The Tigers Wife: A Novel

[Tessa]

My book finally arrived yesterday and I read chapter 1 tonight. The bond between grandfather and grandaughter is interesting and it seems she is trusted with secrets which are witheld from the family.

 

[Loloma]

Finished chapter two. The lead up to the war shows the progression of change in daily life, shortages of food, suspicion and trust issues being forced on the people by government. Once again we see grandfather pushing Natalia in an effort to strengthen her mentally. She was glad when at age thirteen the ritual of the tigers came to an end.

Natalia describes the sudden disappearance of friends and teachers without explanation. There was an acceptance of this as a every day part of life. During this period, Natalia became rebellious and hung out with her friends, breaking away from the hold her grandfather had over her. This was until she let the man with the black hat into her grandparents home. Once she realised what she had done, her attitude altered to one of protector. She became very vigilant towards her family, especially her grandfather who was stubborn. As she wrote "my grandfather still suffered from that national characteristic of our people that is often mistaken for stupidity but is more like self-righteous indignation" Eventually he had to close down his practise and position at the University and only made house calls.

The bond between them rekindled after this, and he took Natalia in the middle of the night to see the elephant that had been saved by the zoo and taken out only at night, when everyone slept. I think it was the wonder and secrecy of it that fascinated him, in the midst of the insanity that was happening around them. A fact that he explained to her when she told him that she would tell her friends.

It was then that he told her the story of the "deathless man". Good story but too drawn out I feel. I will let someone else give their spin on this piece.

I would just like to say that I have friends that live in Omis, Croatia. They are Croatian and Maria is the mother of four children. Omis is between Split and Dubrovnic on the Adriatic Sea. We used to go there on summer holidays in the mid eighties before the war began. All the children were drafted into military service including the girls. Fortunately they all survived, have married and now have their own children. I still have written contact with them.

 

[intothelight]

Have to revisit the "man that wouldn't die". Ummm....interesting. But I totally get the anarchy and the feeling of loss of order when the "norm" disappears.

 

[anthony]

I haven't started chapter 3 yet, but I found the deathless man story quite intriguing... a little too much on the elephant, but hey, most novels usually start out slow from experience, then ramp up as they get into it. I am going to go read the third chapter later, as discussion on that starts today (well, I am already in the 26th)... so I can discuss a little later.

I like it so far, a little slow starting... yet I am holding onto the thought that anything that makes New York Times Bestseller list, has to have some sort of merit to read.

 

[anthony]

Just finished the third chapter... atleast that makes some sense now, thank goodness. I liked Dure... he sounds stubborn, a hard worker, determined. I laughed a little when Dure spoke about looking for his cousin buried on that mountain side, being the cause of making them all sick. After reading the deathless man, I am not going to just rule out that there is some supernatural occurrences within this book. Normally I would already be thinking ahead that this is just stupidity, and the doctor will be right and tell them they have some viable illness due to being over-worked, malnourished and exposed to the elements, let alone the chain smoking.

So I'm not going to rule out some supernatural local element, that lets face it, is nothing new in some parts around the globe. Being they have some supernatural aspects that concentrate within a location, being happenings that cannot be explained by science. Gives me a different element to look forward to in the next chapter.

 

[KP the nut]

I finished Chapter 3. I enjoyed it.

I can understand Dure, holding onto the old beliefs. That moving his cousins body from where it is not happy will cure the sick. I know people like this from experience, people who are doctors and lawyers but who will still consult their local witch doctor before making an important decision.

yet I am holding onto the thought that anything that makes New York Times Bestseller list, has to have some sort of merit to read.

Me as well, although I must admit, I am losing faith.

 

[amethist]

Not had chance to read chapter 3 yet, so have not read the above replies. But so far very intriguing, and I too thought which way is this book going to go after the the Deathless man.

 

[Belle]

There is a lot of detail associated with smells, foods (grandfather's snack routine) and it just feels quite dreamlike, I think Natalia will go through the process of grieving her grandfather, I wonder if this will be the focus of the book, as she is on a physical journey to deliver medication to the orphans. Will she go on a spiritual journey too?

 

[anthony]

You could rightfully be onto something there Belle... excellent foresight. Maybe that is what I'm missing, this is going to be about the grieving process of her grandfather through a spiritual journey whilst attending her non-profit contributions.

I just had to go back and read the books preview:

In a Balkan country mending from war, Natalia, a young doctor, is compelled to unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather’s recent death. Searching for clues, she turns to his worn copy of The Jungle Book and the stories he told her of his encounters over the years with “the deathless man.” But most extraordinary of all is the story her grandfather never told her—the legend of the tiger’s wife.

We are only at chapter 3 of 13 chapters. Maybe that is what I also missed, the detail of feeling the mending of a war torn country, which gives reason to the spirituality aspect.

 

[KP the nut]

Chapter 4 is going well. I won't comment yet to give others a chance to catch up.

I do find it is taking a lot of concentration, which is at the moment difficult for me.

 

[goingonhope]

Quite honestly I made the boo boo of reading one chapter after the next right on up to 8. (not all in the same day)

Next book I'll have to do something different as I've confused myself when it comes to book club participation.

First I needed insight into what direction the book was going in. Then I was further motivated to read on because of my interest in the story of the deathless man. But, then I craved more answers to questions I had, more insight into the story, ..craved more understanding, etc.

So I read on, and I was like Wow, Wow, Wow, this is pretty interesting, this is pretty cool. I happen to like the book lots!

But, then Oops, school vacation began as did other things and I stopped abruptly. Looking forward to getting back to reading, but hope to read chapters at a time along with everyone else.

Deathless man story - Interesting, ...really enjoyable.

Other then to comment this, I'm not exactly sure what's in which chapter and besides not yet really finding any time to comment, but thus far I have really enjoyed the book.

 

[anthony]

There is no wrong to reading hope... it is only the discussion that is time tabled, not the reading. You can read the whole book at once if you like, but we only discuss a specific amount at each time, as everyone has different timetables to abide to.

Now I am looking forward to further reading that you have confirmed it does become really interesting. Holds true to my initial notion, it wouldn't be a NY Times Best Seller if not captivating.