I found my reaction to The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht more interesting than the
book itself. I’ll explain later, but
first I’ll tell you about the The Tiger’s
Wife, which isn’t about a tiger’s wife.
Set in 1990's Serbia, the story vaguely reflects Obreht's childhood that was impacted somewhat
by the Yugoslavian civil war. An observation about the book that apparently
resonated with lots of readers, as it appeared over and over again in reviews,
goes something like this: “The Tiger’s
Wife is about the stories we tell ourselves to help us understand death.”
I’m not sure if that statement is so much an accurate theme of the book as it
is just a catchy phrase.
Natalia, a
young doctor, is notified that her
grandfather, with whom she had a very close relationship, has died “mysteriously.”
The story weaves in and out of the present and the past as Natalia looks for clues
as to her grandfather’s death. In the
process, she relates her grandfather’s tale about a man he met who would not
die, and that of an escaped zoo tiger that haunted the grandfather's childhood village. And that is pretty much the book,
which is #1 of the several reasons I found my reaction to The Tiger's Wife more interesting than the book.
#2 – It seems that
once a book wins one award, more fall like dominos. As if critics don’t want to
be the one to not recognize brilliance. I, and half the world, fell for the
lavish praise of Obreht and her book. But when you look at the average Jane’s
reviews, they are all over the place with lots of comments indicating that the
reviews and recommendations were misleading. I too spent most of the book
looking for the promise of “channeled genius,” “astonishing intimacy” and a “searing”
novel. Click On Read More Below...
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