Before Revolution: 80 Days — Rationalizing my hiatus in almost everything else
The past half year might have been a blur for some, but it was actually how long I was off in doing film and series reviews through Medium. For one, I barely had enough time to finish any movie or series, even since my foray as a novice reviewer. Watching at double the speed is not enough to cut it either.
My history website, Filipino Historian, is not in better shape. According to ranking website Feedspot, it has four (4) posts a year. And I dare say that it is my advocacy for the betterment of history, civics, and culture?
And so, what have I been up to in writing? Apparently, finishing a novel. Since at least 2010, I have been involved in writing literature, although later in my career the non-fiction works overshadowed them. I believe it is high time to introduce my passion for the world of fiction with this published work.
Why Revolution: 80 Days? Reimagining the world of 1872–1873
As a student of history and the social sciences, I have been mystified by the events of 1872. Teodoro Agoncillo called it “the beginning of Filipino nationalism.” Likewise, Jose Rizal placed the events of 1872 in high regard.
“Had it not been for 1872, there would be no Plaridel, nor Jaena, nor Sancianco, nor the emergence of the brave and generous Filipino colonials in Europe. Had it not been for the events of 1872, Rizal would have been a Jesuit, and instead of writing Noli Me Tangere, I would have written something different.”
And yet, I observed that many of our recent literary works revolve either during the early days of the Spanish era (e.g., Maktan 1521, Lapu-Lapu: Challenger of Ferdinand Magellan) or during the waning days of their power (e.g., I Love You Since 1892, The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata). This may be a personal observation of course, yet when I saw the so-called “Majoha” incident, which demonstrated the level of public awareness for the Gomburza and the Philippines of 1872, it stiffened my resolve to get the story out for all. As you may see, the concepts have been evolving since at least 2016, when I created a short comic called “Corporal 72” (Nanajuuni Gochou), which took off from the Spanish official cablegram in the aftermath of the 1872 Cavite Mutiny: “All the rebels have been put to the sword.” What if there was a survivor? The plot took example from Filipino migrants in Japan such as Artemio Ricarte and Jose Ishikawa Ramos. A lot has changed since then, particularly because I lost much of my past notes due to some reorganization, and had to rework nearly from scratch later on. Still, one plot device remained until the end: creating a story for the supposed survivor of the 1872 Cavite Mutiny.
Then it struck me. The world of Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days actually takes place in 1872 as well. What if I contextualize the Filipino experience within a global setting? A combination of adventure, history, politics, and even economics? After all, Verne’s novel had been in public domain for quite some time. Hopefully he would not mind borrowing a page from his plot, except that his protagonists Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout barely figure in the story proper. In an ironic twist, I proposed an alternative ending where Fogg lost, but the rest of the world did not give up. This is where our Filipino migrant enters the scene, for he would rob the Bank of England to finance the second revolution that he believed will lead to the victory of the people. He then would find a window of opportunity to leave the country with the money, for a world crazed for another gamble creates a new race intended to beat Fogg’s record of circumnavigating the globe.
The cast, in extension, had expanded since, utilizing within their dialogues at least ten languages: English, Filipino, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Latin. Anyway, it somehow reflects the limitations of my linguistic knowledge, for I have more people in the cast which languages I have not been able to integrate, such as those who were Indian, Hui, Uighur, Hawaiian, Polish, Danish, and those from the nations of South America. Nonetheless, I believe it would pass the Bechdel test quite well, if diversification across cultures is not sufficient to be regarded as a measure of representation. The result would be summarized as follows.
Synopsis:
They say a revolution usually took 365 days, but could it be possible in just eighty? British gentleman Phileas Fogg drove the world crazy with his uncanny wager to circumnavigate the globe in eighty days, at the wake of the infamous robbery done against the Bank of England. His sensational adventure, however, came to a grim end on his part as he became 20,000 pounds poorer after finishing the journey on the 81st day. The slim loss, meanwhile, did not seem to discourage the populace from proving him right. The following year, 1873, was met with a daring public declaration from two ladies and one gentleman to fulfill the monumental task, this time through an even heftier wager that tripled Fogg’s stakes.The lone gentleman who stepped up was one of Fogg’s few friends remaining in the Reform Club, the similarly eccentric yet relatively unknown Richard Haze. Intent on redeeming his friend’s convictions and taking his own place in history even as his prosperity was placed on the line, Haze decided to acquire the services of a valet who had sufficient experience and knowledge of the other side of the world in order to avoid Fogg’s fate. He found the person in the Filipino migrant worker Juan Ruiz, who beneath his cheerful façade as a valet, and his limited grasp of the English and Spanish languages was a closely held secret — he was the real bank thief.
Indefinitely detained in London due to utmost diligence of the police force, the disguised Ruiz now found in Haze’s wager a legitimate way for him to escape the country and accomplish the next phase of his ultimate mission. That is, bringing the money to the Philippines in order to fund a revolution there and avenge the failure of the 1872 Cavite Mutiny, an event engraved not only in the archipelago’s history, but also in Ruiz’s personal memory. With both men bent on their respective paths towards redemption and revolution, how would this affect the ever-changing world around them? In an era of brewing instability, how could victory be assured?
There are more references than meets the eye going deeper into the plot, but that would be too much of a spoiler now, would it not?
Entering the realm of fiction with my first novel in print
I am not ashamed to say that Revolution: 80 Days was my first novel to be published in print. Prior to this, most of my literary works were published online. Yet perhaps I was too eager in joining it for Lampara Prize 2021, for which it qualified among the top but failed to secure the winning spot. Perhaps it was not as brilliant a novel as I might have dreamed, after all. Nevertheless, it pushes me to work harder to improve my storytelling and worldbuilding skills for future productions. As I had in the past, I have several “plot bunnies” which are queueing for implementation. While they remain ideas in the head, I would be delighted to share where you can avail of this novel of historical fiction. A free sample of up to two chapters may be accessed. I pray that you would be interested to have it (available in three formats: digital/e-book, paperback, hardbound). My thanks goes to Ukiyoto Publishing for recognizing the merits of this narrative.
Global distribution
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