juniperd 's review for:

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant

4.0

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man. what a book!! it is so compelling and so fascinating. there were just a couple of wobbles i found in the narrative, some metaphors that sat funny with me or slight suppositions beyond what could possibly be known...but they were minor and only slight distractions in the overall picture. i was immediately grabbed and sucked into the story. at times it felt like a fictional thriller/mystery - the storytelling being so fluid and vivid. the history of this area of russia and the portraits of its residents were handled well and woven nicely into information about the tigers of this region, their demise and the conservation efforts underway to protect them. there is definitely a balance and respect between man and animal going on in the taiga and that was a wonderful revelation for me. the fact that hunting is still an integral way of life for the people in this part of russia is important to remember. without it, starvation would be likely. the area is very remote and depressed. economies such as we have in north america are not their reality.

it feels like anything i want to say about the book could be spoiler-y...so how abut a good quote?

"It is a survival skill that is closely linked to Fate, and Fate has always been a potent force in Russia, where, for generations, citizens have had little control over their own destinies. Fate can be a bitch, but, as Zaitsev, Dvornik, and Onofrechuk had discovered, it can also be a tiger."

if you think nonfiction is boring or you have dismissed it for not offering the same sort of escape as fiction, give this book a try. i think you will be well surprised and rewarded for taking a chance.