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Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) ni Jose Rizal na isinalin ni Glady E. Gimena

Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) ni Jose Rizal na isinalin ni Glady E. Gimena
A book review by Jomar Romero Balmores

For the novel that we have selected to review. Noli Me Tangere is a novel that we have enjoyed. This novel is written by Jose Rizal in Spanish language but Glady E. Gimena translated it into the Filipino language. Glady E. Gimena was one of the most talented, famous book writer and translator in the 90s. She was also an active novelist, scriptwriter, and prose writer. She graduated Cum Laude in 2002 under the course of Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing in Filipino in the College of Arts and Literature at the University of the Philippines. For now, she was a college teacher, and also a textbook writer, some of which she produced are the versions of Jose Rizal’s novels such as, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

Basically, Noli Me Tangere is a love story. A love story not only between Crisostomo Ibarra and Maria Clara but also between persons and our country. The love story is tragic. When we are finished to read the novel. It was kinda mysterious because no one knows what happened to Maria Clara. But that was just Rizal’s aim. He dedicated this to our motherland. What he did, or what he promised to do, was to allow us to see the truth of the condition. The truth, as his countrymen are asleep. They needed to be awakened from their bed and see the real state of things so that they could find freedom and happiness. The novel had 63 chapters and an epilogue. The shorter version of this novel was made by Glady E. Gimena and she published it in 2009 on Prime Multi Quality Publishing House.

Rizal’s views relating to this can be found in his novel, Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) which tells the story of Ibarra, a bright young man, who dreams of his country as educated and dignified and a plan to build a school in his hometown. The novel has numerous characters who support Ibarra wholeheartedly; support him in the open but oppose him secretly; and oppose him directly.

However, there are a lot of other characters in Noli Me Tangere who’s experience couldn’t understand, in different chapters, what will happen to Ibarra at the time of the book’s end. There is Sisa who was mentally ill because of losing her two children; there is Elias who lost everything before he was even born due to his families  misfortune; there is the school teacher who is openly criticize even if he’s doing well for his students; there is Don Anastasio who’s the only enlightened man in the whole town, yet he is considered as crazy; and many more. The book, then, is more about the injustices suffered by those who have done nothing to felt such misfortune and those who only wants to do good. And then there are those who live a comfortable life because either they are ignorant of the injustices in the system or because they are evil.

Some words that were used at the Gimena’s version of Noli Me Tangere are unfamiliar and so deep that makes us think of what is the meaning of it. Gimena added activity on every last chapter of the book which asks on what the unfamiliar words mean. The book also makes us more knowledgeable about the deep words that we haven’t encountered yet.

Also, the static characters are sometimes confusing, and the too much words are among its problem. But Rizal doesn’t need to be a master writer in writing Noli Me Tangere because the novel is a work intended for the awakening of the Filipino people against the Spaniards.

Noli Me Tangere is enjoyable to read because of how it portrayed Spanish-era in the Philippines. From the Indios who wants to become Spaniards to the love dance of Ibarra and Maria Clara and the politics among the priests, the government, and the people. The relations between the characters, although most of them are static, funny, heartbreaking, and lovely sometimes all at the same time. For all the years that have passed since its publication, Noli Me Tangere still remains until now. 
Social cancer has not yet been completely destroyed but we all know that, just like Jose Rizal, every Filipino right now we're hoping for the day that our hero’s dream will be fully realized and such a dream will come closer within our hands, even in our own little way, do our part.

 Noli Me Tangere Kabanata 61-65

References

 http://arman-komixpage.blogspot.com/2010/07/glady-e-gimena.html
https://Book%20Review_%20Noli%20Me%20Tangere%20–%20The%20Book%20Hooligan.mhtml
https://Book%20Review_%20Noli%20Me%20Tangere%20by%20Jose%20Rizal%20–%20My%20Life%20As%20An%20Aspiring%20Software%20Engineer.mhtml



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