I just remember that the chances of Nick Joaquin's novel ( Cave and Shadows ) making the GRE Literature canon is slim to none. But at least I can pick it out from other Western books, and it's still a fun and an informative read.
Cave and Shadows' theme parallels a bit with the Greek Myths I've been reading about ( in terms of the conflict arising from differing belief systems, such as Christianity and Paganism; a patriarchical God versus matriarchical Goddess[es] ). The novel reminded me of Haruki Murakami's ( o latino authors Marquez/ Borges' magic surrealism ) hodgepodge style that criss-crosses boundaries: fantasy/fiction, folklore, historical, memoir, non-fiction, etc.
The plot is easy to follow ( yet loaded ). The protagonist, Jack Henson, leaves his current home, to visit his "childhood" home where he meets up with old "friends" and reminisces as he solves a "murder" mystery.
Some of Nick Joaquin's references were similar ones my parents shared with me ( like sharing oral history of the Philippines using a literary mode ). The following paragraph summarizes Philippine's modern history well:
A colony within a colony, because we were then an American possession. And it was then I began to see what a number of colonies we really were--- a Chinese colony in trade, a Spanish colony in culture, a Washington colony in politics, a Hollywood colony in fashion, an English colony in language, a Roman colony in religion--- and so forth. Even Bombay and Tokyo and Arabia had in some way colonized us.
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