Get Hold Of Ang Mga Kaibigan Ni Mama Susan Crafted By Bob Ong Accessible In Readable Copy

was skimming through the bookshelves at National Bookstore when I saw this book upfront near the cashier, When I saw Bob Ong's name, I just immediately grabbed a copy and went straight to pay for it, So when I started out reading the book, I had no idea what it was about, Also, I've already stopped trying to figure out what Bob Ong's books were really about not until I've read it up to the last page,

I didn't compare it with his other books because, let's face it, he's one of the most unpredictable writers in our country, One book cannot be compared with the other since they are all standalone, But then again, that's how it is for now, I can't say if he might think of creating a sequel, . . Will he

Anyway, as I was reading the first few parts, I was confused, . . actually up until finishing it I'm still confused, There are a lot of things left unanswered, like who's the girl Galo is talking about, what happened to Niko What exactly had Galo been hiding etcetera, etcetera, But I can see the point in some of that, the book was written in a first person view, Galo's journal could be compared to anyone else's in real life, We don't tell/write down everything that happens in our lives, especially the ones we want to forget or the ones we regret,

Halfway through the book, it started to creep me out I don't know if it's because of the book or because I get easily scared, . . I'll probably go with the latter, . . A few pages left I was beginning to close and open the book, I was debating between stopping to take a breath or the urge of finding out what would happen next this instant! I shut the book hard when Bob suddenly scared the reader of being the spirit's next choice to possess.


Although it scared me a bit, I don't think it was written simply intending to scare the reader, On my opinion, it was written to open the eyes of those who have lost their faith or have forgotten the power of God's love, or have taken Him for granted.
As scary as Mama Susan can be, her words are strong, They were open and true, They reflect how our lives evolve through the passing generations involving technology, personality, choices, and spirituality, If you want to understand what I mean, then read the book, It's affordable and worth reading,

For more of my reviews, please visit my blog:
The Blair Book Project sitelinkwww, theblairbookproject. blogspot. com Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan by Bob Ong is a journal of ayear old guy named Gilberto P, Manansala also known as Galo, An engineering student who just broke up with his girlfriend, Just like a typical student, house, school and mall are the settings for his daily life,

Through this diary he narrated his experience for the past few months, Because its a requirement to Ms, Lao, his professor in college, Galo wrote his own journal and became his hobby, He lived in Manila for the sake of studying in a good school, with his Aunt Auring and Uncle Dindo, together with his cousins Julius, Ariel and Jeng, By living with them, he witnessed how spoiled and tamper are his cousins, and how stubborn and formidable are his aunt and uncle, He felt that he is not part of the family because of their approach to him, His day starts and ends with their dog named Clinton,

After he survived the first semester, Aunt Auring mentioned to him that her grandmother was too weak because of her age, So he settled and went at Tarmanes to visit her,

It was Tuesday when he arrived at the bus station, Because of many circumstances, he traveled longer than he expected,

Its already four oclock in the dawn when Galo arrived at Tarmanes after he traveled many miles, He was shocked after he saw several changes in his grandmothers features, she became thinner, her curly hairs became whiter, more wrinkles, and she walked slower, The image of a morbid and weak lady who showed the signs of aging, His grandmother welcomed her grandson to her huge house it had been four years since he last saw him,

Not

only his grandmother but also the huge mansion changed a lot, He saw many statues like Nazareno in a room, together with Latin prayers written on papers he realized that his grandmother was so religious that she offered rice cakes to them.
Galo wondered who ate those rice cakes, Galo explored the place and felt the serenity and beauty of Tarmanes, The garden changed in a different way that he saw it before,

