summary of the laughter of my father by carlos bulosan

He sleeps around, he can't hold down a steady job, he's a drunk, he's a gambler, he's nicer to his fighting cock than he is to his wife or his children. There are more stories to plow through, and the Dad is SUCH A SCOUNDREL. If I'd stopped after maybe 15 stories, I would have given this collection five stars. There is a slight racist tinge to some of the stories where the worst thing you can call someone is an 'Igorot' (a mountain tribe they were so fierce they defeated the 16th century explorer Juan de Salcedo, who at 17 was no slouch) because they were so dark-skinned.

Americanisms like 'They wanted to drink like hell' abound.Īt the same time, it's a priceless view of a rural way of life where, despite poverty and illiteracy, people are HAPPY. There's a very sharp nostalgia, so maybe he wrote them while he was in the States. Where he found the voice to write stories like these, I don't know. Then follow: The Gift of My Father, The Tree of My Father, The Capitalism of My Father, A Day With My Father, and so on.īulosan was from the province of Pangasinan, and he came to the States as a migrant worker. The stories are all titled similarly: The first is My Father Goes to Court (great story). But it's the Dad who gets the 25 stories. Where he found the voice to write stori Carlos Bulosan has such a gift for idiom. Bulosan was from the province of Pangasinan, and he came to the States as a migrant worker. Then follow: The Gift of My Father, The Tree of My Father, The Capitalism of My Father, A Day With My Father, and so on.

I really appreciated that the short stories worked together and progressed almost like a novel.moreĬarlos Bulosan has such a gift for idiom. They were certainly better than the collection The Philippines Is in the Heart which included many stories cut from this collection. The depictions of women are not particularly progressive. There are lots of scenes of cockfighting. Bulosan wrote the book in anger and was frustrated when it was taken as a funny book. The stories are based in the Philippines and follow a young boy who is smart and likes to drink wine as his family attempts to survive the economic effects of colonialism in the Philippines. I can certainly understand why, though I imagine Bulosan would be upset by the comparison. There are lots of scenes of This collection of short stories by Bulosan has been frequently compared to Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flats. This collection of short stories by Bulosan has been frequently compared to Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flats.

Summary of the laughter of my father by carlos bulosan