Quotables from Leoncio Deriada's Rabid

-"An M.A., like marriage could wait."

-"I have decided that the dried fish should not be fried but cooked directly over the embers under the pot of rice." Yum, yum... Oyy, ang mga manggaranon indi ka relate. :)

-"The doctors in Mandur(r)iao were correct in advising Manong Bading and Remedios to take the girl home. It was cheaper to die there." So true...

The story "Rabid" can be found in Dr. Deriada's much-praised "Week of the Whales and Other Stories" collection. It brings to mind the literary show of force of William Carlos Williams' aptly titled "A Show of Force", another literary medical story. The "swelling dog scratch" after four months after it has happened is a bit unbelievable but nevertheless, Ilonggo culture is embedded in this text and very integral so that it truly is an Ilonggo story. The arogante attitude of the unnamed central character reminds me so much of dear old Sir Leo's own ere. and it is the same with some of the other male characters in the other stories. Especially the farmers turned teachers who, in returning to their "home" villages, acquire a certain arrogance, a swagger if you will.

Read "The Week of the Whales and Other Stories". I'm only halfway through it but its revealing so much of how the man, we in the recent generation of writers call the Father of Modern Western Visayas Literature, is. He defintely has a peculiar writing style, a particular English, I couldn't quite put a finger on yet. I am happy to have found my copy in New Day Publishers' booth during the last Manila International Book Fair. And the best part, it was only for 55 pesos. ;) I bought Nightmares, also by Deriada, too. I'm sure after both books and some of his published poems, I can finally have a clearer picture of the much-vaunted Deriada short story and hopefully some of his technique would be routed in my writing brain.