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melc's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really enjoyable saga and Mandanna is a skilled storyteller.
Despite the cultural setting of the book the characters were very real and easy to identify with and Mandanna enabled you to sympathise with each one even amongst their pain and unforgiveness.
Tiger Hills is a great debut novel and I look forward to reading more from Mandanna in the future.
Despite the cultural setting of the book the characters were very real and easy to identify with and Mandanna enabled you to sympathise with each one even amongst their pain and unforgiveness.
Tiger Hills is a great debut novel and I look forward to reading more from Mandanna in the future.
thepavand's review against another edition
2.0
Tiger Hills is a novel about Devi, Devanna, and Machaiah and their tragic lives. It is set in Coorg, spanning more than half a century during the turbulent period of late 19th and early 20th centuries. The novel is divided into three 'eras' of Devi's life, labelled Devanna, Machaiah, and Appu, ostensibly because of them being the focus of the narration, though this not strictly followed.
Essentially the crux of the plot is that Devi was in love with Machu, and Devanna, with Devi, and the cruel machinations of fate lead all of their lives upon a path of tragedy they take all their lives to set right. Except that it had fuckall to do with fate; The whole thing was distasteful.
The author tries a variety of ways to foreshadow this incident that changed the course of the story, to create an illusion of fate, but it felt woefully superfluous. So that particular foreshadowing was a stupid-ass foreshadowing. This was just one instance; at no point have I felt that the author had succeeded in adding a sense of destiny, which she tries doggedly to, to the story.
I've also felt the love between Devi and Devanna, and between Devi and Machu, unconvincing, which makes the final pay-off not quite satisfying. I hardly ever read any love stories, but is it enough to simply say Devanna loves Devi a lot, to evoke the feel for that love? I felt there should have been more to it. Machu and Devi's love suffers from the other extreme of this equation. We have enough scenes to establish their love, but who the fuck is Machu at all and why does Devi love him? He remains much more a legend than a person to both the reader and Devi through much of the text where their love is evoked. Reverend's love for Olaf was the most convincing, for me.
Notwithstanding the above problems, the author's writing style, while not bad, is pretty boring. The book is riddled with cliches. The author tries to make up for the banality of the events that happen during the course of the novel with the sheer volume of those events. SO much happens, but nothing interesting ever happens.
Essentially the crux of the plot is that Devi was in love with Machu, and Devanna, with Devi, and the cruel machinations of fate lead all of their lives upon a path of tragedy they take all their lives to set right. Except that it had fuckall to do with fate;
Spoiler
it had to do with Devanna being a goddamn rapist. Devanna was never actually blamed by anyone for raping Devi, not even by Devi. All that is shown is that Devi hated Devanna for ruining her future with Machu. Not once was Devanna shamed for being a fucking rapist - though the Reverend appeared to have been disgusted by Devanna after the rape, it is later revealed to be just shock and disappointment upon learning that Devanna loved someone else.The author tries a variety of ways to foreshadow this incident that changed the course of the story, to create an illusion of fate, but it felt woefully superfluous.
Spoiler
Like, maybe Devanna wouldn't have been able to rape Devi if the Reverend had sent him to England, instead of Bangalore, but the choice he took did not inevitably lead to the rape.I've also felt the love between Devi and Devanna, and between Devi and Machu, unconvincing, which makes the final pay-off not quite satisfying. I hardly ever read any love stories, but is it enough to simply say Devanna loves Devi a lot, to evoke the feel for that love? I felt there should have been more to it. Machu and Devi's love suffers from the other extreme of this equation. We have enough scenes to establish their love, but who the fuck is Machu at all and why does Devi love him? He remains much more a legend than a person to both the reader and Devi through much of the text where their love is evoked. Reverend's love for Olaf was the most convincing, for me.
Notwithstanding the above problems, the author's writing style, while not bad, is pretty boring. The book is riddled with cliches. The author tries to make up for the banality of the events that happen during the course of the novel with the sheer volume of those events. SO much happens, but nothing interesting ever happens.
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