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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I went into this book expecting something completely different than what the author gave me. But, I liked it in the end. The story was not chronological, which at times made it difficult to follow, but it also helped make it more interesting - it acted as a hook to get you to try and figure out what was going on. I'm intrigued by some of the characters she created (namely the "Deathless Man") and kind of wished some were explored more than others. Over all - I don't know if it deserves ALL the praise and rave reviews it has received - but it was satisfying in the end. It was good - but it won't be one of my favorite books of all time.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved the opening of this book deeply. And the telling of Natalia helping children whose lives ravaged by the war while trying to track her grandfather’s last days was compelling
But I just couldn’t get into the folklore of tigers and bears. It all felt too “8th grade book report on symbolism” to be anything other than a distraction from what was really fascinating
But I just couldn’t get into the folklore of tigers and bears. It all felt too “8th grade book report on symbolism” to be anything other than a distraction from what was really fascinating
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
This book lives up to all the hype. Tea Obrecht is the youngest of the Top 20 Under 40 writers recently named by the New Yorker. She's written a sort of magic realist story set in an unnamed Balkan country. There are three main threads to the tale. First, there is a young doctor who finds out that her grandfather has died just as she is headed out to a mercy mission, vaccinating orphans across the border of her newly partitioned country. Second, there is the story of the Tiger's Wife, which happens in her grandfather's village when he is a young boy. Finally, there is the story of the deathless man, who her grandfather meets when he is a young doctor himself.
All of these stories are engrossing, and have a faint feel of folklore about them. You can see a tiger escaping from the zoo during a bombing, for example, and even that the tiger would not know how to fend for itself and miss human companionship, but there is still an eerie feeling of myth to the Tiger's Wife.
The book brings home the tragedy and pathos of people who have lived next to each other for years, but who still can turn on each other out of fear. It also shines a light on the terrible turmoil and pain of the Balkan peoples, who have suffered through centuries of war. There's a short bit about a house fire, and how people let their animal stock burn to death because it was just easier to let the destruction happen, then rebuild- a legacy of the mindset of those who have had everything taken from them more than once.
The writing doesn't shy from destruction and decay, but I found the writing moving instead of disturbing. Perhaps the weakest point of the story was the young doctor who becomes our lens into this world- we never find out anything about her mother, except that she's alive, or her father. The grandfather is the focal point of the book, and I wish that there had been a way to make him even more the focus.
This book will make you think about the Balkans in a way that you've never done before. It will move you and transport you into a nebulous world where magic just might possibly happen, although it cannot save you.
All of these stories are engrossing, and have a faint feel of folklore about them. You can see a tiger escaping from the zoo during a bombing, for example, and even that the tiger would not know how to fend for itself and miss human companionship, but there is still an eerie feeling of myth to the Tiger's Wife.
The book brings home the tragedy and pathos of people who have lived next to each other for years, but who still can turn on each other out of fear. It also shines a light on the terrible turmoil and pain of the Balkan peoples, who have suffered through centuries of war. There's a short bit about a house fire, and how people let their animal stock burn to death because it was just easier to let the destruction happen, then rebuild- a legacy of the mindset of those who have had everything taken from them more than once.
The writing doesn't shy from destruction and decay, but I found the writing moving instead of disturbing. Perhaps the weakest point of the story was the young doctor who becomes our lens into this world- we never find out anything about her mother, except that she's alive, or her father. The grandfather is the focal point of the book, and I wish that there had been a way to make him even more the focus.
This book will make you think about the Balkans in a way that you've never done before. It will move you and transport you into a nebulous world where magic just might possibly happen, although it cannot save you.
I took a chance on a wrapped book at an independent bookstore that promised a retelling of a grandfather's life + magical realism. And yes, this delivered, and it was engaging enough, but it also felt way too long.
Beautifully written, but not my type of genre which is why I gave it a three star… mythology, folklore? Not an easy read
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Really beautifully written. Although it takes place in an unnamed country, it represents the experience of many Balkan countries and in that way is historically informative. I love the way the author writes with some amount of vagueness, rather than being overly explicit. That leaves the reader to put things together, with just enough information, in a really intelligently written way. I gave 4 instead of 5 stars because it started to be a little winding there at the end, but there was definitely a part of me that slowed down my reading of it simply because I wanted it to last.
I really liked:
- being able to relate to the characters because they were from the same background as me
- the magical aspects of this story
- the focus on morbidity
- blending real and fantastical elements until it was hard to tell what was history and what was myth
- the family relationships
- the prosaic writing style
I disliked:
- the disjointed and, at times, confusing narrative
- lack of focus on the characters
- lack of finality or catharsis
3.5 stars
- being able to relate to the characters because they were from the same background as me
- the magical aspects of this story
- the focus on morbidity
- blending real and fantastical elements until it was hard to tell what was history and what was myth
- the family relationships
- the prosaic writing style
I disliked:
- the disjointed and, at times, confusing narrative
- lack of focus on the characters
- lack of finality or catharsis
3.5 stars