A review by ablotial
The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht
3.0
This book was really strange. I've been trying to figure out what I am going to write about it for a few weeks, but I guess it's time to give up and just write something.
First of all, it took me a long time to get interested in it. The first chapter is pretty boring, if you ask me, and the writing was too ... descriptive? Usually I like descriptions but this was kind of ostentatious somehow. And also disjointed. I didn't care about the girl, or the grandfather, and didn't understand why she was telling me some things.
And then the second chapter came, with the beginning of the story about the deathless man. And I was sucked in. That story was really interesting, and I wanted to know more. But the story ends in mid telling.
Normally, I like stories that jump back and forth between the past and the present. Normally, I like stories that are told from multiple people's points of view. But this one just got confusing. It doesn't just jump back and forth between past and present, but there are TWO pasts -- one when the grandfather is a small boy, and one where he is a young man who has become a doctor. And then, of course, the present, where the grandfather is old and dead. But all of these are narrated by the granddaughter, who refers to him as "grandfather" whether he is 8 or 80. It is confusing to have to remember that "grandfather" is an 8 year old boy on this page. And of course, when grandfather tells a story about the deathless man, it is sort of narrated -by- him, -through- the granddaughter...
Finally, I think a third of this book could have been left out. And it makes me sad to say this, because the part to leave out is the part about the Tiger's Wife... which is the title of the book.
The only important thing that comes out of that section (when grandfather is 8) is how he obtained his book, and why it had sentimental value. But a third of a book is a loooot of words to spend on saying that the book had sentimental value. And a much less elaborate reason for this could have been made.
Them going to the zoo didn't add anything to the story. The story of how the wife came to be in the town did not add to the story. Nor did the fact that she was deaf. Nor did "The Bear". Or pretty much anything else in that part of the story except that a) he got the book that meant something to him and b) he made a decision to become a doctor. But I am not sure those parts really needed to be explained for the story as a whole -- or at least not in such an elaborate fashion.
Now, the story of the deathless man, that was cool. And the people in the town and their beliefs, which led her to try to find the deathless man, the whys behind her grandfather's trip and his death, it all ties together. And the ending was really good. And every so often there was a really good sentence.
But ... something was missing. Or there was too much of something. It wasn't quite right.
First of all, it took me a long time to get interested in it. The first chapter is pretty boring, if you ask me, and the writing was too ... descriptive? Usually I like descriptions but this was kind of ostentatious somehow. And also disjointed. I didn't care about the girl, or the grandfather, and didn't understand why she was telling me some things.
And then the second chapter came, with the beginning of the story about the deathless man. And I was sucked in. That story was really interesting, and I wanted to know more. But the story ends in mid telling.
Normally, I like stories that jump back and forth between the past and the present. Normally, I like stories that are told from multiple people's points of view. But this one just got confusing. It doesn't just jump back and forth between past and present, but there are TWO pasts -- one when the grandfather is a small boy, and one where he is a young man who has become a doctor. And then, of course, the present, where the grandfather is old and dead. But all of these are narrated by the granddaughter, who refers to him as "grandfather" whether he is 8 or 80. It is confusing to have to remember that "grandfather" is an 8 year old boy on this page. And of course, when grandfather tells a story about the deathless man, it is sort of narrated -by- him, -through- the granddaughter...
Finally, I think a third of this book could have been left out. And it makes me sad to say this, because the part to leave out is the part about the Tiger's Wife... which is the title of the book.
The only important thing that comes out of that section (when grandfather is 8) is how he obtained his book, and why it had sentimental value. But a third of a book is a loooot of words to spend on saying that the book had sentimental value. And a much less elaborate reason for this could have been made.
Them going to the zoo didn't add anything to the story. The story of how the wife came to be in the town did not add to the story. Nor did the fact that she was deaf. Nor did "The Bear". Or pretty much anything else in that part of the story except that a) he got the book that meant something to him and b) he made a decision to become a doctor. But I am not sure those parts really needed to be explained for the story as a whole -- or at least not in such an elaborate fashion.
Now, the story of the deathless man, that was cool. And the people in the town and their beliefs, which led her to try to find the deathless man, the whys behind her grandfather's trip and his death, it all ties together. And the ending was really good. And every so often there was a really good sentence.
But ... something was missing. Or there was too much of something. It wasn't quite right.