Aug, 2019 filled with astonishing immediacy and presence, fleshed out with detail that seems firsthand, the tigers wife is all the more remarkable for being the product not of observation but of imagination. Mar 11, 2011 tea obrehts debut novel, the tigers wife, gives an indelible picture of a balkan country reeling from the fallout of civil war, while exploring the essence of storytelling. No, i am not a week behind on this report, the bpl monday book discussion was. But the tigers wife is an elaborate, haunting work that deserves to be ranked at least alongside other great debuts like dave eggerss a heartbreaking work of staggering genius, jonathan safran foers everything is illuminated, and zadie smiths white teeth. The tigers wife is an ideal book for discussion, and not only because of the handy readers guide included, or because of the nifty conversation between pulitzer prize winner jennifer egan and tea obrehta beguiling blend of realism, myth and legend, this novel possesses a presence and force, essential. The two are linked gaile received the curse of endless life because he fell in love and revived amana, the sister of the tiger s wife. If not for book club, i would not have finished reading this book. The tiger s wife is, on the surface, a tale of one woman s search for the truth behind her beloved grandfather s death, but the implications of this search are fundamental to the way we make sense of life and death. The jungle book tied natalias grandfather to the tiger and his wife, and so also to darisas death. The tigers wife is set in an unnamed balkan country, spanning the mid 20thcentury to the early 21st century. Natalia says that the key to her grandfathers life and death lies between two stories. We began the year with the tigers wife by tea obreht. She lived in yugoslavia until the age of 7, when the war.
Obreht s delicate unfolding of natalia s grandfather s past. By the time the tigers wife came out early this year in hardcover, the hum of anticipation was deafening. Magical realism meets big cats in the tiger s wife young novelist tea obreht may only be 25 years old, but she writes with the maturity and confidence of an industry veteran. The tigers wife depicts the relationship between natalia, a young medical professional living in a country in the balkans, and her grandfather, a celebrated doctor who has recently passed away. The tigers wife by tea obreht book club discussion. Mar 12, 2020 obreht is the youngest author to be named one of the new yorker s best 20 writers under 40, as well as the national book foundation s best 5 under 35. What power do the stories we tell about ourselves have to shape our identity and help us understand our lives. Remembering childhood stories her grandfather once told her, young physician natalia becomes convinced that he spent his last days searching for the deathless man, a vagabond who claimed to be immortal. The novel is not written in a linear format, nor is it ordinary writing. In doing some research of the tigers wife, its clear that the book is praised and wellliked for tea obrehts interwoven mythical stories, details about the balkan wars, and her own personal journey.
The huffington post selected the tiger s wife for our now discontinued book club in 2011, and with good reason. But most extraordinary of all is the story her grandfather never told herthe legend of the tigers wife. None of these appear in tea obrehts first novel, the tigers wife, yet in its pages she brings their historic and human context to luminous life. All the arts are about communication if one is to make grand summarizing statements and to have two of the arts communicating with each other, prose and music, like birds in a tree in bushwick, is a brilliant concept that the bushwick book club has invented and continues to practice with great joy and. My plan is to read friday morning, saturday evening, sunday morning. Heres what i like about tea obrehts debut novel, the tigers wife. The book was well written and i found the individual stories to be interested. Because of this, gailes collection of this book becomes an act of forgiveness and redemption. The tigers wife hardcover book discussion goodreads. But most extraordinary of all is the story her grandfather never told her the legend of the tigers wife. In a balkan country mending from years of conflict, natalia, a young doctor, arrives on a mission of.
Tea obreht burst onto the literary scene this year with her first novel, the tigers wife. As natalia struggles to understand why her grandfather, a deeply rational man would go on such a farfetched journey, she stumbles. The tigers wife tea obreht, 2011 random house 352 pp. In a balkan country mending from war, natalia, a young doctor, is compelled to unravel the mysterious circumstances. What do you think the book says about children growing up in war, the fatalism of war, and bravery vs. Is the book less compelling or more so, because the author did not actually live through the war and disintegration of yugoslavia.
There is a theme adopted throughout the book that opposing positions are regularly confronted, such as modern technology and medicine, with fables and folklore. Revisiting the tigers wife and the balkan wars the new york. The tigers wife, tea obreht the tigers wife is the debut novel of serbianamerican writer tea obreht. After luka died from what is believed to have been the tiger, his wife became known as the tigers wife and she is known to frequent a barn where the tiger has been seen. Kapka kassabova on a novel that mythologises yugoslavias history. Mar 08, 2011 magical realism meets big cats in the tiger s wife young novelist tea obreht may only be 25 years old, but she writes with the maturity and confidence of an industry veteran. Tea obrehts the tigers wife comes freighted with more critical anticipation than any debut novel in recent memorythat sort of unearned, preemptive prestige spurs both impossible expectations and skeptical readings a burden that would doom most first novels yet the tigers wife, in its solemn beauty and unerring execution, fully. With fables and allegories, as well as events borrowed from the headlines, she illustrates the complexities of balkan history, unearthing patterns of suspicion. Filled with astonishing immediacy and presence, fleshed out with detail that seems firsthand, the tigers wife is all the more remarkable for being the product not of observation but of imagination. The book club is meeting tomorrow so ill see what everyone else has to say. The tigers wife is, on the surface, a tale of one womans search for the truth behind her beloved grandfathers death, but the implications of this search are fundamental to the way we make sense of life and death. Mar, 2011 none of these appear in tea obrehts first novel, the tigers wife, yet in its pages she brings their historic and human context to luminous life.