Every night he experienced weird stuffs that he cant explain, The murmur, whisper and noise in the dark, One day he promised to himself to finish all the mysteries and questions in his mind, He secretly spied at the offered rice cake, Then he saw a hungry ten year old lad and a five year old girl who just ate it, They introduced themselves as Nico and Jezel, Theyre the son and daughter of Tinay, a servant in the house that died years ago, Nico and Jezel are so thin and small for their ages, their skins are pale, and they look hungry and naïve, Surprisingly, he discovered that Jezel has a third eye, she saw people that they didnt saw, Through them, Galo was entertained enough to ease the boredom,

It was Friday dawn, Galo witness her grandmother, together with several town people who are mostly women and old that wears violet baro, to perform a religious ritual that looks like a cult.
They prayed the rosary in their own way, they recited prayers in Latin, they lifted his grandmother and sway her while praying and crying, they called her mama The weirdness bothered his conscious mind, shocked by their organization named Kataastaasang Iglecia Santissima ng Kapatirang Banal ng Sansansinukob.
Her grandmother introduced him to the people near them,

One night, his grandmother talked to him, She frankly told the true story, she said that his biological mother died long ago when she went to Iraq, she was forced to jail because of a case, and died by having her sentence.
Galos irresponsible father was married to another woman, brought his son to her and treated him as her true grandson, His foster grandmother told him to regularly call her Mama Susan rather than grandmother,

Galo serendipitously saw a secret room, The place that made his spine tingled, A room with a table full of rotten rice cakes circled by twelve female statues wearing violet baro, He was shocked also to saw a bouquet of flowers for the dead with the full name of Mama Susan,

Galo was enough for more weird experience, He lately knew that Tarmanes was abandoned by the government they didnt pay taxes and lost their benefits, And also by the Catholic Church, they performed antiChristian values and devoted to false god known as Apo, So the Church left them and locked the gates, Then Galo planned to go back to Manila, because everything got worst and those gruesome revelations and experiences, Before dawn, he packed his clothes, But Niko and Jezel really want to go with him, feared of what might happen next, So Galo left the house with them even if its raining hard, but unfortunately they cant go without the boat because its too dark to travel, so they returned to Mama Susans house.
On their way back home, they met Aling Delia, one of the helper who was concerned with Mama Susans current condition,

Aling Delia checked the condition of Mama Susan, they discovered that she was already dead, Delia brought Nico to the nearest hospital because he got high fever, Before they left, she told Galo to take care of Mama Susan because she supposed to wake up later, Galo ignored her and focused on how he can leave the place with them,

Its already dark when Mama Susan woke up and asked Galo for her artificial eye, Aling Delias prediction was right, she was alive, Shocked by the incident he silently prayed the Lords Prayer, but she told him that his God will not save him, Galos instinct made him run together with Jezel, Their fears conquered their body when Jezel told him that she saw an old man who followed them, Mama Susans friends came, in that place where they cant find help and hope, Galo begged to pray for his soul to whom may read his journal, The last page of his diary was ended with Latin words that he didnt write, mysterious words that was written by no one and came from nowhere,
NO. Please. Do not let me relive those goosebumps I've had on that ship bound for Mindoro as I was reading this book, Perhaps the smell of crude oil made me dizzier than I though the book had

NO, The book was crazy. All the while you were laughing your butt off at characters who displayed the typical way stories crop up, Families fighting. College. Province trips. Yes. Typical, I say. Too typical to be even accused of a bad twist, Perhaps it was just the wind that was spinetingling

NO, The book was creepy. I could have never imagined myself going to a place where eyes drop off practically anywhere, Ooooooooooooooh. There went my chills again, It's been a year since I've last laid my eyes on that book and the thoughts of it still bring the horror at the very front of my eyes.
Perhaps I was just overacting

NO, The ending was slick. It had style. It was dropdead gorgeous. It was a noncookie cutter ending that would have you trembling it had me trembling kasi eh, LOL and shaking and all the other verbs that would describe a person subjected to fear, Perhaps I was just seasick at the time

NO,

Nah. Just read it. You be the judge.



