Tiger's wife book club

In grieving over the passing of her grandfather, natalia tells the two stories that defined his life. The tigers wife floyd county public library overdrive. 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. The book was well written and i found the individual stories to be interested. When the van door slammed on offreds future at the end of the handmaids tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead. Struggling to understand why a man of science would undertake such a quest, she stumbles upon a clue that will lead her to a tattered copy of the jungle book, and then to. The relationship between the tiger and his wife is perhaps the biggest mystery of all, and the most powerful testament to the magical elements of this story. The tiger s 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. 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. 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. Magical realism meets big cats in the tigers wife young novelist tea obreht may only be 25 years old, but she writes with the maturity and confidence of an industry veteran. For those of you looking for a little bestiality in your book club choice, youre going to be superdisappointed with this one.

Obrehts delicate unfolding of natalias grandfathers past presents a multidimensional view of a man natalia believed she knew. Revisiting the tigers wife and the balkan wars the new york. Encapsulating the tigers wife in a single phrase or sentence is impossible. The tiger s wife is set in an unnamed balkan country, spanning the mid 20thcentury to the early 21st century.

After all, her grandfather always carried a copy of kiplings jungle book in his breast pocket. The tigers wife book club kit tacoma public library. The tiger also ties the grandfather to the tigers wife, the woman who tamed and loved a tiger. Why do you think natalias grandfathers reaction to the tigers appearance in the village was so different than the rest of the villagers. A heartbreaking literary masterwork about love, family, and the power of imagination, which confirms mengestus reputation as one of the brightest talents of his generation. From the debut novel of 25yearold tea obreht one of the new yorkers 20 under 40. 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. Obreht is the youngest author to be named one of the new yorkers best 20 writers under 40, as well as the national book foundations best 5 under 35.

At 25, her ability to write the tigers wife is astonishing. With this bestselling novel, she reimagines the land of her birth, woven through with wartorn tales of the balkans, family history, and fantastic legends inspired by rudyard kiplings the jungle book and a strange cast of bizarre creatures. Natalia says that the key to her grandfathers life and death lies between two stories. 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 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. 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 tea obreht, 2011 random house 352 pp. By the time the tigers wife came out early this year in hardcover, the hum of anticipation was deafening. Did the apothecary deliberately poison the tigers wife with the drink he sent with her grandfather, and if so, why. Heres what i like about tea obrehts debut novel, the tigers wife. The tiger s wife tea obreht, 2011 random house 352 pp.

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. I was so honored that the bushwick book club made music in response to my writing. This is the story of his life and death, of their survival and methods for coping with continual war, of their reasons for choosing medicine as a profession, of the years they spent treating patients and. In a balkan country mending from war, natalia, a young doctor, is compelled to unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfathers recent. Very rarely does a first novel announce a major new talent, but so it is with the tigers wife. The tiger s 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. No, i am not a week behind on this report, the bpl monday book discussion was. The tiger s wife, tea obreht the tiger s wife is the debut novel of serbianamerican writer tea obreht. 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. 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. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. What power do the stories we tell about ourselves have to shape our identity and help us understand our lives. Obrehts novel begins with a memory of natalia and her grandfather visiting the city zoo to see the tigersa routine of theirs in natalias childhood. Set in an unnamed balkan country shortly after the end of civil war, 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.

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. Why didnt the townsman know or care where the tigers wife was buried. The tigers wife compact disc copperfields books inc. The tigers wife by tea obreht book club discussion questions. 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. Available at bon air book club in a bag book club fic. The tigers wife is set in an unnamed balkan country, spanning the mid 20thcentury to the early 21st century. The two are linked gaile received the curse of endless life because he fell in. A first novel with a compassionate, mystical take on the real price of war. The book is less about the woman called the tigers wife and more about the relationship of natalia stefanovic and her unusual grandfather. This is a novel in name only, for it comprises an array of widely different tales held together by the flimsiest of conceits, that of the narrator recalling the eventful life and times of her late grandfather. Overall, i didnt love the tigers wife, but can appreciate it as a literary accomplishment. There is a theme adopted throughout the book that opposing positions are regularly confronted, such as modern technology and medicine, with fables and folklore. But most extraordinary of all is the story her grandfather never told her the legend of the tigers wife.

Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the tigers wife. 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. Obrehts novel begins with a memory of natalia and her grandfather visiting the city zoo to see the tigers a routine of theirs in natalias childhood. We began the year with the tigers wife by tea obreht. As natalia struggles to understand why her grandfather, a deeply rational man would go on such a farfetched journey, she. 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. 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. The tigers wife won the british orange prize for fiction in 2011. Natalia, her grandfather, the tigers wife, the villagers. A seasoned and mature writer would be hardpressed to match the scope and lyricism of obrehts debut book. The tigers 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 was somewhat of a slow read and the writing style didnt appeal to my personal taste, however i can see why it comes so highly acclaimed.