Tess Uriza HoltheReseñas

I loved this book. This book takes place in the Philippines as WWII is nearing the end. Japan occupies them, having driven the Americans out. The Americans want control back and fight to get it. The book centers around the Karangalan family, who with some of their neighbors, hide away from the conflict in their small, cramped basement. The author weaves the stories of three of the occupants: a teenage boy, his older sister and a militant guerilla to tell of their current struggles. As their story unfolds, others in the basement share stories from their past, some folktales and mystical, others hidden secrets. Together this all blends to give insight into the islands history, beliefs, and resilience. Really good book.

My grandfather fought in the Pacific during WWII. I am not sure if it was experience that enhanced my interest in WWII but it certainly did not hinder it. Books like [bc:We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese|50040|We Band of Angels The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese|Elizabeth M. Norman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1441565852s/50040.jpg|48915] [bc:Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest|42389|Band of Brothers E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest|Stephen E. Ambrose|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388247701s/42389.jpg|903474] gave incredible insight into the American side of the war. The stories make me emotional any time I try to discuss them.

The difference with [bc:When the Elephants Dance|16035|When the Elephants Dance|Tess Uriza Holthe|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1425767833s/16035.jpg|2074473] is hearing the story from the Filipino point of view. The Philippines had been controlled through the centuries by several different countries from Spain to China. During WWII both Japan and the US occupied their islands and the locals had no way of knowing whether they would be an independent country once the war ended.

Tess Uriza Holthe provided insight into Filipino culture. The folklore shared by some of the characters further emphasized the history behind the Philippines. The stories and beliefs helped families endure during a time of survival.

Story set amongst the Philippine people during the WWII. While it is a good book, its side stories seem to long and diverting and their various morals as to the family repeated.½

At its core When the Elephants Dance celebrates the audacity of the human spirit in the most horrific, dehumanizing situations. It shows a people who refused to let go of their hope and love even while they were being tortured, raped, murdered. Their stories demonstrated a self-awareness I rarely read in folklore or magical realism: they so willingly admitted to their flaws and mistakes, all for the sake of the listener - the next generation - who they hoped would take those stories to heart and make a better choice, have a happier life.

In the author's introduction she mentioned how, growing up, she longed to find a book that told her story, that featured her people, but she never could. I'm grateful she's writing the books she always wanted to read.

Without When the Elephants Dance I might never have known about the Filipino experience during World War II. Such a haunting yet hopeful story, and a debut no less! Highly recommended to history buffs, especially the Asian experience during World War II.

5 stars

Disclaimer: As one might expect in a book set during a war, it's brutal. Graphic scenes of torture, rape and murder, involving both adults and children. However, the author breaks up that reality of war with the characters telling each other stories from their past steeped in folklore, which gives the reader a chance to catch their breath in between what's happening to the characters in the present.

First sentence: Papa explains the war like this: “When the elephants dance, the chickens must be careful.”. I first picked up this book because of the title and this opening line. The elephants in this tale are the Japanese and Americans fighting over the Philippines. The Filipinos are the chickens.

The novel takes place during WWII, towards the end of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. The Filipinos had suffered greatly during those three years of occupation. They were starving, and subject to being picked up by the Japanese, seemingly at random, only to be tortured or killed. The book focuses on an extended family living in the basement of an apparently abandoned house. They venture out, one or two at a time, only to forage for food or medicine. To comfort themselves and each other they tell stories – sometimes traditional Filipino folk tales, and sometimes stories from their own past. These are intended to help each other understand and endure their situation, or to teach a lesson they will need to survive.

It’s an interesting idea and it could have been a really good book, but Holthe just wasn’t quite up to the task. The basic plot of the family’s enduring/surviving the occupation is a riveting one, and Holthe really shines in those sections of the book. However, it seems she was trying too hard to impress, or that she was determined to include every possible Filipino tradition and folk tale in an effort to educate the reader about her parents’ homeland. When she interrupts the plot line to tell another story, she loses momentum, and the attention of the reader.

This is a novel of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during WWII.

