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.
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