Eating Fire and Drinking Water:The Prophecy Continues

            Clara is a reporter in the Chronicles who is tired of doing small trivial assignments. She is an orphan raise in the convent of Santa Clara together with the nuns. When a fire burst out in Calle de Leon due to a student demonstration and a soldier killed a Chinaman called Charlie, Clara grabbed the opportunity to cover a big issue.

After Clara went to cover her story, she discovers her own personal story, the truths of her unknown past. As her history unfolds, her life slowly stretches to the revolution. This book made Clara realized that there are no small stories.

The title "Eating Fire and Drinking Water" is actually a reference to the Filipino people as a race that bears and believes too much. 

"We are a strange people, Clara. We swallow so much of the injustice, hardship, and cruelty our fellow humans mete out to us. Why, we even have an expression for it:'We can take it.' And we do. We would rather let things go and take all the wrong done to us than do something to correct the situation. Then we find ways to diffuse the crisis. It's like putting out a fire. Only this fire is inside us. In the belly of this country. We can fight fire with water provided that we can get there soon enough. But we often act when it's too late... We learn so slowly. After so many centuries, we're still a people who eat fire and drink water."
"Why bother, then?"
"Because we have to believe that one day we'll learn."

There is this important symbolism in the book, the river. I believe that this symbolizes the Philippines. It is a murky, dirty, polluted river filled with human and inhuman wastes, giving of a strong stench. It is even a place where dead people are dumped and hidden. 

I love the choice of words. It was descriptive without being too flowery. The representation of events were so accurate, you could smell the intolerable smell of the Smokey Mountain, you could feel the mounting anger of Luis Bayani (student activist) as he was being pursued, you could feel the agony, the unspeakable pain Laslo and Sophia must have been going through in the hands of General Aure. You could feel everything. I even had my nightmares portraying the gruesome execution of Sophia.

While there are many novels that tell stories of people’s lives during wars and revolutions, Arlene J. Chai’s Eating Fire and Drinking Water, however, recounts the story of how people lived in a time when a revolution is about to begin.

It occurred in the time of what may be the Philippine People Power Revolution (the author did not specify which country this occurred, but every detail definitely points to the Philippines). It felt like Chai was challenging what we learned in our history class.

The dark, gloomy past of the Philippines was not just the background of the story but it was the stage where all characters reenacted their story. The characters have their own qualities, more realistic perhaps. It was like gossiping about your favorite celebrities. You could not ignore or forget what you just learned. All of a sudden, you’re reading about people who seem so familiar. Suddenly you’re seeing our nation’s history unfold before your eyes from a different and fresh perspective.

            Though the book was mixed with amusing and occasionally absorbing tales, the novel has an awkward pacing and confusing structure in the beginning. There will be times when Clara and the rest of the cast seem to exist mostly in order to advance the plot. Add to these problems a point of view that skips from major to minor characters without taking the time to round them out and one is left in confusion. In one of several apologies to the reader, Clara says, ""There are many memories here, and if I jump about in recounting them, you must forgive me.""

"Last night my mother dreamed of the river."
"...I discovered that the river had changed. Its waters were so clear, so clear I could see to the very bottom."
"The river kept humming this song. It was calling me. So I climbed over the wall, and the water rose some, lapping at my feet, receding then coming back like a hand beckoning to me. I knelt before the river. I cupped my hands and scooped up some water. I drank it. It was sweet, Clara, the water was so sweet, and it smelled clean and pure, and I thought the world, the whole world was new again. I woke up then, feeling refreshed. I felt reborn." 
"I believe in dreams" 

The Martial Law is over. We don't have a dictator anymore but corruption is still very much rampant, injustice is still there, and a there are still many poverty—stricken citizens in our country. The river is still murky and dirty, but there is a little progress. We have a long way to go as a nation, but I hope, Consuelo's (Clara’s mother) dream will come true.

The book urges you to take your part in this country to be a better person and contribute to the betterment of the society, moving forward a nation as a whole.