The Ravaged World follows up on translating the short fiction of Rosario de Guzman-Lingat since the groundbreaking The Locked Door and Other Stories (2017). Offering a glimpse into the varied experiences in a postwar society, this book further explores the author’s concerns in short-story form: the seemingly ordinariness of the characters’ lives as they forge into the everyday. A tormented veteran reduced to a peanut vendor questions the worth of the war he fought. A young activist puts his faith in people who take advantage of his patriotic fervor. Meanwhile, a jeepney driver’s decision challenges his notion of generosity and forgiveness. 

Selected and translated by eminent Philippine-studies scholar Soledad S. Reyes, the stories here are a testament to the powerful place of women in Tagalog literature. 

2023/288pp
bookpaper/paperback