Word up

MANILA, Philippines - Without books, life would be solitary, nasty, brutish and short, so Hobbesian and hurly-burly. Lovers leave you cold and lonely in the end, but not books. They are always there: spines and belly bands sticking out from bookend to bookend like banners announcing tales of the weird and the wondrous: a whale embodying evil that is anomalously white, Leopold Bloom enduring a day (June 16, 1904) that is transcendentally long and mythic, an American G.I. getting an erection every time there is a blitz of V-2 rockets, a knight on a skinny horse undertaking a wonky chivalric quest and jousting with the windmills of sanity. No matter how many times the don tangles with the “giants,” ending up with sanity regained and spirit crushed, we readers secretly hope he triumphs. But even if the stories end up in the suicide of the Savage or the everyman being doomed by Big Brother, we dig every word and we love living through the stories again and again, like going on a purgatorial descent with Virgil for a chaperone.       

“In this age of ‘Google-ization,’ what does a book mean? And why are we still pushing books?” asks Instituto Cervantes director José Rodríguez. The director goes on a heartfelt litany about books. “A book is incomparable — the smell of the ink, (the way you could put) notations and highlights. You can’t do that with e-books. Changes (and advances in technology) are there, and we must live with them, but books will remain. Books can never be replaced.”

 Rodríguez explains that Instituto Cervantes is holding Día Internacional del Libro (International Book Day) on April 24 as a way of paying “tribute to the written word.” He stresses, “Reading is not an elite club; books are for everybody. So we at Instituto Cervantes are encouraging the love of reading.”

Some 4,000 book titles will be available at the Spanish cultural center. From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., bibliophiles can get their hands on a wide selection of books — children and young adult titles, dictionaries, novels, and non-fiction titles — for as low as P20. For every purchase a book lover makes, he or she will be given a rose. 

First introduced in Manila in 2006 by Instituto Cervantes, the tradition of Día del Libro began in Barcelona, Spain, where, on St. George’s Day, people exchanged roses for books. This tradition encourages book lovers from all walks of life to gather and indulge their literary passion. 

This date also commemorates the deaths of two of history’s greatest writers — Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare — who coincidentally died also on the same year in 1616. 

Together with books and roses, Instituto Cervantes will dazzle guests with even more activities. From 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., Instituto Cervantes, in collaboration with Faber-Castell, holds “Pinta Historias (Color Your World),” a whole day of painting and reading session for children ages 3 to 12 years old.

There will be a screening of Una Casa de Locos at 2 p.m., those who are into poetry may join the European Poetry contest at 4 p.m. This contest is a poetry chain of European and Filipino poems to highlight the Spanish presidency of the European Union (EU). 

At 6 p.m., Raul M. Sunico and the UST Conservatory of Music will perform a series of Philippine music written and sung in Spanish during the Philippine Revolution. It will also be accompanied by a lecture afterwards.

“What is a good book?” Rodríguez asks. “A book is good — regardless of topic — if it makes you think, relax, laugh and enjoy.”

Well, on Día del Libro, bibliophiles in Manila would surely feel as if they stumbled upon the next best thing to Borges’ infinite library of Babel.

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Día del Libro is organized by Instituto Cervantes de Manila in collaboration with the Spanish Embassy in the Philippines, Spanish Department of Culture, Spanish Agency International Cooperation for Development (AECID), Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, Filipino-Spanish Friendship Day, Light Rail Transit Authority, Icon Graphics, Mag:net Cafe Katipunan, A Different Bookstore, Powerbooks, Barcino Wine and Tapas Bar, Faber-Castell and ClickTheCity.com. 

The event is open to the public on a first-come-first-served basis. For information, call 526-1482 or visit http://manila.cervantes.es Instituto Cervantes de Manila is at 855 T.M. Kalaw St., Ermita, Manila.