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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
adventurous
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
In 1997, a man is gruesomely killed by a tiger in the Far East of Russia. A short time later a second one is killed and a special team gets the permission to hunt down the man-eater. Should be easy with the right guns, shouldn't it? This book will reveal why even seasoned hunters have so much respect.
From the synopsis I just expected a story about hunting a tiger but this makes up maybe a dozens of pages. The author instead draws a meticulous picture of everything that is remotely related to the events including
- a history of that part of Russia and a look into the Russian soul
- a description of how people live and survive today in the Far East and how it has changed over time (especially after perestroika)
- the Taiga: fauna, flora, the life of a trapper
- tigers in general, tales, psychology and how their relation with humans is in other countries
- how men can survive when living close to predators
- humanoids before the rise of the homo sapiens
- biographical stories of the involved people
The amount of details can be overwhelming at times, especially when the author seems to finally start with the actual hunting story only to divert again and to talk about something different.
On the other hand I am glad that so many facets are covered. First of all, the insights into the Russian soul were amazing and very useful. The country and its people are special, I don't know if I will ever understand them or the things they do to each other. Next of course there is the tiger. I had some shivers running down the spine when I read about the different encounters. At least I have an idea now what to do when I face one in the wild although I hope that this will never happen.
Finally, I was surprised that humans can indeed live close to predators and find their place. It's possible to have a special balance of respect and only killing what is needed to survive. For some reason we have lost it and destroyed the abundance and our garden Eden. The philosophical question is if this is our true nature and not the happiness and bliss everybody is seeking. Very little is needed to throw ethical values overboard and to kill, murder, rape - thousands of years ago, in the 20th century or today. Men haven't changed much but the umwelt has...
Even if I give the book only 4 stars, if you are remotely interested in the things mentioned above then this is a must read.
P.S. For those interested, the most fascinating description of a fight "man vs big cat" (in that case a jaguar) I have read in [a:Lucius Shepards|26767|Lucius Shepard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1395743242p2/26767.jpg] story "R&R", which you can find for instance in [b:The Best of Lucius Shepard|777115|The Best of Lucius Shepard|Lucius Shepard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440771741l/777115._SY75_.jpg|763147].
From the synopsis I just expected a story about hunting a tiger but this makes up maybe a dozens of pages. The author instead draws a meticulous picture of everything that is remotely related to the events including
- a history of that part of Russia and a look into the Russian soul
- a description of how people live and survive today in the Far East and how it has changed over time (especially after perestroika)
- the Taiga: fauna, flora, the life of a trapper
- tigers in general, tales, psychology and how their relation with humans is in other countries
- how men can survive when living close to predators
- humanoids before the rise of the homo sapiens
- biographical stories of the involved people
The amount of details can be overwhelming at times, especially when the author seems to finally start with the actual hunting story only to divert again and to talk about something different.
On the other hand I am glad that so many facets are covered. First of all, the insights into the Russian soul were amazing and very useful. The country and its people are special, I don't know if I will ever understand them or the things they do to each other. Next of course there is the tiger. I had some shivers running down the spine when I read about the different encounters. At least I have an idea now what to do when I face one in the wild although I hope that this will never happen.
Finally, I was surprised that humans can indeed live close to predators and find their place. It's possible to have a special balance of respect and only killing what is needed to survive. For some reason we have lost it and destroyed the abundance and our garden Eden. The philosophical question is if this is our true nature and not the happiness and bliss everybody is seeking. Very little is needed to throw ethical values overboard and to kill, murder, rape - thousands of years ago, in the 20th century or today. Men haven't changed much but the umwelt has...
Even if I give the book only 4 stars, if you are remotely interested in the things mentioned above then this is a must read.
P.S. For those interested, the most fascinating description of a fight "man vs big cat" (in that case a jaguar) I have read in [a:Lucius Shepards|26767|Lucius Shepard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1395743242p2/26767.jpg] story "R&R", which you can find for instance in [b:The Best of Lucius Shepard|777115|The Best of Lucius Shepard|Lucius Shepard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440771741l/777115._SY75_.jpg|763147].
adventurous
dark
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Now and then a book will come along and forever leave an imprint in your psyche. For me, The Tiger was that book. Masterful storytelling from John Vaillant, what I would give to sit with him at a pub and hear all he learned that didn’t make it to the book. You will never look at Tigers the same way.
adventurous
medium-paced