Bloghopping Find

Over at The Zeppelin's Mezzanine (or his Multiply, The Flying Teapot) I came upon this blogpost, Insult to Injury: the Death of Pinoy Lit. Strongly worded post, and thought-provoking, borne of Sir Butch Dalisay's past two columns mentioned here and here. Some quotes:

"The focus on language is a killer. This is, I think, a sickness that almost every Pinoy writer, with the possible exception of Bob Ong and Pol Medina Jr., is infected with."

"There's a surprisingly vivid lack of content in Pinoy writing, so much so that it actually kinda looks like a gigantic bruise pulsating in the midst of the torso that is Pinoy literature."

"I think the biggest thing people have forgotten about literature - both readers and writers alike - is the fact that the very first function of any media is to entertain, because once you have captured your audience's fancy, you can begin to draw him into the meatier parts of your tale. Otherwise, your story is a failure. It is made of win and awesome, but a failure nonetheless."

"Writers often forget the beneficial properties a good marketing edge can do for their works. And I'm not just talking locally."

Head on over and spend some time reading the post. Like I said, it's very thought-provoking. I'm also glad that despite the post's harsh tone (especially against Sir Butch), nothing further came of it, and I attribute that to the graciousness and openness of the author of Soledad's Sister.