Para Kay B (Or How Ricky Lee’s Novel Made Me Want To Write A Book)

Disclaimer/ Request: Please give this blog entry a chance. Promise, it’s not boring and if you comment, I might even send you my half-nekkid picture. Or maybe not.

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This is not a book review. Far from it.

This is me letting the world know that Ricky Lee‘s first novel titled “Para Kay B (O Kung Paano Dinevastate ng Pag-Ibig ang 4 out of 5 Sa Atin) [trans. For B (Or How Love Devastated 4 out of 5 of Us)] changed me. Somehow.

I was never really a book person. Unlike others who buy a new one once they’re done reading the last, I only read books when the cover/title/synopsis catches my interest. You see, I’m more of a film person. And with this novel, I hit two birds with one stone because not only were the title and cover attention-grabbing, it was also written by the greatest screenwriter of our time, Ricky Lee (이리키 – not really Korean but I just wanna demonstrate my Hangul-writing skillz). He wrote Himala. Bitch, please.

The novel is like a collection of 5 short love stories. Powerful ones, I might add. The characters were real and haunting and lovable and flawed. I;d really like to introduce them to you, maybe share a bit of their background and crazy lives but that won’t be fair to Mr. Lee, who spent a year creating, revising and (im)perfecting them. They are his and I should let his genius tell you of their stories. Buy the Book.

I love the novel. Okay, did I say that already? I sometimes don’t enjoy foreign literature that much because the characters seem too distant. Here, it’s as if I’ve met them somewhere or I know them somehow. Or I’m them. While reading, I envisioned the story as a motion picture, complete with crane shots, background music and even fades to black. Hell, I think even said out loud  “And cut! Good Take!” once. It’s just unfortunate (not really) that Marilou Diaz-Abaya adores it, too and wants to make it into a film herself. I mean, if you were Ricky Lee, who’d you choose, Ms. Abaya or me? I thought so.

Hence, I’d just spazz about the book in a true Kring fashion as I give you my biased comments on the stories. But really, do buy the book.

The first one just broke my heart. Not even because it was tragic but simply because it was so genuine (and maybe ‘coz I’ve always been a sucker for childhood first loves and shit like that). The next one caught me by surprise. Honestly, the general plot was not something I’d normally enjoy but the author’s words grabbed me by the neck and forced me to swallow their forbidden tale. “Brilliant!”, was all I could utter after the last period.

The third story, was bittersweet and overall, cute. A lot of references to Pinoy pop culture surely made me smile. It was kind of romantic-comedy-ish in a very Hollywood way. More like Runaway Bride than Sassy Girl. The story after that just blew me away. If those characters and events were based on real life, well wow! Best of luck to them!

The fifth one, like the first, jumped out of the pages. While reading it, I had to swallow my tears and with all might, fight the urge to cry. Inside a jam-packed MRT. On a rush hour. As I stepped out and walked my way towards the terminal, I found myself sobbing and covering my face with the book. There’s just something about unrequited love, in whatever shape or form it might be, that hits home really hard.

But what really made me jump off my seat and exclaim “OMGWTFBBQWW2ILU!” was how everything was tied together and revealed at the end. I don’t know how the hell Ricky Lee pulled it off but it merely proves that only a master can come up with a surreal and one hell of an epic denouement. Wow, denouement! Wuzdatt???

Everybody loves a love story. Those who say they don’t are probably just like any one of the characters in the book. They’ve been hurt and refuse to love, they are scared so they choose not to love or they simply are just incapable of loving. Well, I suggest they read Para Kay B. It sure made me bawl my eyes out cry, smile and ponder on my own judgments and thoughts on love. Buy the book.

Mr. Ricky Lee unknowingly posed a challenge to me. That someday I write a book on love, too, which will change someone. Somehow. Oh, I’m so not one to back out on challenges like that. Yes, even if I won’t be part of the 1 out of 5 who’d live happily ever after…

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