Although maraming napangitan, I applaud the author for his courage to take on such risk on sugar coating what was supposed to be a horror plot solely.
I always like Bob Ong when he goes for the seldomliked creative, I mean, he was panned by critics from this site but dare I protect him YES, The story is those donuts that sell because there's always that yummy filling inside but all the airstuffed bread gets in the way, That's good because it's climactic, The transition was slick and you can do a fantastic, gif file if you took a shot of your face as you flip through the pages because different pages would paint different emotions on you, And the ending, yeah. It was a bit cliffhanger, but way to end it, Bob Ong, It was sinister but equally playful,

Just enough scare, Just enough gore. Just enough comic. Great piece.

I tell you, Bob Ong is genius, I give the book five for the genius that Bob Ong is, There are some unanswered questions in this novel as well as weird scene, however the feeling that I felt when I read it before intensifies, Sobra pa ding nakakapanghilakbot at nakakatinding balahibo ang mga kaganapan sa librong ito, Grabe grabe. Kung horror lang naman ang hanap mo, invest on this book kasi sobrang nakakatakot sya also hanggang ngayon sariwa pa sa isip ko ang nga nangyayari, Bakakatakot tuloy magising ng madaling araw, First time ko magbasa ng horror story na sa Filipino isinulat, Para lang akong may kakwentuhang kaibigan kasi napaka casual ng writing style ni Bob Ong katext ba ganon haha, Nong una di ko trip yong progression ng story na mga journal entry kasi paputolputol, pero naturally ganon naman tayo makipagkwentuhan, Natakot din ako potah iykyk di ko inexpect kala ko kasi comedy to e, Pero nakakatawa pa rin naman, bet ko talaga humor ni Bob Ong !

lapag ko lang dito, kasi felt: sitelink com/ZIHJr Tagalog novel novella so my review is gonna be in TagalogEnglish format,

Not a fan of the epistolary writing style, Stream of consciousness lang talaga siya na may halong cursing sometimes, I do like the atmosphere though pero di talaga ako natakot,

I read the Latin passages, but I felt nothing, A little bit of a meh, Maybe I'm the devil's son First Bob Ong book I read in its entirety, This better be the worst of his books, The concept was there but I did not find it satisfying any of the reader hunger in me, The highest point of the book is when he quoted Cowboy Bebop's Spike Spiegel,

I got to admire the author's effort on getting a certain demographic to read intentionally or unintentionally, I just hope these people would grow out of his works after a book or two, A gazillion of better stuff out there, Monday, July,

:pm, Id give this book.at the very least. Its a social commentary disguised as a horror novel which I really liked, However, in my opinion, the hype it was given as THE FILIPINO HORROR THRILLER just made me disappointed, I think if it wasnt for the hype and if I read it without expecting anything, Id give it a higher rating, Still worth the read tho,

Thursday, July,

:am, Giving this a raise atbecause I literally cant stop thinking about that one line on page, Bob Ong, you win this round, Nagkakainan kami ng librong ito,

Ito ang pangunahing komento ko sa aking nabasa,
Umiwas ako kay Bob Ong bago ko pa man mapanuod sa TV ang isang panayam mula sa manunulat at dahil hindi naman sya nagpapakilala, tungkol sa kanyang kasikatan ang tinalakay yung isang titser na ininterbyu kung hindi ako nagkakamali na isa syang guro ay nagkomento na ayaw nya raw kay Bob Ong dahil sa wala itong identity, dahil sa hindi ito nagpapakilala.
Kinumpirma ng komentong ito ang malitolito kong pagkagusto sa kanya,

Pero binasa ko pa rin ang libro nang makita ko itong nakakalat sa bahay ng aking pinsan, Alam ko na inaakit ako ng libro kapag mayroon itongs feel, Nagpapaalala sa akin ng mga bagay na gusto ko, radyo, boarding house, malakahel na kulay na ilaw ng poste, hollowblocks na bakod na dinekurasyonan ng barbwire sa taas, studyanteng nagbabasa ng aralin o libro sa kanyang lumang lampshade at iba pa.