As a few courageous villagers leave their hiding place to forage for food, those who stay behind, hidden in a cellar in the village tell stories. The stories they tell, of legends and lore, or of their early lives strengthen their bonds, bolster their courage, and offer glimmers of hope. The stories also serve to help the reader get to know the villagers well, in a way that almost feels intimate.

I loved this book! It honestly deserves more buzz than it has gotten.½

The opening of the novel references and explains the title:

Papa explains the war like this: ‘When the elephants dance, the chickens must be careful.’ The great beasts, as they circle one another, shaking the trees and trumpeting loudly, are the Amerikanos and the Japanese as they fight. And our Philippine Islands? We are the small chickens."

So yes, this is a story of the Philippines during World War II. And at first, I didn't think I'd like this novel much. Just before I'd read What is the What about genocide in the Sudan and then First They Killed My Father about genocide in Cambodia. I admit I found it a bit off-putting when I saw that like both of them, this was being told in first person present. God, I thought, not another story of misery wrapped in literary gauze! I've grown a bit wary (and weary) of the present tense in fiction. At first that was a technique that seemed fresh and often read lyrically--but I've seen it used so many times it now tends to strike me more as gimmicky and pretentious. But I was thoroughly won over by the end. Holthe said about the only thing she could find in the library about the Philippines were travel guides. She wanted to fill that gap and tell not only the stories she got first hand from her family about the Japanese Occupation, but interweave stories like those she was told as a child, tales of "ghosts and witches, always told with delicious darkness and magic." And though the mainline of the narrative is far from a mere frame a la Arabian Nights, interspersed throughout are several tales told by characters of ghosts and witches and dark spells and curses. Yes, there are also stories of atrocities here--graphic depictions of rape and torture and the brutal necessities of war.

But the novel always kept sight of love and family and hope. Holthe weaves in a beautiful portrait of the Philippines and its people: Filipinos, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Americans, both rich and poor, old and young, especially in those short story interludes. She gives you a sense of the landscape, the cuisine, even a flavor of the different languages. And I felt surprisingly at home--my mother's family is Puerto Rican and the Philippines Holthe described reminded me a lot of Puerto Rico. Both are tropical islands and have had centuries of Spanish and decades of American colonization influencing their culture. Holthe also enriches her tale with a lot of Filipino history. I never knew the very name of the country came from King Philip of Spain. Or that there was a war of independence fought against Americans in the early 20th century. So I felt I learned a lot and I was entertained. All good.½

I had great hopes for this book, but was disappointed enought that I didn't read the last third narrator. I'm not familiar with the history behind the story, but good historical fiction will put it all in perspective - this didn't. I did not like the first person narrator; at times the writing seemed very simplistic and just "too direct" as if the writer was telling me exactly what I was to be feeling. I can't comment on the accuracy of the language or customs, but did find the many foreign phrases troublesome. Overall, I think this could have been a really good story, but it just didn't deliver.

compelling for the story itself, the mythology, and the filipino history that i'm ashamed to say i was completely unaware of. i'll need to read up on it after reading this book.

When the (American and Japanese) elephants dance, the (Filipino) chickens scatter.

I loved this book. This is by far the best book I have read in awhile. I have learned a bit about the history of the Philippines in a very entertaining way. I love the way that the author writes, she is a great storyteller.
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Totally loved this book, very cleverly written½

I loved this book! It was beautifully written, the characters were all so lovable, and it was such a pleasure to read from beginning to the end. I was sorry when it ended.

I was really looking forward to reading this story and learning more about the Philippines during WWII. I found it difficult to keep all the characters straight, there were so many and except for the main three, Isabelle, Alejandro, Domingo and a few others who told individual stories, the characters were not memorable or very well developed. The war was very brutal, the Japanese without mercy, and the fear was palpable, real to the extreme. I felt the story, and stories within stories were hard to follow and keep in context. I had to "work" hard to read this book and try to keep everything and everyone straight in my mind. It might have helped if there had been a page mapping the characters, names and who was connected to whom. I thought the story too choppy and disconnected, and had to push myself to finish as I really did want to know how everything ended. I really like historical fiction, and though I didn't think this was especially well done, it was redemmed by the fact that there were many characters you care to care about, and personal stories that were quite moving.½

My review of When Elephants Dance is a tribute to the residents of Philippines. The Philippines has been in the news given the destruction they have suffered Typhoon Ketsana. Currently the Philippines Red Cross is involved in emergency relief efforts.

