The wonderful gravity of fruits
The popular adage about parenting and children, that the fruit never falls far from the tree, becomes a truism in the case of noted dermatologist Dr. Sylvia Huang and her daughter, fellow dermatologist, Pam (Sylvia’s husband is a surgeon). When you factor in that Dr. Huang’s nephew, Mike, son of her brother, Vicente Muñoz, is himself an ophthalmologist, it makes for an inordinate number of Hippocratic oath-takers in one family. The interesting observation is how siblings Vicente and Sylvia are also business partners, having established the Philippine franchise for The Body Shop — the first Glorietta 3 store opened its doors in 1996. And wouldn’t you know it, the members of the next generation, especially Mike, now have to balance their medical practice with the daily running of The Body Shop business that has grown and flourished to several outlets all over the city and in major urban centers in the provinces.
They recently launched the new Body Shop concept, the Pulse store, at the MOA branch. With tables of recycled wood located at the center of the store, the idea was to place the products and samples on these tables so that customers would have easier access to them, handling them, much like how, in a kitchen, a table placed in the center of the area leads to it being the “heart” of the house. And as always, despite the death of its founder, Anita Roddick, The Body Shop’s philosophy and conviction of creating skin- and body-care products in a socially responsible manner still lie at the foundation of the company’s Research and Development methodology — something that attracted both Vicente and Sylvia to the brand back in the mid-1990s.
While the affable Dr. Mike juggles his time between his Medical City clinic, his laser eye procedures and The Body Shop office and stores, Pam is about to embark on setting up her own clinic at the third floor of 38 Rockwell Drive. She’ll then continue holding clinic with her mother at their Eisenhower St., Greenhills clinic and commuting to the Rockwell “baby.” With the innocence of childhood, Pam recounts how her father would make her kwento, that back then she said she wanted to be a doctor because the food was always so yummy and bountiful when the doctors would gather for lunch. But it was seeing how her mother would be doctor, confidante and psychiatrist to her patients that made her realize that, beyond the cliché of it being a noble profession, a doctor’s life was what she wanted.
By the way, did I forget to mention that Pam has a younger brother taking up Medicine? And there’s a sister, but she’s a lawyer, so we joke about whether she’ll specialize in medical insurance and malpractice suits, leading Pam to ponder on whether she’s been an exemplary ate. In truth, both Vicente and Sylvia have much to be proud about as the fruits of their labor (pun intended in Sylvia’s case) help make the Circle of Life more than just a title to a song.
From East to West, and the Old West
Fuminori Nakamura’s The Thief is our contribution from the East, while JW Ironmonger hails from England and comes in with his first novel, The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder. As for the Old West, Canadian Patrick deWitt has come up with a bracing revisionist Western in The Sisters Brothers!
The Thief — Fuminori Nakamura (available at National Book Store). A winner of major literary prizes in Japan, this is an existential, noir novel that follows the life of a highly successful pickpocket. He seems to live in a haze, clarifying when performing his specialty crime. The plot thickens, when our antihero is coerced to commit a robbery at the home of a politician. The robbery goes without a hitch, but we share with him the horror of finding out the next day that the politician was brutally murdered. Now captive to the whims of the gangland boss that staged the robbery, there’s also a side story of a prostitute and her son, who wishes to follow in the footsteps of our hero.
The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder — JW Ironmonger (available at National Book Store). Our narrator, Adam Last (and yes, the irony of his name will be alluded to), is carrying out the wishes of his best friend, Max. Hoping to record every memory in his brain, Max retires from the world at the age of 21, and the novel becomes a double-helical narrative of Adam recounting his story on one hand, and on the other, entries from Max’s catalog and volumes of memories. The intended three years for completion of the project becomes four decades, and when Max finally succumbs to a family condition, Adam is faced with having to comply with Max’s last request, a decapitation in order to save Max’s brain for future empirical study. Experience, memory and perception (and their loss or interpretation), are the major themes of this intriguing read.
The Sisters Brothers — Patrick deWitt (available at National Book Store). This novel reads like you’ve found yourself inside a Coen Brothers film, with gallows humor and eccentricity bywords in the 1850’s Old West scenario. Eli and Charlie Sisters are hired guns, and of course, they’re brothers; hence the strange and seemingly contradictory title. Sent by the Commodore to settle scores with one Hermann Warm who has fled to California and his gold-panning river claim, the novel is essentially a picaresque of the brothers traveling to Sacramento. Connected by blood and violence, dished out with amazing nonchalance, the brothers’ inner conflict occurs as Eli begins to question their purpose in life, and the brothers come face-to-face with Warm’s scientific ingenuity (although with tragic results). Rooting for homicidal psychopaths has never been so much fun!