Habang binabasa ko ang maikling nobelang novella ito, pumasok sa aking isipan ang isa sa paborito kong britong awtor, si Iris Murdoch, Ang kakayahan nyang manakot sa mga bagay na wala ka namang dapat ikatakot, Gatik kung baga. Hmm, nafeel ko naman ito ng bahagya habang ako ay nagbabasa, O dahil sa paborito ko lamang talaga ang nasabing manunulat Pinatutunayan lamang talaga nito na mayroon kakayahang sumulat si Mr, Ong at hindi natin ito pwedeng ipagkait sa kanya,
Bakit ko nasabing nagkakainan kami ng libro Nainis lang kasi ako sa inconsistencies na aking nabasa, Una ang pagtawag nya ng anime sa Japanese cartoons na palabas sa telebisyon, Sa aking pagkakaalam, matagal na at before pa ang anime na umeera sa Philippine television sana taon sa libro pero, tayong mga Pilipino o ang mga kabataan noon ay di ito nagawang tawagin bilang anime.
Naalala ko pa noon na ang GMAang tila ba nagpasimula sa tamang pagtawag dito ng ilaunch nila as primetime ang mga Japanese cartoons na may tagline pa noon na We Are Anime.
Alaala ko pa noon na kapag Channelang anie, ang tawag ay cartoons lang pero pag sana, anime na yun, :p

Isa pa, yung dialogue ng mga karakter, imbis na isapersonal nila ay tila ba naririnig ko sa awtor ng libro, Naisip ko tuloy na ginamit nya lamang ang kanyang mga karakter upang mayroon syang medium upang masabi ang kanyang saloobin at opinyon,

Yeah, natuwa ako ng mabasa ko ang Beeper, Kahit na bata pa ako noon at hindi na nagkaroon nito, Siguro dahil sa mays feel iyon, Pero nagkasabay ba ang Beeper at Internet If ever na mali ako, sana ay di na lamang nagawang isali ni Mr, Ong ang Internet sa kwento nyang may lumang setting dahil sa nagdadala ito ng irita para sa akin, At tila ba sumisira sa kapaligiran na gustong ipahiwatig ng libro, Nasa probinsya ka at naiinip, Naghahangad ng Internet at namemiss ang paglalaro sa syudad ng Quake, sa year, Hmm, oo, pwede at papasok pa yan sa banga, Pero nungNoong Gradepa lamang yata ako Ewan ko, sana mali ako,

May mga tanong din na hindi nasagot, At alam kong hindi na masasagot, May mga libro na pinipilit kang ikaw na ang sumagot sa katanungan mo at may openended rin na ending, Pero dito, kung ikaw ang sasagot sa mga katanungan mo, e ikaw na ang magsulat ng libro, Pero hindi ito kamalian ng mambabasa, nasa awtor na ang sisi dito,

Gaya nga ng aking sinabi, yan yung mga bagay na nagawa kong kainin ang libro, pero may mga pagkakataon na ako ang isinusubo nito, Yung paglalaro nila nung bata ng mga lumang laro, yung pagkakasulat nya sa mga nilalaman ng bahay, yung mga pagkakataon na naaawa ako sa bida at yung nanakbo sila nung bata na nangyari sa bandang dulo ng kwento ay ang mga bagay na pumigil sa akin upang magbigay ng mababang rating.
Kahit na ang katapusan ay ako na ang uubos sa libro, at tapos na ang aming kainan, sa huli ay mas marami pa rin naman itong nakain sa parte ng aking katawan.


Pero yung mga nabawas ko sa kanyang parte ay kailangan talagang tanggalin, Kakain pa ba ako ng isang Bob Ong na libro sa susunod Hmm, kapag siguro nagutom ako at nagcrave sa kanya,
.