Born to Filipino migrants, author Tess Uriza Holthe tells the story of of the Karangalan familiy and their neighbors and friends. The group finds themselves huddled together in a cellar during the last days of the Japanese occupation in the Philippines before Japan's surrender to General MacArthur.

While the group would probably not come together during times of peace, their close proximity is a result of the war. Their story is told thru the voice of three narrators, thirteen-year-old Alejandro Karangalan, his older sister Isabelle, and Domingo, a guerilla commander.

Alejandro tells us, Papa explains the war like this: 'When the elephants dance, the chickens must be careful.' The great beasts, as they circle one another, shaking the trees and trumpeting loudly, are the Amerikanos and the Japanese as they fight. And our Philippine Islands? We are the small chickens. I think of baby chicks I can hold in the palm of my hand, flapping wings that are not yet grown, and I am frightened" (p. 3). From here is the title of the book.

Through their storytelling and the magic of Filipino myths the group is temporarily distracted from the sounds of nearby explosions and the attrocities of the war. These myths give the group strength, resilience and courage to survive the hardship of war. Each myth contains a lesson both for the group and the novel's audience.

In writing the book, author Holte relied on stories she heard as a child from her grandmother and her father who was not only but also largely on the stories she heard as a child from her lola (grandmother) and father, who was captured by Japanese soldiers outside Manila, tortured, and released.

From page to page readers will find themselves in the cellar, mesmerized by the stories of ghosts and enchanted forests while a turn of the page will shake their nerves as they are forced to face the horrors of war. When Elephants Dance is a beautifully written book the combines Filipino mythology with the stark reality of war.

"When the elephants dance, the chickens must be careful." The elephants here are the Japanese and American forces, vying for control of the Philippines in the waning days of World War II. The chickens are the Filipino people, caught in the crossfire of complete devastation. A family hides in their cellar, surrounded by their neighbors. Food supplies are low and morale is even lower as their loved ones go missing. But this is not merely a novel about the desperation of war. As they hunker in the cellar together, they tell stories - brilliant stories of the magic within the jungle, ghosts without rest, Spanish oppression, and the importance of hope.

This novel is magic. The historical elements and dark fairy tales blend together well . The suspense is intense throughout as you wonder if the family - the children in particular - will survive the brutal treatment of the Japanese and the bombings by the Americans. My knowledge of the Philippines during the war consists of Bataan, the death march, MacArthur's vow and his eventual return. The Filipino people themselves are lost and forgotten. I found this book educational and enlightening, and will keep it in my library. Holthe created a masterpiece.

The narrative structure alone is reason to read this novel. Holthe weaves past and present plus multiple first person narrators into one seamless novel that really connects in the end. Many authors would struggle with such complexity, but she really nails it.

This is a wonderful book. I've been so close to finishing it for a long time -- the impact of having hungry reading eyes, and not being able to wait to get into another book that's vying for my attention. We'll be reading this in the Mostly Literary Fiction group in April.

Beautifully crafted collection of linked stories that take place in the south of France.
The stories jump from one person to another -- really well done and well executed.

WWII in the Phillipines. Some magical realism. Really great book and I enjoyed reading about that time and culture.½

I sympathize with Holthe's desire to bring Philippine history and mythology to a Filipino-American and larger non-Filipino readership, but this novel is riddled with cliches and geographical and cultural inaccuracies, demonstrates a very poor understanding of how socio-economic class functions in the rural Philippines, and is filled with one-dimensional characters. The storytelling is decent, but there are better novels on the Philippines during WWII out there (When the Rainbow Goddess Wept by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, for one).