Viajero is a novel of history, of these islands and their people long before the Spaniards came. It is also a story of the Filipino diaspora as seen by an orphan, Salvador dela Raza, who is brought by an American captain to the United States in 1945. Through the eyes of Salvador unfolds the epic voyage of the Filipino, from the earliest contact with China, through Magellan's tragedy in Mactan, onto the heroic voyages of the galleons across the Pacific. The Viajero story concludes with the movement of Filipino workers to the Middle East, and the travail of our women in Hongkong, Singapore, and Tokyo. The Filipino's continuous search for social justice and moral order-- a major theme in Sionil Jose's fiction -- pervades this novel. 313 pages 9 x 6 inches copyright 1993 paperback |
|