Upon discovering that her physician grandfather has mysteriously died in a remote clinic she sets out to unravel the details of his death. Mar 27, 2011 and yet as the tigers wife progresses, its sense of balance begins to be a problem, pushing us out of the narrative, or narratives, at the very point we want to be drawn in. But i disliked the book for the same reasons it gets praise. How did the book club discussion go with the tiger.
A seasoned and mature writer would be hardpressed to match the scope and lyricism of obreht s debut book. Mar 31, 2012 in grieving over the passing of her grandfather, natalia tells the two stories that defined his life. A nationwide book club bringing readers together to discuss. The narrator of the tigers wife is natalia stefanovic, a young doctor who has grown up in an unnamed serbian city with her mother and grandparents. How did the book club discussion go with the tigers wife. Overall, i didnt love the tigers wife, but can appreciate it as a literary accomplishment. The tigers wife depicts the relationship between natalia, a young medical professional living in a country in the balkans, and her grandfather.
Our summer book club continues today with celestes first pick for july. A muchhyped debut novel enthralls, exasperates tea obreht s the tiger s wife is the uncategorizable and flawed work of an overlyexuberant young writer. The tiger s wife, who had married the town butcher, fed the animal pieces of meat. The tigers wife is an outstanding ambitious book of depth and meaning that draws links between a troubled aftermath in a wartorn region with the backdrop of superstition and myths. Very rarely does a first novel announce a major new talent, but so it is with the tigers wife. The tigers wife discussion questions all good books blog. The book goes between the immediate present, while natalia is traveling to an orphanage to give vaccinations to children, and the distant past and more recent past, weaving in pieces of the stories of the deathless man and the tigers wife. During her journey, natalia recounts memories of her grandfather. The tigers wife is the debut novel of serbianamerican writer tea obreht. I headed into reading the tigers wife with a weekend ahead of me. Other villagers panicked, and some of the menincluding the butcher, a stern and violent man named lukamade a failed attempt to hunt the tiger down.
Over time, superstitions and fears spring up around the tiger s wife. When she is recognised as being pregnant the villagers claim that shes carrying the tiger s baby. This critic s major complaint you can search yourselfi dont feel like linking to it was that the book was more of a young adult novel, i think in the end, because it had no sex or satire or absurdity. 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. Jun 11, 2012 the tigers wife by tea obreht book club meeting. I was so honored that the bushwick book club made music in response to my writing. Obreht s delicate unfolding of natalia s grandfather s past presents a multidimensional view of a man natalia believed she knew. Obrehts delicate unfolding of natalias grandfathers past presents a multidimensional view of a man natalia believed she knew. After all, her grandfather always carried a copy of kiplings jungle book in his breast pocket.
Set in an unnamed balkan country shortly after the end of civil war, the tiger s wife is, on the surface, a tale of one woman s search for the truth behind her beloved grandfather s death, but the implications of this search are fundamental to the way we make sense of life and death. The tigers wife floyd county public library overdrive. Jul 12, 2012 what do you think was the authors purpose in writing the tigers wife. Summary weaving a brilliant latticework of family legend, loss, and love, tea obreht, the youngest of the new yorkers twenty best american fiction writers under forty, has spun a timeless novel that will establish her as one of the most vibrant, original authors of her generation. With simple beginnings, tea obreht frames her exotic tale beautifully. The tigers wife by tea obreht book club discussion questions. The tigers wife by tea obreht goodreads share book. The tiger s wife is a frisky tiger cub chasing its tail it covers a lot of ground, growls a lot, and never quite gets there, but we have fun along the way.
The tigers wife book club kit saint paul public library. At 25, her ability to write the tiger s wife is astonishing. I found the various stories and tales to be confusing and jarring. Brilliantly using myth and legend from the balkans, tea obreht tells the story of a young doctor, her grandfather, and their shared history against the backdrop of the areas decades of turmoil and sorrow. The tigers wife tells the story of a young doctor, natalia, living in wartorn eastern europe. The tigers wife is legendary, a story made up of smaller stories that, when taken together, becomes a complicated account of war intertwined with local village lore. For me it was an endurance test to wade through and try to determine if this was a novel or folklore. The tigers wife compact disc copperfields books inc. The tiger s wife, her first novel, is a vividly imagined work that draws on the folk culture of the balkans, where obreht was born.
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