Set in Guam. Reviewed on 2019/02: https://www.instagram.com/p/Btl1d0pg8L6/
When I was growing up in Puerto Rico, I was intrigued by #guam . Happy to realize there was another #usterritory an unincorporated island with the same #identityissues and hellish weather. They just happened to be in another Ocean. It’s always tricky to judge a collection of #shortstories . Inevitably I loved some more than others. But overall I adored this book because it reminded me of those fantasy days when I was growing up and I also thought that #attitude13 was a great way to begin reading #oceania . In these stories as much as the others books I’m reading set in this region there is a heavy military presence, either current military bases or historical colonial occupation. I was expecting it for sure. However I’m intrigued to notice how random stories and characters refer to the #japaneseoccupation and the way that trauma still influence their realities. There’s no polite hiding or visceral rawness in these stories. #tanyachargualaftaimanglo seems to be writing from a place of what I would call beautiful honesty. That honesty, that transparency allows the characters, the #chamorros the #guamanians the #Micronesians the #pacificislanders to live their lives as a whole with death and birth, with sorrow and joy. This all belongs to them as much as they belong to the islands. #belonging features heavily here. Despising to belong, rejecting to belong, longing to return, content with belonging, endless struggle and defining belonging. Short and powerful book which I #highlyrecommend and a great way to begin my #literarytrip through Oceania extending until mid next month. #readoceania#authorhouse #authorhousepublishing#chamorro #guamanian #marianaislands#hafaadai #hagatna #hagåtña #pasifikalit
hebdo_readings 