Stevan Javellana-Without Seeing the Dawn

In my last posting I discussed that my great, great grandparents were Don Manuel Javellana and Dona Gertrudis Lopez from Jaro, Iloilo. In that article I mentioned that one well-known Lopez was Fernando, formerly Vice President of the Philippines for three presidential periods in Philippines history, but did not mentioned any famous Javellanas from the Philippines. This posting is listing one famous Javellana both well known in the US as well as in the Philippines

During my search for famous and accomplished "Javellanas", I discovered a novel written by Stevan or Esteban Javellana at a time period and locale identical to my childhood and teenagers years- Without Seeing the Dawn. I have not read the book, but based on the summary below, I will put reading this book and watching the Movie ( Santiago), number 1 priority in my bucket list. Here's some information about the book and its author from the Internet.

Stevan Javellana (1918-1977) was a Filipino novelist and short-story writer in the English language. He was also known as Esteban Javellana. He was born in San Mateo, Rizal, Philippines, twenty-two years after the execution of the Philippine paladin, José Rizal in 1896. He fought as a guerrilla during the Japanese people|Japanese invasion of the Philippines. Javellana stayed in the U.S. after World War II in 1945, but died in the Visayas( Iloilo) in 1977 at the age of 59.

Without Seeing the Dawn was published by Little, Brown and Company in Boston in 1947. Esteban other short stories were published in the Manila Times Magazine in the 1950s, among which are Two Tickets to Manila, The Sin of Father Anselmo, Sleeping Tablets, The Fifth Man, The Tree of Peace and Transition.

Without Seeing the Dawn is his only novel. The title of Stevan Javellana's only novel in English Without Seeing the Dawn was derived from one of José Rizal's character in the Spanish-language novel Noli Me Tangere or Touch Me Not.

Javellana's 368-paged book has two parts, namely Day and Night. The first part, Day, narrates the story of a pre-war barrio and its people in the Panay Island particularly in Iloilo. The second part, Night, begins with the start of World War II in both the U.S. and the Philippines, and retells the story of the resistance movement against the occupying Japanese military forces of the barrio people first seen in Day. It narrates the people's "grim experiences" during the war. This war experiences remind me of the articles, I have written on my childhood experiences during the American-Japanese War in the Philippines in Panay Island published in my HubPages Account and in my blogs and autobiography(http://hubpages.com/literature/my-childhood-memories-of-world-war-2).

Javellana's novel was first published in 1947 and sold 125,000 copies in the U.S. and was reprinted in paperback edition in Manila by Alemar's-Phoenix in 1976. The same novel was made into a film by the famous Filipino film maker and director, Lino Brocka under the title Santiago!, which starred the Filipino actor and later presidential candidate, Fernando Poe, Jr. and the Filipino actress, Hilda Koronel.

It was also made into a mini-series film for Philippine television. The published novel received praises from the New York Times, New York Sun and Chicago Sun. Without Seeing the Dawn, the novel, became the culmination of Javellana's short-story writing career. The said novel was also known under the title The Lost Ones. It is currently a book requirement of the Grade 7 students of the University of the Philippines Requirement High School.

Personal Note: I wanted to buy the book on line or through Amazon. The cheapest used copy was listed for $61.94 and the most expensive was listed for $294.00. This is just too expensive for my budget. Instead I am reading a review of this novel in this website: Enjoy! http://www.academia.edu/2612039/ON_STEVEN_JAVELLANAS_NOVEL_WITHOUT_SEEING_THE_DAWN