Noli Me Tangere

Introduction

One of the world's most consequential, yet overlooked novels, Noli Me Tangere, sparked off the Philippine revolution against Spain. The author, Filipino National Hero Jose Rizal, published the book in 1887. The Spanish authorities took exception to the book's biting satirical portrayal of their rule and later sentenced Rizal to death by firing squad. Two years later, the Spanish colonization of the country was at an end.

Translation and Reception

This English translation is by the prize-winning biographer of Rizal, Leon Ma. Guerrero. The Times (London) called it: "a brilliant translation which makes available to a new generation a novel hitherto known mainly to students of Spanish literature and nineteenth-century revolutionary movements," the New York Times Book Review said: "Guerrero has not only succeeded in preserving the original flavor, he has shown a happy faculty for modernizing antiquated and obsolete terms" while the Philippine Daily Inquirer calls it "easily the most readable translation."

Preface

Meanwhile, in a preface to the American edition, James A. Michener writes: "Noli Me Tangere is the acknowledged masterpiece of Filipino literature. If any nation can be said to have a single source for its nationalism, the Philippine Republic is such a land and this novel is its source."