Andy Barrie from CBC's Metro Morning mentioned a free application for the iPhone and iTouch. This free app is called Stanza. One can download a vast selection of over 100,000 books and periodicals. I hit the motherlode with their selection of Philosophy books, from Aristotle and Plato to Nietzche and Heidegger to Russell. That's all well and good. But what I really wanted was the English version of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, not available locally, as far as I know. So I thought, "why not do a search on Stanza?"
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are novels written by Filipino writer and supreme national hero Jose Rizal. Both books "were instrumental in creating a unified Filipino national identity and consciousness..." see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noli_Me_Tangere_(novel).
Much to my surprise and elation, both were on the Lexcycle Online Catalog, which is accessed by Stanza. Other Rizal books online were El Consejo de los Dioses, An Eagle Flight, The Indolence of the Filipino, Ang Liham ni Dr. Jose Rizal sa mga Kadalagahan sa Malolos, Bulakan, Rizal sa Harap ng Bayan, Filipinas Dentro De Cien Anos (Estudio Politico-Social), Mi Ultimo Adios, etc.
A veritable treasure trove. Sadly for me, most of the books are in Spanish, the language of my father and his father before him but not mine (one book was in Dutch, others in Tagalog) and it seems that the English versions available were only recently released. There are indications that English versions will be available for the rest, soon.
Please note that Noli is also known as Friars and Filipinos in the English translation and Fili is The Reign of Greed in the English version. The Social Cancer is a must-read for putting everything that Rizal writes about in context.
Enjoy!
(one more reason to get an iPhone)
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