from the Philippines (there were Japayuki who were actually from Japan &/or Korea, & who were in the Philippines during World War II & were also engaged in the entertainment business) went in droves to Japan during the late 80's---I may be mistaken about this, but I personally know a number of people who were engaged in the business & they went to Japan at the start of the 1980s. There were lots of them, at least from the network of people I have back in the Philippines then....And in this book, I figured out that setting when the father of the 2 brothers was still in the Philippines took place, most probably, in the late 1960s to early 1970s (on or before Martial Law was declared in the archipelago). So, there's some disconnect here. But, oh, well, this does not matter much. The book, given its narrative & plots, can stand on its own as among the best fiction works I've read to-date.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished copy from publisher through LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.

This dark, gritty narrative is scattered over time, place, and viewpoint but at it's heart is the terrible underworld of the Philippines in the early 1970s. This is a "you will love it or hate it" kind of book.

Two men, one raised in the US and one raised in France, are half brothers who were sold as infants by their draft-dodging American father in Manilla. Their mothers were Filipinas. As adults, they set out separately to find some answers to the riddles of their pasts and possibly the meaning of life. The story is told in pieces alternating between the two sons and the father. It's demands careful reading in order to tell which is which.

Warning: The book is filled with graphic descriptions of sex, torture, and an abortion. F-Bombs abound. There is also love of various kinds, a mish-mash of philosophy and religion, politics, friendship, betrayal, and strange characters. Did I mention drugs? That too.

I hesitate to say I liked it. When I finished it I shook my head and asked myself "WTF did I just read?" Whatever it is, I'm not sorry I read it, I'll re-read passages and it will stay with me.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received The Descartes Highlands as part of a Goodreads giveaway.

In the turbulent Philippines of the 1970s, two baby boys were given up for adoption by their American father. One, Jordan, grows up in America with a single mother, while Mathieu is raised by French filmmakers. Their respective journeys to discover their pasts are interspersed with contemporary accounts by their father, Andrew, who was thrown into prison under the Marcos regime.

This is a gritty, dark, opposite-of-a-feel-good novel. The circumstances of each man's life--the physical and emotional pain they suffered--doesn't make for a happy read. However, life isn't always happy, and I feel like you need the darkness of stories like these to complement lighter fare. That said, while it's powerful in its pessimism, the narrative style wasn't my favorite, very choppy and disjointed. While I can understand it on an artistic level, it messed with the flow of the story for me.

[Lisa Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book from the Early Reviewers program at Library Thing. I hardly know how to review it. It was helpful to read another review that there are three narrators in this book and it switches between them from chapter to chapter with little to no indication that it's doing so. Once you know that going in, the book is a lot easier. It's not a pretty book -- sexual and violent, and yet, that's probably true to the history (and maybe even current state) of the Phillipines, at least in part. So you wouldn't want an author to sugarcoat the reality of that part of the world. Still, this story about an American man who sold his two babies to Westerners - and then the two boys' lives - is a difficult read. For one thing, there isn't a likeable character among them, or one I could relate to in any way. Call me lucky. Still, the writing indicates a very talented author, even though the content and story are distasteful in many ways.

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set on the eve of Marcos’s declaration of Marshall law in the Philippines. On April 21, 1972, Apollo 16 landed on the moon - on a spot they would name the Descartes Highlands. On the same day, two half brothers, half-American boys are born on a remote island in the Philippines and are immediately sold for adoption to different families.

This story follows their separate journeys as they are inexplicably pulled to each other and where it all began. Such a sad and intricate telling of my country’s history and dark underworlds - under Marshall law, under Marcos, under American influence.

The moon doesn’t have an atmosphere so no winds blow. On its surface, you can still see the tracks and footprints the Apollo 16 crew left behind as it landed. They mark that date forever.

[Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

This American dude sleeps around a lot in the Philippines and ends up selling his two infant sons to an illegal adoption ring. Book is told in three alternating perspectives (the father and the two sons), but somehow they all sound exactly the same: sad, horny asshole cannot make mature or rational decisions. Like, bonus points for 2/3 being half Filipino? And for having the Philippines and the relationship between the US and Southeast Asia be prominent aspects of the background? And there were a few really beautifully-written passages. (I'm actually a big fan of the opening few pages-- great beginning!) But everything else was just so awful that I can't.

[Larry Hott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished Descartes Highlands. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, although I had to stop and think about where I was going and what I was feeling many times along the way. I particularly liked that the narrative was not straightforward or predictable, nor were the characters. I don’t think there was a cliche in the book. It's a beautifully written, powerful and very original book. It will also give you insight into the Philippines during Marcos' rise to power, something I knew very little about.

[Pamela]

Taking my own advice after the last book I read and stopping now. Sure, I only read 30 pages but I didn't like what was there. Reading a few other reviews makes me think that it's not going to be a book I'd enjoy in any way. I don't need another book focused on men and sex thank you. (women and sex maybe, haha!) The writing was way too choppy. I like the idea of the themes in the book, but don't want to wade through so much muck to get there.
No rating. Doesn't seem fair with only 30 pages read.

[Desiree Zamorano · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the first page the author hooked me.
"My letters were addressed like this:
Mr. Brezsky
The Descartes Highlands
The Moon"
With a back drop of global and international events, Eric Gamalinda explores the depths of isolation and the attempts to connect. Alternating storylines between three different characters, we wonder, will they intersect? The tension between turning the page and savoring every sentence is constant. Terrific. A classic.

[Karen Soanes]

It's not a good sign when the reading strategy is one chapter at a time and inbetween each chapter is reading another more interesting book. It took me a long time to figure out what was going on and when I did I really didn't care all that much. All I can say is I finished it. I picked it up as part of the Book Riot's Read Harder challenge- this falls under the category of an Independent Publisher.

[Jmolentin]

I picked this up at the library because I heard an interview with the author on a local radio show. He said he lived in SD for a while as a child. It has nice big print, so I brought it on a trip to NJ as an easy read on the plane. Pretty boring and repetitive, hard to keep the characters straight. Would not recommend it.

[Shelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry - I could not finish reading this book. I made it through a few chapters but I found the writing choppy and disjointed. Plus the graphic sexual episodes added nothing to the story line.

[Davec · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know what I want in a book? Clear concise and if ever the point needs to go on a zig zag part, at the very least some point to it. This book is all fluff.

[Phyllis · Rating 2 out of 5]

To dark for me. And confusing...difficult to keep up with the changing stories and characters.

[Holly Ziegler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Quite a story! The author weaves the details and characters and imagery together like a cloth of the finest quality. Remarkable writing for such a young and up and coming writer!