“The Mythology Class” by Arnold Arre is a captivating, exciting, emotional read that I could not put down for days. It brings you through the journey of Nicole Lacson who grew up hearing the stories of Philippine mythology from her lolo. She promised him that she would never forget those stories. In this coming of age novel she is working on her thesis which is a review of Philippine mythology and she is discouraged by classmates not believing her or discrediting the significance and truth of mythology. She finds herself with other people that have been chosen as students to help ancient enkantas to return creatures that aren’t supposed to live in this world to their own, honor Bathala’s way of the world, and stop the efforts of Sitan’s followers. During this journey, they learn about the significance of many different gods and spirits with the roles they play repeatedly through time. The reader gets to learn about many mythological creatures. Artifacts are history in this novel and you get to learn with the students what each piece has the power to do. Places hold history, graves, tombs, and connections to other worlds here and each page keeps you on your toes because you don’t know where you are going next.
Reading this novel felt like a dream in so many parts because you can expect something coming because of Arnold’s foreshadowing and hints in his drawings. The reader gets to glimpse at different periods of time and think about people and figures in these different centuries. Some pages made me feel like a child in awe at the sight of a god, or all of a sudden being surrounded by the stars. I wanted to understand what Tala was saying as a voiceless figure. I needed to know that there was a way to stop the chaos when warriors Kubin and Sulay didn’t know what to do. Each character had their place in this novel which was made clear through pages of development and knowing what they were feeling and thinking. Arnold’s ability to let the reader feel the despair, fear, dedication, motivation, sadness, emptiness, love, and victory in all of his characters was simply amazing. You feel Nicole’s heartache like it is your own remembering her lolo telling her the stories, asking her to never forget, reminding her that she might one day live one of these dreams. It was natural and easy to pick up on these things that made this novel more than just a good story to read, it made it a memory of its own.
I couldn’t agree more with Jaime Bautista and Gerry Alanguilan who wrote introductory and afterwords for “The Mythology Class” as they both discussed how Arnold is an amazingly talented artist and writer. Arnold has given so much to Philippine comics and after reading this, “After Lambana” and “Halina Filipina” I feel honored to be able to own these novels to reread them over and over again. I’m excited to share them with others. “The Mythology Class” is not a novel you want to miss out on if you are interested in Filipino history, mythology, comics, or just a really good read.
